Harvard (2016), Holy Cross (2016), Maine (2016)

Let's continue 2016 in review ...

Harvard (7-3, 5-2 and an uncharacteristic third in the Ivy League) wore the crimson pants, introduced in 2015, exclusively until the season finale against Yale, when the traditional tan pants prevailed. I know tan isn't an official Harvard color, but tan pants scream Harvard football in a way the crimson pants don't -- even if Harvard's nickname is the Crimson.

Holy Cross (4-7 overall, 2-4 Patriot League) made some minor modifications, including the addition of an "HC" shield on the sleeves. The Crusaders might have made the most out-of-left-field addition among the teams in our little survey -- a black matte helmet with a reflecting "HC" logo. Worn with an all-purple uniform, the combo made as much sense as some of those mix-and-match combos in Madden (a vintage Patriots helmet with the current uniform, etc.). The special logo for the Yankee Stadium game against Fordham, however, was creative and classy. 

Maine (6-5 overall, 5-3 CAA) unveiled its third helmet in two seasons, as it switched to a rather busy design with the full logo on the sides -- the first time the Black Bears have ever put the bear on the helmet. The jersey and pants remained unchanged from 2015.

Cornell (2016), Dartmouth (2016), Delaware (2016)

More from 2016 ...

Cornell (4-6 overall, 2-5 Ivy League) ditched the red and gray pants from the last couple years in favor of a white set with "CORNELL" down the side (just like Nike stable-mate Columbia). The home shirts remained the same, while the roads sprouted shoulder numbers, a black outline and a small "C" below the V-neck. Also note the solid white socks and shots, which make me think of the NFL's color-rush teams.

Cornell still has those weird NCAA/Ivy League logo patches on the jersey front. I guess a few teams still wear those, but they look more and more like a relic from 15 years ago.

Can't get enough from the Big Red? Check out these uniforms: 2013-14, 1999-2001, 1994, 1985-89, 1987, 1983-84, 1977-82, 1967-75,  1966, 1965, 1961-64, 1952, 1950-51. Rivalry week: Cornell-Penn.

Dartmouth (4-6 overall, 1-6 -- first to worst -- in the Ivies) wore NINE uniform combos for the second straight year, although two are different from what the Big Green wore last year. The black-green-black one brings the short-lived 2003-04 uniform to mind. I wish the gray helmets and pants matched better; the gray lids are almost indistinguishable from the black versions. 

The nine uniform combos worn by Dartmouth in 2016,
as tweeted every Wednesday by the Big Green.
I confess to looking forward to these.
One style (all white) was worn twice.

Some other unis from the Green Machine: 2015, 2014, 2013, 2005-06, 2003-04, 1978-86, 1970, 1957-61, 1955-56, 1951-54, 1944, 1936-38, 1929. Rivalry week: Dartmouth-Princeton. Inside the jersey: 1999-2002.

Delaware (4-7, 2-6 CAA) didn't change a darn thing from last year. Makes my task easier. And besides, Delaware in alternate unis would seem strange. 

There's more from the Delaware hen house: 2015, 2011-14, 2004-06, 1997-2003, 1989-92, 1980-88, 1975-79; 1973-74, 1972, 1965, 1967-71, 1950.

Columbia Lions (2015-16)

We continue our look back at 2016 in uniforms with Columbia, which went 3-7 overall and 2-5 (seventh) in the Ivy League. It doesn't seem like much, but the Lions look like world-beaters compared with their back-to-back 0-10 debacles in 2013-14. And five of their losses in '16 were by eight points or less. Al Bagnoli, miracle-worker. 

Another good thing about Columbia this season: The Lions wore the hideous black jerseys, first introduced on 2015, for its home opener only and switched to a new navy jersey the rest of the way. Hopefully next year, the black shirt will be put in mothballs and Columbia can add a light blue jersey in the current template. The navy jersey is fine, but it's not Columbia blue.

The Lions this year wore a "67" patch in honor of Bill Campbell, a former Lions player and head coach who later was a prominent Silicon Valley businessman and the chairman of Columbia's Board of Trustees.

Before the season, Columbia tweeted this picture of its
uniform combinations. The second one from the left was the only one not used.

As another added bonus, here's a corrected version of the 2015 uniform, with the home shoulder "sleeves" switched to blue from black. The black itself is slightly lightened to something closer to a dark slate "color."

Up next: Cornell (I promise).

Other Lions unis that'll make you roar: 2015, 2014, 2013, 2003-05, 1996, 1984, 1983, 1974-76, 1971-73, 1970, 1965-67, 1955-56, 1952-54.

Bryant Bulldogs (2016), Central Connecticut Blue Devils (2015-16)

We continue our look at the uniforms of 2016 with a pair of Northeast Conference teams.

Bryant (5-6 overall, 4-2 NEC) might have the most improved uni of 2016. The tired Adidas template and unnecessary steel-gray pants from last year were ditched in favor of a more basic look, with a word mark and numbers that are more readable. One minor nit-pick: The "B" shield on the sleeves that looks more at home on a superhero. Uniform numbers would have been better.

A few more Bryant unis:  2015, 2014, 2013, 2004-06.

Central Connecticut (2-9 overall, 1-5 NEC) also made a major upgrade, having ditched its overly busy home jersey for a more basic look that uses the same number font as the roads. The striping is different on the home and road jerseys, but that's a very minor quibble. One downer: The logo-on-one-side, uniform-number-on-the-other-side helmet. I HATE HATE HATE that look, especially since the CCSU logo is a good one.

As far as I know, the white pants from last year weren't used in 2016. Pics from CCSU football are hard to find, for some reason, so who knows?

As an added bonus, I corrected the 2015 road jersey (the same shirt the Blue Devils wore in '16), which upon further review uses a slanted number font.

Some more garb from CCSU: 2014, 2013, 1968.

Next up: Columbia and maybe even Cornell.

Brown Bears (2016)

With the season (mostly) over, it's time for our annual retrospecticus in uniforms. We'll do this alphabetically, one at a time. But since Boston College is still playing (pending its bowl date), we'll start with Brown, which went 4-6 overall, 3-4 in the Ivy League. 

The good: Brown added a classy road uniform to match its classy home uniform. The white pants are a nice touch, and look better with the white jersey than silver pants would have.

The bad: Here's a quickie quiz: Princeton, Dartmouth, Columbia, Brown, Harvard. Which of these Ivy League schools is not like the other? The answer is Princeton: All five teams have black jerseys in their arsenal, but Princeton's the only one that actually has black has an official team color. This season , Brown became the latest Ivy team to make an unneeded fade to black with it new alternate uniform. And since black and brown are so similar, it's hard to tell which is which. Plus, you're called Brown: Wear those brown unis with pride!

We'll move on to Central Connecticut later in the week.

More unis from the sons of Bruno: 2015, 2014, 2012-13, 2004-08, 2001-03, 1997-2000, 1984-89, 1981-83, 1978, 1975-77, 1973-74, 1972, 1967-71, 1957-58, 1951-56.