Central Connecticut State, Colgate, Holy Cross, Merrimack, Sacred Heart, Stonehill (2024)

The review of 2024 uniforms continues with six FCS teams — two from the Patriot League, two from the Northeast Conference and two independents. Before we start, a minor rant about the two independents ...

Before the season, Merrimack and Sacred Heart left the Northeast Conference for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Since the MAAC doesn't sponsor football, the schools played as independents on the gridiron. Someone at one of these two schools had the bright idea of having these lonely hearts face off late in the season for the "Yankee Conference championship," complete with a replica of the old Bean Pot trophy last seen residing in the Willam & Mary trophy case.

Of course, this is completely ridiculous, as these schools have zero connection to the beloved and long-gone Yankee Conference of Maine, UNH, UMass and other New England cow colleges. (As a Maine grad, I can call them that.) This reminds me of a story I once read — perhaps apocryphal — about an obscure 1970s band that announced that since no one else was using the name, they were going to call themselves "The Beatles." (It went nowhere.) What's next, Texas State and Texas-San Antonio playing for the "Southwest Conference" championship? 

That said, if hell freezes over and the America East finally decides to sponsor football, I would be more than happy to have Merrimack and Sacred Heart as members.

OK, on to the unis:

Central Connecticut State, the NEC champion, didn't change a thing from '23, with the exception of the NCAA patch worn in the FCS tournament, where it almost upset Rhode Island. (Anyone remember when Rhody almost joined the NEC in a money-saving effort?)

Colgate also changed nada from the previous season, which is a good thing, says I.

Holy Cross made a couple minor changes. The Crusaders made slight alterations to their road jerseys, with wider numbers and a narrower wordmark, and the purple helmets used the "shield" logo in place of the big "HC" that had been used for more than a decade. (I prefer the "HC", but that's just me.) Holy Cross also dusted off the black alternate jerseys, last worn in 2022. The shirts were first worn in 2019 and thus had the college football 150th anniversary patch almost everyone else wore that year. Five years later, the patch remains!

Merrimack replaced the "MC" helmet logo with the school seal, a quite Ivy-ish move, if I say so myself. The Warriors covered up the NEC logo with an American flag patch.

Sacred Heart made a couple very minor changes. The star-spangled helmet, which is usually worn around the anniversary of 9/11, replaced the "SHU" logo with a script "Pios," short for Pioneers. (Funny, I always thought of them as the "'Neers." 😎) Like their "Yankee Conference" rivals, the Pioneers covered the NEC logo with the American flag.

For the second straight year, Stonehill wins the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid) award for the fewest uniform designs: The Skyhawks used the same three unis they wore last year.

Central Connecticut State, Merrimack, Sacred Heart, Stonehill (2023)

The 2023 parade o' uniforms (slowly) continues with New England four Northeast Conference teams.

Central Connecticut State changed its helmet logo, ditching the blue devil next to the "CC" for a pitchfork. The logo also appears on both sides of the helmet, ditching the logo-on-one-side-uniform-number-on-the-other-side look that I can't stand. The jersey and pants remain unchanged from the last few years; I like the Blue Devils' commitment to consistency.

Merrimack made no real changes from last year, unless you count the return of yellow pants after a year's absence. Honestly, there's not much to complain about the Warriors' uniforms.

Sacred Heart's only real change was an update to the all-gray alternate, which now more closely matches the red and white uniforms. The "PIONEERS" down the side of the gray pants goes in the opposite direction of the red and white versions, which I'm sure will ruin a lot people's breakfast. 😎

Stonehill changed its jerseys and pants, adding a more contemporary number font while switching to more traditional sleeves. The helmets remained unchanged.

Bryant, Central Connecticut St., Merrimack, Sacred Heart (2021)

Time for the latest round of the uniforms of 2021, this time with a trip through the New England schools in the Northeast Conference. You can see the Ivy League here, the CAA teams here and the FBS indies here. The review will continue with Colgate and Holy Cross and wrap up with Boston College after its bowl game. 

Bryant made its most significant change since the program's founding in 1999, dumping the plain gold helmet it had worn since day one for a black version, with a number on one side and the bulldog logo on the other. The home and road jerseys also underwent a change and have a consistent look for the first time in a few years. The bulldog logo on the helmets and sleeves marks the first it has been featured on the uniform someplace other than the pants, a definite upgrade. (For a few years Bryant had a goofy-looking "B" in a shield on the sleeves.)

Central Connecticut State, which also has a logo on one side of the helmet and a number on the other, replaced the "CC" logo from seasons part with the blue devil head. CCSU, which sat out last season because of COVID-19, continued to wear all-blue at home and all-white on the road. The Blue Devils also wore a pink stripe down the middle of helmet for several games in October for breast cancer awareness. If you look closely, you can see the word "FIGHT" imprinted all over the stripe. 

