Written by Brent Yarina, BTN.comThe 2012 NCAA men’s basketball title game participants were determined Saturday night, and it will be Kentucky vs. Kansas. Here at BTN.com, we’ve reached the finals of our 2012 Big Ten football uniform bracket. The matchup: No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 5 Iowa. Who’s going to be the winner? It’s up to you, so cast your vote in this post. See the previous matchups: Semis | Quarters | First round.
FINAL: No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 5 IOWA
How they got here: Michigan destroyed No. 12 Northwestern in the first round and put it on rival Michigan State in the quarterfinals, amassing the most votes in the process, to earn the automatic berth into the title matchup. Iowa breezed by Wisconsin in the opening round, upset No. 2 Penn State in the quarters and drilled No. 9 Purdue in the semis.
BTN.com web editor Brent Yarina writes the Clothes Call features. Send him your Big Ten fashion tips here, find all of his work here and follow him on Twitter at @BTNBrentYarina.
Man, how did Iowa make it to the final round? This should be a bloodbath…
Iowa hands down…no contest.
Seriously, you scoff at Iowa’s awesome unis?! They have a classic look as Michigan’s do, but they don’t have to do a throwback or corporate pro-combat change yearly. Clearly the advantage is to the black and gold.
Let’s go Hawks!
if eric means Iowa beating michigan then yes it will be a bloodbath
and eric its called HAWKEYE NATION!!!!
Yup. A Wolverine bloodbath. Beat Mich Again.
Michigans Uni’s are fugly. That is why the Hawks are winning just like we beat Michigan in football and basketball.
Just another reason to play “In Heaven There IsNo Beer!! Go Hawks!!!!
@Tiggerhawk: By awesome and classic you mean copied a pro team just like a High School? Yeah real original. Michigan has had its winged helmet since the ’40s while Iowa has only had their unis since the ’70s when they copied the Steelers. Yes, Michigan did have some throwbacks this year, but they don’t change their unis yearly, you must be thinking of State. Michigan has the REAL classic look so I’d say advantage Maize and Blue.
And fyi, Iowa only started winning this when the bots got involved. I guess that’s the only way you guys can win…
When does the voting end? Hawks are killing it. Michigans helmets are horrible. Go hawks!!!
@Scott
grassroots. go hawks.
I would think that a school with such a huge football tradition would have better uniforms than an arena league team. Never have liked their uniforms. Think they look silly. Everyone knows the Tigerhawk! Gotta go with the Black and Gold!
@Scott, we havent had much trouble beating you guys in the last twenty years!!! Bots or not!
@Scott, Being jealous and making accusations will not help your team any. Trust me, no bots just better fans.
Scott…ahhh….sniff sniff…you are losing, so it must be bots…lol..I could care less how long Michigan has had those fugly helmets. The hawks helmets are original, nobody as them. Go hawks!! This is no upset, we should have been seated #1.
If Iowa went from 0.23% of the vote to 99.68% within half an hour, that would be a telltale sign that bots were involved. Iowa fans must just have more passionate and have better communication skills and technologies than Michigan fans. Then again, I shouldn’t have expected anything other than whining from a Wolverine.
Beat little Blue, I hope they get blown out by Bama and then lose 3 of their next 4 3 – 9 for the season would be just about perfect.
@scott – You might want to rethink your statement. Michigan’s helmets are copies of Delaware. There is nothing unique about Michigan’s uniforms.
Remember that Hahden Fry redesigned the Iowa logo and uniforms early in his tenure…thanks, Hayden. “Black is a color of power and strength, and to see all those players, with the captains linking their arms in front-it’s a powerful picture.”
I love that Iowa is taking it to Michigan. I have always thought the Michigan’s helments were original and cool but they have been messing with their uniform jersey’s as of late when they should have just left them alone. Iowa’s uniform is a classic from head to toe and when I see all these teams changing their uniforms seemingly every season it makes me realize how timeless Iowa’s look is. With Hayden Fry’s Tiger Hawk logo along with the Pittsburgh Steelers classic look helped to shape one of the best college football uniforms ever!
