Because I'm so fully on top of it when it comes to updating everything related to Virginia sports on the side, I thought I'd give myself one more project. If I remember to keep doing it, this'll be a tracker of how well Virginia has performed in each one of their uniform combinations. If we can get a big enough sample size (30 years or so oughta do it, assuming I still have time to blog and be a grandpa) it should be a good indicator of which uniform we should wear for optimal performance.
Here are the possible combos, listed helmet-jersey-pants. There's a G, B, or U next to each; they refer to my verdicts from last year's fashionista post, which were Good, Bad, or Ugly. The first record is straight up; the second is against the spread so appropriate credit can be given for wins like the near-upset against USC in the first year of the London era. They don't add up to the same thing because I can't find historical spreads for all games, mostly our older I-AA games.
(B) Blue-blue-blue: 1-2, 0-2
(G) Blue-blue-white: 1-4, 1-4
(B) Blue-blue-orange: 1-1, 0-2
(G) Blue-white-blue: 0-2, 0-2
(B) Blue-white-white: 5-2, 5-2
(G) Blue-white-orange: 0-3, 2-1
(G) Blue-orange-blue: 6-3, 5-3
(B) Blue-orange-white: 2-0, 1-0-1
(U) Blue-orange-orange: 0-1, 0-1
(U) Orange-blue-blue: 0-0, 0-0
(B) Orange-blue-white: 0-0, 0-0
(G) Orange-blue-orange: 1-1, 0-2
(B) Orange-white-blue: 0-0, 0-0
(U) Orange-white-white: 0-1, 0-1
(B) Orange-white-orange: 0-1, 0-1
(B) Orange-orange-blue: 0-2, 0-2
(B) Orange-orange-white: 1-0, 0-0
(U) Orange-orange-orange: 0-0, 0-0
Throwbacks: 0-1, 0-1
Compilations:
Blue helmets: 16-18, 14-17-1
Orange helmets: 2-5, 0-6
Blue jerseys: 4-8, 1-10
White jerseys: 5-9, 7-7
Orange jerseys: 9-6, 6-6-1
Blue pants: 7-9, 5-9
White pants: 9-7, 7-7-1
Orange pants: 2-7, 2-7
Some notes on history:
-- 2010 was definitely a sandbox kind of year. The players tried out their new toy with every uniform combo at least once, but also declared a favorite (something new, because it's not old, as is always the case) by wearing orange jersey and blue pants three times.
-- 2011, on the other hand, might've been either the product of superstition or the product of "you lose uniform picking privileges on the road," since the team selected several different looks at home but mostly only one on the road.
-- Sadly, the only win we've seen in the beautiful, "traditional" blue-blue-white combo (earning that label for being created during the UVA heyday, the only one truly associated nationally with us being good at football) was this year's VMI campaign. They had been a dismal 0-4 til then.
-- Blue-white-white, however, has been wildly successful. It was the combo for most of the road games during 2011, including Florida State, and was also the look for last year's large, surprising, probably-TOB-chasing win over NC State. Blue-orange-blue has also been a winning look.
-- Orange jerseys and white pants have the only winning records in their respective groups; the combo has only been worn twice together, though. Duke and Eastern Michigan were the recipients of those beatings.
Note - complete through Ball State, October 5 2013
