Representatives from the Outback Bowl have informed me that Michigan State is the away team, meaning they will wear their away uniforms against Georgia on January 2^nd in Tampa, Florida.

I expect the team to wear their normal away uniforms from the 2010-2011 style, with an Outback Bowl patch sewn on their shoulder and an Outback Bowl decal added to the rear of the helmet.

The Detroit Free Press reported yesterday that the Michigan State football players were given the Pro Combat Helmets as part of their bowl gift.

For the players, the helmet commemorates the dominating fashion in which the fourth straight victory over arch rival Michigan came. “It doesn’t happen every year, where you play in a game like that,” said sophomore linebacker Max Bullough. “For me, it’s exciting. That’s something you can hold onto forever, especially having the year we had.”

The university put the value of the helmets at $200, which is half of the bowl gift allotment by the NCAA. The remaining $200 will mostly be gift cards, which will be appreciated, but can’t be compared to the helmet. “That’s probably the most exciting gift,” said senior tight end Brian Linthicum. “Gift cards are gift cards. We get them every year. The helmet we thought we were getting right after the game. We got the gloves, jersey, everything but the helmet.”

Wide Receiver B.J. Cunningham said, “You’re going to put it up in a case, let your kids look at it. It’s an once-in-a-lifetime thing for MSU. It’s exciting to be a part of that, especially the senior class, beating (Michigan) for the fourth time.”

As a tribute to the armed forces, the Michigan State football team will wear a large star logo on the back of their helmets Saturday against Iowa.

Michigan State basketball‘s camo jerseys to be worn for the Carrier Classic have been unveiled. Pictures of the front and back confirm earlier speculation that they are modeled after the current style, except with an “urban camo” pattern. Review to follow shortly.

The Associated Press reported yesterday athletic director Mark Hollis has confirmed the Michigan State basketball team will wear the camo jerseys when they play UNC on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson on Nov. 11. News of the specials jerseys first leaked onto the Internet last week.

Hollis said they worked close with Nike to create special jerseys for the game with an “urban camo” pattern on them. The players’ last names on the back of the jerseys will be replaced with “USA” in the Spartan font.

Earlier in the week the Free Press reported Tom Izzo knew about the camo jerseys, but hadn’t seen them yet. When asked what he will be wearing, “It won’t be a camouflage suit,” he said. “It won’t be a suit, either.”

UNC officially unveiled their camo jerseys yesterday, keeping up with the trend of announcing details on Carrier Classic before host MSU. With the game two weeks away, MSU should officially unveil their camo jerseys soon.

Nike released special t-shirts for the event. Campus Den calls it the “Nike Carrier Classic T-Shirt” which features the words “United We Stand” in the urban camo on a green shirt. Hopefully, Nike will also release a replica camo jersey for the fans.

BONUS: Speaking of basketball, ever wonder what happened to the old Breslin floor? It was split up and sold in pieces in 2005, giving many fans (including yours truly) the opportunity to own a unique piece of Spartan history. The largest piece sold, the center court, was just installed at The Ticket Machine’s new offices in East Lansing. When they open their doors in a few weeks, it would definitely be worth it to pay them a visit and walk on hallowed ground hardwood.

I was able to get a few more details on the leaked image of the camo Michigan State basketball jerseys.

Our friends over at Uni Watch linked to a video about World Series patches being sewn on the St. Louis Cardinals jerseys by the Liebe Company in St. Louis, MO. Uni Watch reader ‘Simply Moono’ noticed at the :52 mark of the video there was a stack of Michigan State basketball jerseys next to the stack of St. Louis Cardinals jerseys.

The basketball jerseys look to be the 2010-2011 home style, but with a digital camouflage pattern.

This wouldn’t be the first time Nike has used the digital camouflage. Army has used it on their football helmets and jerseys for several games, and Ohio State has used it on their helmets for the 2011 spring game.

The camo jerseys are most likely for the Quicken Loans Carrier Classic where Michigan State will play North Carolina on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. And I bet they were at Liebe Company to get a commemorative patch and player names sewn on.

At the :52 mark, you can see that the stack of Michigan State jerseys is next to a stack of Carolina blue jerseys. It looks like both teams will be wearing the camo jerseys for the Quicken Loans Carrier Classic with Michigan State being the home team (whites), and North Carolina being the away team (darks).

I love the idea of camo jerseys for the Carrier Classic as it’s just another nod of appreciation to those that have selflessly served our country. The event is being held on Veteran’s Day and along with President Obama, there will be more in attendance from the armed forces than the MSU and UNC crowds combined.

