Texas Tech football: Counting down the Red Raiders’ best uniform combos of all-time

Today, let’s take a look at the ten best uniform combinations that the Texas Tech football program has ever worn, a list that takes us through the decades of the program’s modern era.

There was a time when the Texas Tech football program didn’t change up the uniform combinations from week to week outside of the home and road variations.  But in the modern age of college football, no team has just two color combinations.

But do uniforms have an impact on the success of a program, especially when it comes to recruiting?  That depends on what programs we are talking about.

We know that traditional powers like Alabama, Oklahoma, USC, or Penn State, all of which have basic uniform looks, would still be able to land the top talent in the nation even if they wore polka dots and butterflies on their uniforms.  However, the middle-class in the sport have had to try to pull some of the attention their way by having looks that stand out from the masses.

The pioneers of that movement were the Oregon Ducks.  Their success in the last three decades has been tied directly to their willingness to let alum and Nike founder Phil Knight revolutionize their game-day attire.

According to this article by Evan Desai of Cronkite News, Knight started to give his alma mater its futuristic new looks following the 1994-95 season.  That year, the Ducks went to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1958.  Since then, they have made it back to Pasadena four times.

But is that success tied simply to the revamped uniforms or to the massive influx of money that Knight has been able to pump into the program as Nike has become one of the most successful brands in the world?  Likely, both factors play a role but still, there’s a belief around the college football world that uniforms matter on the recruiting trail.

"“I think uniform combinations and having all of that kind of stuff is definitely one factor in many factors in recruiting,” Rivals recruiting analyst Adam Gorney told Desai. “There’s a reason why when kids go on visits, the new big thing is to take photoshoots in all kinds of uniform combinations. It’s to sell those recruits, but also to kind of influence other kids who are scrolling through social media to kind of follow along.”"

What’s more, most programs today feel like if they don’t vary their uniforms and make a social media commotion over each look, they risk falling behind their competition.  Plus, there are some who feel like players perform better when they feel they look their best.

But regardless of the importance one assigns them, uniforms are one of the most sacred and popular aspects of college football.  So after last week’s examination of the worst uniforms Tech has ever worn, let’s go the other way and look at the best combinations we’ve seen the Red Raiders don.

Just like last week’s look the uniform blunders, you’ll notice a theme in this countdown.  Whereas the more tricked-up special-occasion looks tended to dominate the list of the worst uniforms, you’ll find that as this countdown moves on, more and more of Tech’s throwback looks will show up.  But at No. 10, we will begin with a modern uniform combo.