7. UMass: Marcus Camby Era
Everything was better for UMass when John Calipari was in town – NCAA trouble not withstanding. The Minutemen were relevant thanks to Calipari and, at the end of the coach’s tenure, star center Marcus Camby (pictured). But even more memorable were the school’s uniforms during the Camby days, which featured a giant, script “U” followed by a smaller “Mass.” We like them much better than the run-of-the-mill current look – and couldn’t picture Camby, Carmelo Travieso and Edgar Padilla wearing anything else on the way to the 1996 Final Four.
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6. Missouri: Block “M”
Missouri basketball doesn’t have the same history as some of the other schools on this list, but it had one thing: a unique look to its uniforms. The block letter “M” on the front of the jerseys stood out from almost everything else in college basketball. The first letter was big and bolder than the rest of the pedestrian letters in the word, a look that was ditched after the 1994-95 season. Now, the Tigers – who have gotten off to a 17-1 start this season – have a capitalized “Mizzou” across their chests. It’s just not the same.
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5. Syracuse: Creamsicles
You can’t take anything away from Syracuse’s undefeated start to the 2011-12 season, which it began with its 20th straight win Monday. Actually, there’s one thing we don’t like about the current ‘Cuse – it’s not orange enough. Take us back to the 1990s and the orange overload of the creamsicle jerseys. Check the photo of John Wallace, who helped lead Syracuse to the 1996 national title game. That’s what a ‘Cuse uni should look like; do away with the current grey infusion on the numbers and whatever that is on the side of the shorts.
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