Nike. Just do it (at home).

In 2012, Nike released their Hyper Elite Platinum (home) Uniforms to be worn by the following 7 NCAA Men's basketball teams:

UConn Huskies (vs. Notre Dame 1/29/2012)

Kentucky Wildcats (vs. Tennessee 1/31/2012)

DUKE Blue Devils (vs. Maryland 2/11/2012)

Florida Gators (vs. Tennessee 2/11/2012)

Syracuse Orange (vs. USF 2/22/2012)

Arizona Wildcats (vs. UCLA 2/25/2012)

UNC Tar Heels (vs. Maryland 2/29/2012)

Of these seven teams, five won their matchups (only UConn and Florida lost), representing a near 72% success rate for teams wearing the Nike Hyper Elite Platinum Uniform. Not bad.

In 2013, Nike released their Hyper Elite Road Uniforms to be worn by the following 10 NCAA Men's basketball teams:

Gonzaga Bulldogs (at Butler 1/19/2013)

Michigan State Spartans (at Indiana 1/27/2013)

Villanova Wildcats (at Notre Dame 1/30/2013)

USC Trojans (at UCLA 1/30/2013)

Ohio State Buckeyes (at Michigan 2/5/2013)

UNC Tar Heels (at Miami 2/9/2013)

Georgetown Hoyas (at Cincinnati 2/15/2013)

Kentucky Wildcats (at Tennessee 2/16/2013)

DUKE Blue Devils (at Maryland 2/16/2013)

Texas Longhorns (at Kansas 2/16/2013)

Of these ten teams, two won their matchups (Gonzaga lost, Michigan State lost, Villanova lost, Ohio State lost, UNC lost, Kentucky lost, DUKE lost and Texas lost), representing a mere 20% success rate for teams wearing the Nike Hyper Elite Road Uniforms. Not good. Not good for those eight teams and really not good for Nike. I for one like the road uniform about 100 times more than the 2012 home version (and here’s looking at you Kentucky fans that dropped $120 on a uniform that was rendered useless only 3 months later due to the Wildcats adding their eighth star), but do I want a replica of the jersey that my team wore whilst getting beaten? Not really. After one team lost their matchup in the uniform (and lost by 26 no less), one of my friends took to facebook to say “Let’s never wear those uniforms again. They belong in the burn pile.” I’m sure fans of the other seven teams felt the exact same way, which is a shame because those jerseys were oh-so-nice.

(Full disclosure: winning at home is of course much easier than winning on the road. This too may have contributed just a bit.)