Rate That Uniform: Boise State Broncos football

It's time to take the next step in our uniform rating journey.

Last week we evaluated the classic look of Nebraska football, dished out our grades, and you voted. This week: the progressive threads of the Boise State. The Broncos wear a lot of different combinations.

Here at Vanquish The Foe, we will rate the uniform sets of each team appearing on BYU's 2015 schedule based on our own biases. Then you vote on the poll below the post and tell us if we got it right or wrong.

Here's our take on the uniforms of BYU's second opponent, with editor Kevin Kennedy.

Helmet

Boise State has gone to this helmet design exclusively starting in 2014. It features the large horse head on the left and a number on the right. It exists in four different colors, all of which were used in 2014:
Blue helmet | Orange helmet | White helmet | Black helmet

The Broncos wore a ton of different combinations in 2014, with the most common being all blue (worn 4 times) and all white (2 times). For purposes of this series, we'll consider all-blacks and grays as "alternate" uniforms, with all other sets falling under Boise's "standard" sets.

Home: All blue

Home: Blue-orange-orange

Road: All white

Road: Orange-white-white

Road: Blue-white-orange (The Fiesta Bowl Special)

Roads not pictured but used in 2014: Black-white-black, orange-white-orange

Alternate 1: All black

Alternate 2: Gray

Boise State Broncos
	Brett	Kevin K.
Helmet	A	B+
Uniforms	B+	C
OVERALL	A-	B-
Alternates	C	A-

Brett:

My opinion on helmet logos is that if you don't have to use the name of your school on the helmet, don't. Feature the logo itself -- you can't usually read the words anyway. Boise State long wore its traditional Bronco-head-above-Boise-State-wordmark logo. But in 2014, the Broncos went all-in on the large Bronco head once reserved for the "pro combat" Nike specials. This was a great move. It's not a traditional helmet by any means, but I believe Boise has hit the sweet spot with these lids. That's good for an A.

There once was a time I considered Boise State's uniforms to be absolutely clownish. The Broncos featured accent marks, swooshes, swatches, and more. In 2014, however, Boise's uniform sets divested themselves from all that tomfoolery and I love the results. Across all sets -- except the orange tops -- Boise kept it clean, and it's a much better look. The orange tops are still a remnant from designs of the past. Hopefully the Broncos will update the orange tops if they plan to continue using them. While I really like this trend, not all of the combinations do it for me, and I dislike the orange tops. So overall, I've assigned Boise's standard uniform sets a solid B+.

All-gray alternates are rarely look good, and I think Boise's are terrible. Schools need to stop this unless gray is in their official colors, and even then it has to be the perfect shade to work. I don't mind the all black sets, but it's just black for black's sake. The black helmets are cool. Overall, the black helmet and uniform helps pull the total alternate grade up to a C.

Kevin K.:

I really wanted to give out an A for the helmets but couldn't bring myself to fully reward a team that made two mistakes with their helmets. The first, and most damaging, was having an orange helmet. No matter how I look at it, I can't find an angle that makes me not want to poke my eyes out. As bad as the orange helmets are, the black one makes up for it. I love the look of the black and can only find one flaw with them...and that leads to mistake number two....the colored Bronco eye. If they would have kept the eye from sticking out like a sore thumb, the helmets would have been perfect and would have bumped the grade up half a step. Alas, a B+ is given and the dreaded "What could have been" looms.

Initial impressions made me want to give a failing grade to the uniform section but I knew that was probably a bit harsh. I went through them again, and again, and again trying to figure out why I hated them so much. It turns out that I have a tendency to dislike any solid colored uniform. Considering three of the five were solid, and one of the others had the orange helmet, it didn't make a lasting impression. The all blue had the most potential of the group, but I couldn't get past the fact that it was still a bit boring. The Blue-orange-orange looked like a bad ripoff of Denver and the all whites are horrible on any player. The saving factor for the uniforms is the Blue-White-Orange look. I love the color combination and wouldn't have a problem watching them wear these uniforms for all 12 games. With the bump in grade from these gems I give the standard set an average C.

The alternates earned a better grade, even with the solids, based on the black uniforms alone. The gray uniforms were better than any of the other solids but I didn't get the WOW factor from them. They may have been better with the black helmet but the Blue made them a bit off-putting. The black, on the other hand, ended up being my favorite of all uniforms. Sure the black uni's are the fad for alternates right now, but I think the Broncos did a good job with the numbers and blue wording on the black background. I even think using the orange for the belt and number outlines gave the uniforms the touch needed for the perfect combination. The grays were fine but the Blacks helped earn the alternates a very strong A-.

Cast your vote in the poll below!

When the series is over, we'll tally up the votes cast for each school and list a ranking of your vote!

Photos
Helmet - NationalChamps.net Helmet Project and USA Today Sports, Getty
Uniforms - USA Today Sports