@acoustix – Hahaha nice job exposing your ignorance. Delaware copied Michigan, not vice versa. Our legendary coach Fritz Crisler INVENTED the helmet at Princeton in the 30s, then brought it to Michigan. We’ve had it ever since. Michigan’s unis are the definition of classic. Take one look at the Steeler’s unis and you’ll see yours are an EXACT ripoff of them.
that’s not me, that’s my uniform
The winged helmets are FAR from original. Princeton along with many others wore them first.
@goblue – HAHAHA an even better job of you exposing YOUR ignorance. Since when have the Steeler’s had a Tigerhawk on their uniforms? Go pout in your corner before you try to call somebody else out on their ignorance and expose your own. A for effort though. lol
It has been 1,988 days since Michigan last beat Iowa in football.
And Iowa beats Michigan….again.
Go hawks…all I hear from Michigan fans is blah blah blah bots are cheating blah blah blah. Hawks have true fans. This is evident by the voting. Go hawks.
Iowa’s uniform’s are NOT exactly like the Pittsburgh Steelers! You have to actually be a fan of both teams to know the difference. There are a few details that are different between the two. Jersey numbers, player name color, Tiger Hawk logo, & throwback unis are totally different. Coach Fry knew what he was doing @ Iowa, and he came out of Texas as head coach for SMU and North Texas. “GO HAWKS 2012!!”
@goblue – Thank you for admitting Michigan borrowed their look from someone too. Just because you stole it less recently doesn’t automatically make it better.
@ GOBLUE….Actually if we are going with ignorance, the font on both names and numbers are different. Steelers utalize a font that rounds their numbers and letters where as iowa uses college block lettering. Although i agree about deleware, totally ripped off mich. But iowa didnt rip anything off, we openly admit our uniforms are modeled after the steelers. Fry did it to honor the most dominant nfl of the time, they were a powerhouse in the nfl and hayden wanted us to have to look of champions. However black and gold have always been the two main colors of iowa football.
Actually Iowa got permission to use the Steelers colors, and design. Hayden said if you want to play like a champion you must look like one. I however think Michigan helmet is the 2nd coolest next to Iowa, and I believe it’s timeless. just sayin
HA HA HA, Hawk fans have to be the most delusional fans on earth. Win 11 National Titles, and 42 Big Ten titles, then you can run your mouths
Iowa’s uni’s are like Kirk Ferentz: highly overrated, mediocre at best.
11 National Championships. Most wins in CFB history. Best winning % in CFB history. More B1G championships than anyone else. Bow down, folks.
And, back to uni talk, Michigan’s uniforms on a yearly basis are named the best uni’s in CFB. Here’s a link from the WALL STREET JOURNAL this past season, in which they brought in a panel of fashion experts.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204464404577114863448822548.html
Checkmate.
Go Blue
Sooo…wheres all the Iowa smacktalkers at now…your uni’s are fugly and the real proof is in the jersey sales…theyre not even in the same league as UM
Michigan uniforms are great, but I have to go with the Black and Gold. Go Hawks!
longliveBo, if Michigan’s jerseys are outselling Iowa’s, it’s probably because a bunch of hipsters are picking them up because they’re “ironic.” walk around New York and you’ll probably see a bunch of folks wearing them with big thick glasses (even though they have perfect vision), pink skin-tight corduroy pants, and a wool stocking cap in 95-degree weather. that’s how ugly Michigan’s jerseys are.
Michigan didn’t have a semi final opponent. Go Hawks!!!!!!!!!!
JP, do you not get that Iowa fans could care less about Michigan’s history? Since 1999, Michigan has won as many national titles as Iowa has: ZERO. Say what you want about superior recruits, tradition, blah blah blah, and we’ll just continue our current 3-game winning streak on the gridiron.
Tom Arnold. ’nuff said.
Without their iconic helmets, the Michigan uniforms are pretty bland and actually somewhat ugly…. Iowa should easily move onto the next round, but because UM has the larger fanbase they’ll most likely win this match up
66-33? Yikes. Wrap this sh!t up.
seriously? iowa’s uni’s are old fashioned hideous. michigan should run away with this if people vote on uniforms alone. iowa is towards the bottom of the B1G in reality
HAWKEYES RULE EVERYTHING THEIR UNIFORMS ARE CLASSIC AND SHOULD STAY THAT WAY.
The more I vote for Iowa the lower the % goes. Is there something going on that steals votes? I voted 5x in about 1&1/2 minutes & each vote took the % Iowa had lower instead of increasing it.
