Fashion Break | Cincinnati Bearcats Wearing New Uniforms for The Tournament(s)

Follow Down The Drive on Facebook/twitter and check out the store.

This has been talked about for what seems like weeks, but in reality is probably a week or so at the most. Regardless, it's official now. The relevant bits from the press release.

The University of Cincinnati men's basketball team has been selected by adidas as one of three programs in the nation to wear the new, ultra-lightweight adizero basketball uniforms throughout its postseason run in the BIG EAST Championship and NCAA tournament, the footwear and apparel company announced jointly with UC today.

Louisville and Baylor are the other programs chosen by Adidas for this. From a branding perspective this is a positive thing. As the old saying goes there is no such thing as bad publicity. This is just another example of how the Adidas contract* is good for the athletic department as a whole.

For the most part Adidas caters to the old guard in college sports. UCLA, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Michigan etc. All of whom have established looks. Changing the look for most Adidas would cause a minor revolt among those fan bases. Adidas needs a school to experiment with. Increasingly it's been UC. And on balance that's a very good thing.

You know what's not a good thing? The design for a start.

Check out the gallery. I don't mind the home whites. But the road uniforms are nothing short of ghastly. I know that many people have an issue with the red that's so red its really orange. That's not my issue. My issue is with the camo pattern on the shorts, and I am suspecting the back as well. You know why I have an issue with that camo look. Because they look like Zubaz pants. There are some things from the 90's that will come back into fashion at some point, or are already back in the case of flannel shirts. Zubaz pants will never be cool again. Therefore emulating that design is about the dumbest thing imaginable