By Holly Anderson

We are documented prudes when it comes to uniform changes, and as such are usually immune to the charms of whatever Adidas and Nike are churning out. But in a shocking twist, we find West Virginia’s new getups almost entirely inoffensive:

Our one hangup is the all-Old Gold combo. There is no such thing as too much blue, and every time the ‘Eers roll out in head-to-toe yellow, we cringe just a bit. But these are a vast improvement over the weird primer gray scheme that always seemed to evoke an airport mired in renovation efforts.

From WVU:

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Always great to see Coach Switzer at @OU_Football practice. Hey @GotBoz44 I think Coach borrowed your jacket! http://t.co/FeZKl25RJk—
Pete Moris (@PeteMoris) March 10, 2013

Barry Switzer is the sun, and we are but surly planets orbiting about him.

The Boise State Broncos: 21st in the BCS standings, first in blackout showmanship. (AP)

Miscellaneous awards dispensed in honor of college football’s weekend that was:

• ALTERNATE HELMET POWER RANKINGS. After careful deliberation with some of college football’s top minds, we have selected our top three alt football hats from Week 8.

1. Boise State, whose matte black be-Broncoed helmets topped what’s maybe the best blackout uniform we’ve seen this year. (That’s a short list, but still.) It’s the malevolent orange eye on the side that elevates these from mere headwear into the realm of art.
2. Michigan State, in green “Hydrochrome,” which is shiny and beautiful, has a hint of bass-boat finish about it and also has the benefit of sounding like it was made by a G.I. Joe villain. (Not, apparently, a villain equipped with the power to beat Michigan, but we can’t all be superbosses.)
3. Northwestern, whose black and silver contraptions popped beautifully in HD but really needed some neon purple whiskers or something to be truly on-trend.

HONORABLE MENTION: Duke, whose blue-on-black helmets didn’t carry well on television but were obviously effective.

Please, those of you whose teams’ helmets were not selected, take this as a deeply personal insult.

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Assorted bests and worsts from college football’s weekend that was:

• Best Gameday surprise. This is a category that rolls deep every year, but we have yet to see much on television or in real life that tops the South Carolina mascot (the live one) being offered a glass of Steve Spurrier-branded wine. I mean:

Did Sir Big Spur sample the Steve Spurrier wine? twitter.com/gogamecocks/st…

— GoGamecocks.com (@gogamecocks) October 6, 2012

We live in the greatest country on earth, and don’t you ever forget it.

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Sparty’s got a bone to pick with you, Marvel fashion design team. (Getty Images)

It’s a fine time to be a comics geek, as the success of blockbuster cinematic hits like The Avengers pushes long-beloved iconography further into mainstream society. It’s sort of past time these literary heroes infiltrated athletics as well, but fear no longer: a Marvel-Russell alliance is rushing to the rescue:

Russell will sell T-shirts and hoodies bearing representations of Marvel characters like Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and Wolverine.

The superheroes will wear each college’s respective school colors along with their mascots and logos. Universities participating in the program include biggies like UCLA, Michigan State, Baylor, Kansas State, Mississippi State, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Ohio State and University of Iowa.

Skipping over the obvious questions of how UCLA dares take part in this when Matt Barkley is so clearly Thor AND Captain America in one flaxen-haired human form, do you see what we see? Namely, that it is theoretically possible for one to own a Michigan State shirt with Wolverine on it. We know just what we’ll be wearing to the awarding of the Paul Bunyan Trophy.

[HT: MediaPost, via Sports Business Daily.]

As longtime proponents of AnimalShirts.net, we’re proud to see the long-surviving, much-maligned airbrushed T-shirt industry really gain a proper foothold in major college football. Lookin’ good, UConn! (Less thrilled, for the record: Actual UConn fans.)

We can really only see three problems with this shirt as it’s been presented to us: First, that some unimaginative artist neglected to take full advantage of some of the the artistic game-changers the T-shirt format allows. Is there a wolf tail peeking out the back of the shirt? If not, why not? (We had an iguana T-shirt that did this in junior high, and no real friends to speak of.) Second, the pictured wolf is quite beautiful, but looks almost friendly. That will never do. The popular breakthrough style would lend an air of menace to the Huskies’ football student sections.

Finally, there don’t appear to be sizing or cut options for women. While we are loath to take money away from this fashion-forward effort, may we instead suggest Animal Shirts’ ghostly white wolf tank dress in a fetching periwinkle? Add a kicky scarf and pair of kitten heels to take this look from tailgate to lunch date to job interview, all of which will take place at the nearest mall kiosk selling rain sticks and pewter figurines of dragons.