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10 worst college football uniforms of all time

Notre Dame introduced the Shamrock Series in 2009 when they played Washington State at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Seven years later, the Irish are preparing

Andrew Doughty

10 worst college football uniforms of all time
10 worst college football uniforms of all time /

Notre Dame introduced the Shamrock Series in 2009 when they played Washington State at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Seven years later, the Irish are preparing for a return trip to southeastern Texas with a perfect 7-0 mark in the neutral-site series.

Instead of reaching 8-0 with a victory over Army on Nov. 12, Brian Kelly's team will return to South Bend with a loss, one they earned not for their performance on the Alamodome turf against the Black Knights, but one from their collaboration with Under Armour on some of the ugliest uniforms in college football history.

In the spirit of their Shamrock Series digs, we ranked the top 10 worst college football uniforms ever unveiled.

10. Northwestern

Northwestern has struggled with uniforms for decades, failing to find a common ground of simplicity and panache. Among their failures were the gothic uniforms, first introduced in 2014 and worn again in 2015.

9. Maryland

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AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

Maryland's experimentation with the state flag in their "Maryland Pride" collection could not have gone worse. Under Armour has created a few versions of uniforms that resemble a vomiting bumble bee getting slaughtered, and although not all were complete disasters, most were very irresponsibly aggressive.

8. Miami

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Icon Sportswire via AP Images

Miami, once a premier uniform program, has fallen on hard times. The Hurricanes reached rock bottom in September 2015 when they wore home and away uniforms with arguably the worst lettering in college sports history.

7. Kansas

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Kansas introduced the Crimson Chrome uniforms in 2014, and were greeted with harsh reactions. The oversized Jayhawk head helmet logo is overkill, as are the cheap-looking silver and blue shoulder logos.

6. Louisville

Louisville's 'Uncaged' uniforms from 2015 were an utter failure on many levels. Their bizarre oversized cardinal helmet logo and Pop Warner-quality jersey numbering and lettering are among Adidas' many misfires over the last two years.

5. Notre Dame

Without the hand-painted helmets, the Irish would rank higher. But unlike Navy's stunning hand-painted helmets from 2015, they're not enough to carry the entire uniform. The dark green and gold makes us wonder if Grey Poupon is the official sponsor of the 2016 Shamrock Series.

4. Western Michigan

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AP Photo/Otto Kitsinger

Brown is a hard color to work with, therefore save a little compassion for Western Michigan. However, adding more brown and hints of gold doesn't make things better, as was the case with their Row the Boat digs in the 2014 Famous Idaho Bowl bowl.

3. UCLA

Gray uniforms are difficult, but the Bruins rolled the dice in 2014 with their "LA Steel" uniforms. Unsurprisingly, they didn't roll snake eyes and were left with atrocious all-dark grey digs with cheap, screen-printed multi-colored numbers.

2. Minnesota

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Brian Bahr/Getty

Long before the Gophers finally nailed it with their current Nike uniforms, they donned many offensive styles, including this peculiar double-M design from the mid-1990s.

1. Louisiana - Monroe

ULM deserves a hat tip for their creative season-opening Camo Out in 2014. That hat tip is reduced to a casual nod after seeing their camo jerseys. Sorry, Warhawks, swamp camo and football don't mix.

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Andrew Doughty
ANDREW DOUGHTY

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