What do you think of a camo jersey? Leave your comments below:

This image of a stack of digital camouflage Michigan State basketball jerseys appeared on the Internet tonight. I can speculate that they will be worn for the Carrier Classic game on the USS Carl Vinson against North Carolina. I will post more details when confirmed.

This week Michigan State’s Nike Pro Combat Uniforms arrived in the football equipment room and MSU posted nine gorgeous photos of the new uniforms on its Twitter page:

• Jersey: Front | Back Collar
• Shoes: Side view | Close up
• Helmet: Side view | Close up
• Equipment room: Keith Nichol getting fitted | Helmets on shelves 1 & 2

The pictures reveal a few things about the helmet that was previously unknown. First, the helmet stripe does not go all the way back and attach itself the bottom of the helmet like it does in the current helmets. The stripe comes to a point about 2 inches above the back name strip. Second, the helmet is actually textured. I previously thought the texture was a look created by special paint, but it looks as if it’s rough to the touch.

Mark Dantonio mentioned in his weekly press conference that the players will try on the new uniforms to get used to the new shoes and make sure helmets fit correctly. This will also help to take some adrenaline out of putting them on before the rivalry game against Michigan. Dantonio mentioned that Cousins will practice throwing to receivers wearing a bronze helmet, instead of the usual green helmet that Michigan State Football players wear.

The players weren’t the only ones to get the new uniforms. At 12:01 a.m. Eastern on Monday the Pro Combat fan apparel went on sale. They can be purchased online from Michigan State, Campus Den or the Nike Store among several other retailers. If you’re local to East Lansing, Dick’s Sporting Goods and most of the bookstores are carrying the fan apparel as well. The items all have limited quantities and are selling out. If you’re looking for the shoes, they go on sale Oct. 14 at the Nike Store.

The highly anticipated Pro Combat Uniforms were unveiled last Tuesday to sky-high expectations from Spartan Nation.

Before we get into my review, we all need to remind ourselves of two things.

• First – it is an honor for the Michigan State football team to wear the Pro Combat Uniforms, with only the elite schools selected for the privilege to wear them.
• Second – Michigan State football does not have tradition with a consistent uniform design. We need to stop comparing ourselves to Notre Dame and Alabama and start thinking of ourselves in the same league as Oregon.

The reaction to the design of Michigan State’s Pro Combat Uniforms has been mostly positive. Over 800 readers of Spartan Jerseys gave the uniforms an A grade, more than any other grade combined. The reaction of the players via twitter was an overwhelming support of the design and even Mark Dantonio mentioned that he liked them in his weekly press conference. It also doesn’t hurt that they were seen on Yahoo Sports, ESPN and Washington Post.

Two months ago, I speculated that the design would be a throwback uniform due to Mark Dantonio’s comments in the original announcement. In reality, the unveiled design is a hybrid between a throwback uniform with questionable color selections and, as Michigan State’s online columnist Steve Grinczel put it, a “homage to their ancient Greek warrior namesake.”

Because of this, the uniforms require a lot of explaining. For example, those outside Spartan Nation continue to mistake the bronze color for gold and are scratching their heads wondering what gold has to do with Michigan State. The fact that “gold” needs to be corrected in every national review of the uniforms proves my point.

If Nike’s designers made the jersey black and the pants bronze, they would have made a true throwback design, directly resembling the style worn in 1934-1946. It was during this era when Michigan State beat Michigan four consecutive years in a row for the first time in history – an accomplishment the Spartans are trying to do again this year.

Incorporating a true throwback with the King Leonidas’ influence would have made it easier to answer all the surrounding questions by being able to point to the uniforms worn in our football history and the history of the Greek Spartans. These two changes would make these uniforms the best design among the nine schools in this year’s Pro Combat Uniform class.

I asked my readers on Spartan Jerseys to grade the uniforms and I will do the same. I give the uniforms a strong B. Positives include the helmet design and the King Leonidas elements. Criticisms include the color of the jersey and pants, the overall darkness of the jersey (black writing on dark green), and the confusion caused by the bronze color people are continuing to mistake for gold.

What do you think? Grade the design of the uniforms and share your thoughts below.

After almost two months of waiting, Nike officially unveiled the design of the Michigan State Pro Combat Uniforms this morning. Pictures of the highly anticipated uniforms can be found here and my full review found here.

What do you think? Grade the design of the uniforms and share your thoughts below.