This poll is bogus. How can the poll be consistently be trending .01 for Michigan every refresh since 3AM April 1st? Obviously a rigged game. Not saying that Iowa would have won, but it would be nice to see an honest poll, not who can get the most refresh votes. C’mon BIG TEN NETWORK, get it right!
This poll is either rigged or broken. When I submitted my vote the other day Iowa was up by about 30 some percent. The next day Iowa was down 40%.
The voting for many of the final few matchups changed by hour, it seemed, depending on which message boards linked fans to the page. I checked in on the votes quite a bit and there isn’t any other explanation. Big Ten fans are dedicated.
In favor of Iowa:
*The day-glo flourescent yellow on Michigan’s uniform is its secret shame. That color does not exist in nature, and does not exactly fit with the idea of tradition that the Wolverine winged helmets evoke so well.
*The Tigerhawk logo holds its own against Michigan’s iconic helmet.
*While the uniform concept doesn’t go back as far as the winged helmets, as the years have gone by the history of Hayden Fry getting permission from the Pittsburgh Steelers to model Iowa’s uniforms after them “so that the team would at least look like winners” fifty years ago gets more and more credibility from a tradition point of view.
*Didn’t Michigan steal the winged helmet design from Princeton, after all? NB: I’m not sure if that’s true or not.
In favor of Michigan:
*Longer history.
*While Iowa’s Tigerhawk logo and overall look is better from many angles, Michigan’s winged helmets stand out best when viewed from above, as one sees them from stadium bleachers or the typical overhead TV shot.
*Iowa’s new look may have 50 years of tradition now, but they have tinkered a bit as well. The old shoulder wings were ugly, and the stripes haven’t been consistent.
*Let’s be honest, the “ANF” lightning bolt may look fine, but should a college football team be lobbying for an already over-subsidized industry? Especially when the lobbying is so dishonest giving the disconnect between how America views the farming industry, and the reality of it. Iowans know the truth better than anyone.
Brent,
I respectfully disagree, there is another explanation. I went to check on the results of this poll at 3AM on April 1st. I was surprised to see Michigan was back ahead. I understand that Michigan has dedicated fans, and they link from message boards. However, to see the poll moving in one direction by the EXACT same increment for more than 12 hours does seem really fishy. You will have to admit that. I am not saying the the Big Ten Network is rigging the poll, but rather that someone from Michigan has found the way to hack the poll by auto voting multiple times. This is obvious. There is no other way to explain it. Once again, I am not saying that Iowa would have won, but it would be nice to see the results of a honest 1 vote per person poll.
We are not rigging the poll, I assure you that. Who knows what happened, but I do know there were HUGE swings in several of the matchups. We can see that a lot of message boards linked to it, and the ones with the most clicks coincided with who won the matchups. It’s all for fun – nothing that is official or scientific.
Once again I am not saying that you are rigging the poll, nor have I ever made that assertion. However, for the poll to be as lopsided as it was is certainly not indicative of the real results. Not saying that Iowa could have won, but when people are saying that they vote and the % goes down after they vote is utterly ridiculous. I also understand its only for fun, but obviously when people go out of their way to get people to vote only to have a poll be auto voted by your opposition, as this one obviously was, is frustrating.
Hayden Fry…..send him a wwwaaaahhhhhhhmmmmmmbbbuuulaaaqnnncccee
Jeez, what a bunch of Whiners! Unbelievable… The delusional Hawk fans are at it again
My favorite top 3 quotes are as follows “I understand Michigan has dedicated fans” it is just in front of “checked the results at 3:00am” or “Michigan fan hacking” but I do know the following, Michigan has the largest living Alumni than any University in the country. I also know as a fan of the University of Michigan there are alot of people just like myself in the non Alumni fan base. I however didn’t get a chance to vote but found it funny when Michigan gets jobbed playing Iowa this year. Many Michigan fans complained of the way the team played and not the last five min. of officiating in that game. Talk about fishy I still can’t get the stench of fish out of my house after watching a clear TD taken away and a clear case of interference ignored at the end of the game. So if there is a hacker lol God bless him and Congradulations to U. of M. having obviously the best uniforms/helmuts or Stadium in the country let alone Iowa’s.
There is a high school in Peoria Illinois that has a helmet similar to the Michigan helmet.