Most iconic -- and chaotic -- alternate CFB uniforms of the past 25 years

Some have had a few. Some have had many. The Oregon Ducks seemingly come up with a new one every week.

The topic is, of course, alternate uniforms. The best of the best have become beloved staples of the fall calendar for college football fans. Just as many, though, have been relegated to the dustbin of history (or at least a campus storage closet). A vaunted few have risen to an even higher tier: cult classic.

With the 2025 college football season approaching, we decided to run through the extensive catalog of alternate uniform offerings in the sport since 2000 and parse through it all to determine some of the most memorable -- for better or for worse.

We broke our superlatives list down into a number of categories -- three broad, three specific, each with multiple nominations, and six exclusive awards. Some of these categories reward aesthetic beauty. More prefer just plain zaniness.

Here are the best, worst and wildest of alternate uniforms from the past 25 years.

In the nominations for our best of the best, we covered a wide range of topical ground. From distinct colors to well-executed throwbacks, our five picks offer an array of different ways to make an alternate uniform pop.

Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors: Retro and rainbow, 2015

Florida International Panthers: Miami Vice, 2024

Houston Cougars: Paying homage to the Oilers, 2023

Florida Gators: Simplistic throwback perfection, 2019

SMU Mustangs: Repping Dallas, 2019

It's always encouraging when a team is willing to try something new -- creativity and boldness are two traits that help make college football fun. That said, not every outside-the-box alternate uniform idea is created equal. We're not necessarily saying these uniforms are bad, but they definitely were... enterprising.

Florida Gators: Gator-print, 2017

Michigan State Spartans: Neon green, 2019

Colorado Buffaloes: Throwbacks gone too simplistic, 2009

Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Yankee Stadium crossover, 2018

Miami Hurricanes: Orange sleeves, 2005

A great -- or poor -- helmet can make or break a uniform, so we created a separate category for some of the most notable lids. Bonus points were awarded for distinctiveness, regardless of how well-executed.

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers: Big Red front and center, 2024

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: Honeycomb theme, 2012

Utah Utes: Rose Bowl specials, 2022

Georgia Bulldogs: Georgia tries grey, 2011

Virginia Tech Hokies: The flexing HokieBird, 2012

A key element of college football is representing a school's hometown or home state. These three schools went the furthest in going above and beyond to fulfill that mission, incorporating their state's flag into their alternate uniforms. The aesthetic results were varied.

Maryland Terrapins, 2011

Colorado State Rams, 2017

Texas Tech Red Raiders, 2014

An unlikely source of quality alternate jerseys in recent years? Outer space. In fact, space-themed uniforms produced enough impressive alternates that we deemed it worthy of its own category. Here are the best of the best to have drawn inspiration from the stars.

UCF Knights: Space U, 2023

Purdue Boilermakers: Honoring the school's astronauts, 2019

Air Force Falcons: Representing the Space Force, 2022

Context matters for uniforms, too. Almost all alternate uniforms represent or honor something, but some threads have particularly special motives. These two alternates have established themselves as particularly distinguished in the backstory category.

Boston College Eagles: The red bandana series

The Eagles have donned uniforms featuring a red bandana pattern and a "FOR WELLES" nameplate once a year since 2014. The uniforms pay homage to Welles Crowther, a Boston College alum who died saving lives in the Sept. 11 attacks while wearing a red bandana.

UAB Blazers: The Children's Harbor series

A tradition since 2016, UAB has worn special jerseys for select games as part of a partnership with Children's Harbor, a service center for seriously ill children and their families in Birmingham, Alabama. The Blazers' Children's Harbor jerseys feature the names of patients on the back in place of those of players.

Block letter jerseys

A very brief but nevertheless unfortunate stint in the pantheon of alternate uniform history was the spurt of designs in the early 2010s featuring jerseys with block letter logos front and center. Of the assorted pitfalls an alternate uniform can hit, these ran the gauntlet.

Changing the aesthetics for the jerseys of teams with classic traditional threads? Check. Unwieldy designs without grounding in a school's history or tradition? Check. Creating a strange on-screen viewing experience? Check. Blissfully, these never took hold outside of a few Big Ten one-offs.

Oregon

Undoubtedly the most prolific uniform-producing school, the Ducks put out more uniform combinations in a season than some programs do in a decade. Instead of trying to choose which categories to slot them into -- since they've produced enough memorable combinations to be involved in just about every option, really -- we're simply giving the Ducks a lifetime achievement award, showcasing a short palette of their range here.

Notre Dame

While there have been plenty of great alternate uniform reveals, nobody in the game has committed to a bit quite like Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish started in 2022, parodying "The Hangover" to unveil their uniforms for that year's Shamrock Series game in Las Vegas. They've since established the movie parody lane as their niche, riffing "Jerry Maguire" in 2023 and "Wolf of Wall Street" in 2024.

Some guys CAN handle Vegas

Feel It. October 8 pic.twitter.com/HdzdAOaCDs