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          College Football Nation Blog

          Uniform roundup: Rivalry week brings traditional unis

          • Sam Strong, ESPN Staff WriterNov 28, 2015, 08:00 AM ET
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            • College sports editor.
            • Joined ESPN in 2013.
            • Graduate of UCLA.
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          In the uniform world, college football fans usually fall into one of two camps: You're a traditionalist or you aren't. You were either OK with Ohio State wearing black or you weren't. There isn't much middle ground.

          Well, the Saturday after Thanksgiving means rivalry week, and rivalries jibe with tradition, so this week is for you, traditionalists. We still saw Oregon in muted camo, but the Ducks are often the exception, not the rule. You won't see Notre Dame in green, Miami wearing Kevlar cleats or Nebraska in black.

          Here are some of the uniform highlights from rivalry Saturday.

          Virginia Tech is sending Frank Beamer off in a road uniform that hearkens back to his first season (1987) in Blacksburg. The Hokies lost Beamer's first rivalry game against Virginia, but they currently hold an 11-game winning streak.

          Nothing new here except a reminder that UCLA's "true blue" and USC's cardinal together on the same field in Los Angeles' Crosstown Rivalry is a thing of beauty. No longer do the teams have to burn timeouts to do it, either.

          South Carolina will host No. 1 Clemson in an all-garnet combo.

          Ole Miss is the road team in this season's Egg Bowl against Mississippi State, and it doesn't get more traditional than this combo for the Rebels.

          Eastern Michigan joined several other teams in honoring former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr's grandson.

          Syracuse will be true to its nickname when it hosts Boston College.

          North Carolina is going blue-white-blue when it travels to rival NC State.

          Arizona State played its rivalry game last week and chose to wear gray. The Sun Devils will return to something more familiar when they travel to Cal. The Golden Bears will go navy-navy-white for their senior day.

          This season hasn't gone exactly according to plan for 2-9 SMU, so who needs tradition? The Mustangs will have chrome decals on their helmets when they visit Memphis.