Merrimack added some flair when it unveiled an all-yellow uniform at Homecoming, giving the Warriors three jerseys and two sets of pants. (Some teams, like Bryant, UNH and Maine, have two jerseys and three pants, which I don't understand. Third jerseys > third pants; you can make more fun combos.) The shirts retained the same basic pattern as the home and road versions, although the road whites continue to lack shoulder numbers. 

Finally, Sacred Heart, which won its second straight NEC title, trotted out eight different combos, including the star-spangled and gray alternate uniforms, which returned after a year's absence. The Pioneers also wore a helmet with a 9-11 tribute logo on the right side for their  first two games.

Bryant (2018-19), Central Connecticut (2018-19), Merrimack (2019), Sacred Heart (2018-19)

Talk about a mental lapse the size of an offensive line. I knew Merrimack College (North Andover, Mass.) was moving up to Division I from D-II for the 2019-20 school year; it wasn't until the last week or so when I realized, "Oh, yeah, I've got a new team to add to the site!" So welcome aboard, Merrimack; that boosts the number of current D-I programs featured here to 20. Let's take a look at this year's uniforms from Merrimack and fellow Northeast Conference teams Bryant, Central Connecticut and Sacred Heart. Since I basically blew off the NEC teams last year (apologies!), we'll include the 2018 uniforms from Bryant, CCSU and SHU, too.

Bryant (6-5, 2-4 in 2018; 4-8, 3-4 in '19) kept its basic black-and-gold look in 2018 before it phased out the gold pants in '19 (worn just once) in favor of black and white versions. The Bulldogs modified their home and road jerseys, but there are subtle differences; the homes have the Bryant wordmark in the school font and the numbers in a traditional font; the roads have Bryant in a traditional block serif font (like last year), but curved numbers. 

Central Connecticut (6-5, 4-2 in '18; 11-2, 7-0 and an NCAA FCS Tournament berth in '19) kept the basic look it's had the last few years, but the Blue Devils modified their road unis in '19 to better match the homes. The '18 jerseys come with and without the NEC patch on the front.

Merrimack (6-5, not eligible for NEC title but 1-3 against NEC foes) had a winning record, although three wins were over non D-I teams and a fourth was over fellow D-I newbie LIU (formerly D-II C.W. Post). The Warriors' uniforms are pretty simple, but the program's first uniforms from the late '90s (coming soon to a post near you!) make the current duds resemble Oregon's. Yale was the only other team on this site to not wear any alternate helmets or jerseys, or mix and match their unis. One oddity: The home jerseys have shoulder numbers, while the roads do not.

Sacred Heart (7-4, 5-1 and co-NEC champs in '18; 7-5, 4-3 in '19), on the other hand, did plenty of mixing and matching, particularly with the helmets in '19. The Pioneers wore their regular helmets; the star-spangled helmets they usually wear the first couple games of the season; and a helmet with a throwback pioneer logo used in the 1990s (look closely; it bears a passing resemblance to a certain beloved NFL logo). The jerseys and pants, including the hideous all-gray ensemble, remained unchanged. The 9/11 star-spangled jersey, first worn in 2017, wasn't worn in '18 but returned in '19.

Brown (2017), Bryant (2017), CCSU (2017)

It's that time of the year again -- hop on the sleigh, stuff the stockings and review the uniforms for the 18 active teams in our little project. We'll go alphabetically, more or less. (Since my files list Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire as UConn, UMass and UNH, they'll have to wait a bit.) We'll also skip Boston College for now, since the Eagles still have a bowl game in a couple weeks. So without further ado ...

Brown (2-8 overall, 0-7 Ivy League) didn't change a thing from last year's uniforms, which means the ugly black alternates are still around. Repeat after me: If black is not one of your primary colors, you shouldn't use it for an alternate jersey. Which is too bad, because Brown's regular home and road unis are among the best in the Ivy League, and the helmet logo, with the ivy weaving through the "B," is among the classiest around.

The Bears also added a black "JM" patch to the jerseys this year; I'm embarrassed to admit that despite tons of searches, I have no idea of the patch's significance. Readers?

More unis from the sons of Bruno: 2016, 2015, 2014, 2012-13, 2004-08, 2001-03, 1997-2000, 1984-89, 1981-83, 1978, 1975-77, 1973-74, 1972, 1967-71, 1959-65, 1957-58, 1951-56, 1914.

Bryant (6-5, 4-2 NEC) kept its uniform from last year, but brought back the white pants last worn in 2015. With the exception of one game, the Bulldogs wore the all-white uni on the road.

I like how the basic elements of Bryant's uniform have gone mostly unchanged since the program's founding in 1999, with the exception of those gray pants the Bulldogs wore for a couple years (see links below). The plain gold helmet is just that -- plain -- but it's also the only design Bryant has ever worn in an age of nonstop change and alternate helmets, and that's reassuring.

