M Uniform Bracket - Men's Sweet 16

UPDATE: Voting on this round has closed. Stand by for the Elite 8

The wardrobe has been reduced to 16 -- 8 for men, and 8 for women. This week we shall decide the winners of each region. Then it's on to the championship rounds.

Second Round Recap

The men's second round separated the championship-worthy from the "pretty good." Most elections were runaway victories, but a few remained close to the end. In the end, the Big Three sports won out. Among the smaller programs to put up a fight, lacrosse maizes held out to the bitter end, before falling to the maize hoops unis. Out of the eight remaining unis in the men's bracket are four sports: football, baseball, hockey and basketball.

Here's some highlights:

• The icers' dominance looked likely to continue after a blowout over the baseball blues, but then the maize scripts, the '60s throwbacks and the new whites all fell (though one fell to another hockey sweater)
• A couple of in-house fights came down to the wire, one between baseball's whites and grays, and another between hockey's '60s throwbacks and navy block M's (both retired after last season).
• The OP went 4-for-4, meaning you guys knocked out half of the unis I wanted to move on...jerks.

On to the Sweet 16!

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Men's Bracket, Standing Out from the Crowd Region:



These are the unis that are made to show off our stuff, or at least burn out Ohio's eye sockets trying. When one of your colors matches the sun, you don't have to hide it behind blue sky and gray clouds. Sometimes, though, the sport calls for an alternate that's a little more subdued, a little more classy. There is such a thing as too much sunshine.

Last round: The two matchups in the last round couldn't be more different. The icers' maizers, the only sweaters from '08-'09 that will be back again next year, demolished the blue alternates of the baseball boys. Meanwhile, passions flared as the lacrosse team tried to topple the maize hoops unis. While they kept the vote close, in the end the upset bid fell short, and hoops moved on to the regional championship.

Preview: Two of the best maize uniforms ever produced in sports go head to head this week. We'll find out whether the trouble the hoops team had was a case of too much yellow, or just a worthy run from an underrated opponent. They'd better bring their A-game, though, because the maize sweaters have rolled so far. It's the one seed versus the two seed, but I'd give the slight edge to hockey based on playoff performance.

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Men's Bracket, Not Everyone Looks Good in Blue Region:



Navy blue, throughout history, has not been a color reserved for the masses. It's a color you have to earn. Those who put on an azure jersey, or sweater, or leotard, become part of a long tradition of excellence. Only after proving yourself worthy of that tradition may you don this hue. Blue says that you stand above the competition, that you are better than others. There are so many great reasons to wear this color, but if you're gonna go blue, you'd better do it right.

Last round: Treating it like just another tuneup game, the football homes trounced soccer's sleek outfits (gaining 91 percent of votes cast). The 2-seed hoops blues had similar success, knocking off the tennis unis (and the last of the small-sport comers) with a resounding 75 percent of votes.

Preview: The MAC season is over for football, as the blue basketball unis have tp be considered one of the best chances to knock off the favorites. After all, Rodriguez's squad wore their classic maize pants, blue jerseys, and iconic helmets to an embarrassing 3-9 last year, while Beilein's hoops team sported their navy kit to a 1st round victory over Clemson and a respectable showing against Oklahoma in the NCAA Tournament. Of course, football's been wearing its current unis for almost a century, while basketball switched theirs up just last year, so the old school factor heavily favors the gridiron. I'm picking football.

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Men's Bracket, In My Day We Wore X Region:



Michigan's been playing a full slate of varsity sports for longer than most Division 1 schools have existed. In that time, a lot of outfits have come and gone, though considering all those years, not so many as you might think -- we're "traditional" like that. Some have been brought back. Others never left. And some probably belong back on the shelf.

Last round: The OP's opinions apparently don't matter, since my two favorite hockey sweaters of all time (the maize scripts, and the '60s throwbacks) both went down in close-but-not-that-close elections.

Preview: Football's '05 to '07 aways, the 8 seed in this bracket, have a good shot to head to the Elite 8. But fans seem to adore the big block M on the recently retired navy cager uniforms (the 7 seed). One surprise winner will emerge, but this could be a total pickem.

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Men's Bracket, Scientifically Speaking, I'm Actually Wearing Every Color Right Now Region:



White is a dangerous color, but for those who can pull it off ... oh, who am I kidding, as Misopogal can tell you, I really don't know anything about fashion. What I do know is that if you don't wash your white hockey sweater after every use, you'll develop some unintended yellow slashes at the drip-points of your pads (I'm still waiting for a hockey uni to be designed with color slashes where the sweat stains usually form).

Last round: The elections from last week actually tell us little of what to expect from the holdouts in the whites region. Baseball's classic whites went up against essentially the same exact uniform in gray. The 2-seed hoops whites had a bit of a speedbump against the 3-seed hockey whites, but pulled away to win handily enough at the end.

Preview: The basketball whites might not have shown it yet, but now they get the benefit of big sport versus (relatively) small sport. On the other hand, the baseball whites defeated the grays, which knocked off the 1-seed in the first round solely on their own merits. If voters come down to voting on unis regardless of sport, these beauties have a real shot to move on.