Bowl Game Fashion: Troy’s Best and Worst Postseason Looks
2022 continues to bring the magic.
Troy is in a FBS bowl game for the ninth time in school history, and the Cure Bowl is Troy’s first time bowling in the Sunshine State. In fact, this is the first time the Trojans have played a bowl game that was not in New Orleans or Mobile since the 2004 Silicon Valley Classic.
But we’re not here to reminisce about the games (Thomas already did that.) Instead, let’s talk about the uniforms.
Spoiler alert, there is a lot of cardinal incoming.
Honorable Mention: 1948 Paper Bowl
There are no pictures to be found, but TECHNICALLY Troy’s first bowl game was a 1948 rematch against Jacksonville State in Pensacola.
Based on photos of uniforms in the 1949 Palladium, Troy would’ve either worn a dark (probably red) jersey and dark pants if they were the home team. If they were away, they’d have simply switched to a white jersey.
#8 – 2004 Silicon Valley Classic vs NIU
Troy’s first bowl game holds a special place in Trojan history and in the minds of those who were around to see it. This one gets the bottom spot on the list, not because it’s bad, but simply because it is a uniform caught between two eras: Troy State and Troy.
The shield helmet and TroJanS logo don’t do enough to differentiate the new Troy/Sun Belt era uniforms from the old Independent Troy State. The Marvin logo on the shoulders don’t help either.
These uniforms would be changed for the 2005 season.
Editor’s note: To be clear, these are in fact the same uniforms from 2002 and 2003. The point still stands.
As for a uniform matchup, this one looked great. Troy’s all-whites allowed for the Cardinal to pop and worked well opposite NIU’s black/red/black.
#7 – 2008 New Orleans Bowl vs USM
The Condiment Game.
The Hot Dog Game.
Ketchup vs Mustard.
Whatever you want to call this game, it was unique. I’m nearly certain that this is the only time Troy has gone all-cardinal against a team also wearing only their main school color.
Too bad USM didn’t have a gold helmet then. The Eagles used them in the 70s, but wouldn’t bring them back until 2012.
I still enjoy this look and I really do miss the 2006-2010 all-cardinal look sometimes, but 14 years later, I don’t think Southern Miss should’ve worn all-gold. It just didn’t look good on the field together.
#6 – 2010 GMAC Bowl vs CMU (Bowl for 2009 Season)
Troy’s first trip to Mobile had the coldest look in Troy’s bowl history.
Seriously.
At game time, the temperature in Ladd-Peebles Stadium was around 30 degrees. It dropped to 28 by the time the game was over.
Even in a rare loss in our beach home, Troy looked as good as ever. I remember at the time disliking the plain white pants for having essentially nothing on them. I wished they would get the sword stripe from the cardinal ones.
In hindsight, this uniform really didn’t need any changes. An added pants stripe with the numbers, nameplate, Trojans on the chest, shoulder numbers, Shield sleeve logo, AND the bowl logo would’ve just pushed this over the edge of style and into chaotic ridiculousness.
CMU going all-white under their maroon shell really evened things out and provided a decent amount of balance in the uniform matchup.
#5 – 2010 New Orleans Bowl vs Ohio
Troy’s second bowl game of 2010 looked oddly like its first. The only differences were the opponent and the location.
The Ohio Bobcats met the Trojans in the Crescent City in the 10th iteration of the New Orleans Bowl.
Even though this is basically the same uniform as the GMAC Bowl, this one gets the nod—not because it was a win, but the cardinal mixed with Ohio’s green made for a really nice Christmas look for the game.
#4 – 2017 New Orleans Bowl vs North Texas
Speaking of Christmas, the 2017 New Orleans Bowl was so close to being perfect.
Don’t get me wrong. I loved the cardinal/white/white look and I REALLY loved beating North Texas 50-30. But this game could’ve been so much more if it had been a color vs color matchup. (Unless you’re colorblind.)
The dark cardinal against the vibrant green of UNT would’ve been one of the best looking matchups in the 2017 bowl season and probably Troy’s history.
To be honest, we should do more color vs color games. I can say this would’ve worked much better than the Condiment Game.
#3 – 2006 New Orleans Bowl vs Rice
Winning a conference title, stealing it from that team in Tennessee, AND another bowl game, all in one year? 2006 was a dream season at that point in Troy’s FBS history.
The switch to the spread offense and a higher confidence level from both the team and fanbase led Troy to the height of the FBS era, at the time.
The all-cardinal from the mid-2000s (and in general) might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it worked so well in this game. Paired with Rice’s all whites and silver helmet, this matchup allowed Troy’s uniform to shine in a coronation night for the kings of the Sun Belt.
I have opinions on Rice’s uniforms, but this is a Troy website.
Looking back at this has me nostalgic for the shoulder numbers and the shield logo on the sleeves.
#2 – 2018 Dollar General Bowl vs Buffalo
This was, at once, the easiest and most difficult choice on this list. Easy, because it is well-documented how much we at The Wall love the white/color/white look, and believe it to be the greatest combination, no matter the jersey color.
Editor’s note: It is.
But then comes the difficult part. Troy wore this combination in both the 2016 and 2018 Dollar General Bowls, with subtle differences.
I loved the addition of the two white stripes on the shoulders with the mimic of them on the pants.
The biggest thing I didn’t like was the beveled numbers. It came off as kitschy and just didn’t work for me as well as the shiny silver numbers did two years earlier.
#1 – 2016 Dollar General Bowl vs Ohio
Okay, so I’m a sucker for red/green matchups. I’m also a sucker for having almost the exact same uniform matchup against the same opponent from 6 years earlier.
As much as I love the tri-stripe on a Troy helmet, the single cardinal stripe with the cardinal facemask on the white helmet is absolutely beautiful.
The most complicated part of the uniform was the stylized numbers. I am typically a fan of white numbers on home jerseys, but something about these worked so well.
Editor’s note: It didn’t work so well for the out-of-town media crews that night. I distinctly remember someone in the press box yelled “What the f*** is this? I can’t tell what the numbers are!” True story.
The Power T on the sleeve also solidified that it was the new logo moving forward—the shield was gone. The plain white pants continued the simplicity of this combination. They, along with the white helmet, allowed cardinal to be front and center on people’s minds.
If anyone can explain Ohio’s pants stripes to me, though, I’d really appreciate it.
If you’ve been keeping score, the team has only worn four different combinations, each of them twice:
- Cardinal/White/White (2004, 2017)
- Cardinal/Cardinal/Cardinal (2006, 2008)
- Cardinal/Cardinal/White (2009, 2010)
- and White/Cardinal/White (2016, 2018)
The White/Cardinal/White, the top two uniforms, are the the only undefeated look among the four. The all-Cardinal and Cardinal/White/White are both 1-1, and Troy has yet to win a bowl game in the Cardinal/Cardinal/White.
Honestly, that data fits this ranking. If you disagree, let us know on Twitter or Facebook.