A few more barkin' Bryant unis:  2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2004-06, 1999-2000.

Central Connecticut (8-4, 6-0 NEC, NEC champs, first FCS playoff appearance in team history) switched to a white helmet from a blue helmet, which the Blue Devils had worn forever, although I kept waiting for the blues to make at lest one appearance this year. The helmets still have the logo on one side and the uniform number on the other, a disease that seems to permeate many teams that wear Nike uniforms. The white pants, which were last worn in 2015, returned and were worn exclusively with the roads. 

With only two uniform designs used all season, CCSU is the first of four teams this season to receive a "KISS" Award -- Keep It Simple, Stupid. Well done.

Some more garb from CCSU: 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 1968.

Bryant Bulldogs (1999-2000)

Long before Bryant College fielded its first football team in 1999, the Smithfield, R.I., school was well known in football circles as the site of the New England Patriots' training camp from 1976-2002. Any mention of Bryant, and you knew the NFL preseason was right around the corner. (Well, other than looking at the calendar, duh.)

In the late 1990s, Bryant decided to get into the gridiron game itself and fielded its first team at the Division II level. Surprisingly, the Bulldogs were a strong team out of the gate, going 5-4 overall in 1999 and 4-4 in the Eastern Football Conference (a forerunner to the Northeast-10 Conference). On Sept. 11, 1999, Bryant defeated Assumption, 20-13, in its first game. On Oct. 2, Bryant won its home opener over Mount Ida, 31-20, before 4,817 fans -- a mighty impressive number for D-II in these parts. There were a few clunkers along the way -- a 60-20 loss to American International -- but all in all, the Bulldogs carried themselves very well for a first-year team.

The first Bryant Bulldogs team, 1999.
No truth to the rumor the school was named after Bear Bryant.

The uniforms haven't changed much over the years. To this day, the Bulldogs wear a plain gold helmet, black jerseys and gold pants. The helmet has never featured any logos, numbers or alternate versions. How many schools this century can say that? No, not even Penn State. (OK, Alabama and Auburn are two, and I'm sure there are others.)

Some early Bulldogs in action, 1999.
Note the odd location of the "Bryant" word mark.
Also note the "BC" for Bryant College in the sleeves.
The school has since changed its name to Bryant University.

The numbers on the front are HY-OOGE -- almost like the vintage Seattle Seahawks  jerseys. Also note the odd location of the "Bryant" wordmark, which is off to the side and not below the neckline, where wordmarks usually reside.. (It did move to the neck on 2001.) And true confession time: I'm not exactly sure what's on the patch on the jersey front. All I've been able to discern is that it features a yellowish football with bluish lettering underneath. I suspect it's an Eastern Football Conference patch, but I've been unable to find a copy of the logo, not even after a couple hours digging through archive.org. I don't believe it's an inaugural season patch, because it also was worn in 2000.

The rather sad-looking Bryant logo from '99 (top)
and the more bad-ass bulldog adopted a few years later (above).

A few more Bryant unis:  2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2004-06.

   

An advert for Bryant's 1999 homecoming, which also
featured the Bulldogs' historic first home game. And Victoria Jackson!

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.

Bryant, Central Connecticut State, Sacred Heart (2015)

We continue the 2015 round-up with the NEC 3. This leaves us with only UConn, which I'm saving for after next week's bowl game.

Bryant

The Bulldogs, who went 5-6 overall, 3-3 in the NEC, kept the exact same look from last year. 

Central Connecticut State

The "other" Blue Devils kept the same home jersey and pants, but introduced completely new -- and vastly improved, sez I -- road versions. Hopefully, there'll be an accompanying home version in 2016. One oddity: When CCSU opted to wear white pants at home against Dartmouth, it chose to wear last year's pants instead of the new white pants. Give CCSU credit for continuity. The Devils were 4-7 overall, 3-3 in NEC action.

Sacred Heart

The normally staid Pioneers decided to mix things up a bit this fall. They added red alternate pants and an all bluish-gray alternate uniform that kept the same basic design as the home and road shirts. It's not as good as UMass' gray uni, but it's far better than Penn's. Last season's NEC champs were 6-5 overall, 3-3 league.

Sacred Heart Pioneers (2008-12)

Just a quick note: Now that we're entrenched into the off-season, I'll probably limit the new posts to twice a week until August, when football gets on everyone's brain again.

Here's our first "historical" Sacred Heart uniform, which doesn't look dramatically different from the current look -- not a bad thing, because I think Sacred Heart has one of the classiest looks going. The big difference here is the lack of stripes on the helmets and a greater emphasis on gray/silver. And hey, you can seem them in action here, and find some pictures here.