30 best jerseys in college football

27. Vanderbilt (Gold)

We’ve seen the self-proclaimed gold of Iowa and LSU thus far on this list, but it’s the No. 27 ranking which can claim the real gold. Whereas Iowa and LSU claim to have gold uniforms, they look a lot more like yellow to most people. There’s no doubting the gold in Vanderbilt’s uniforms, however. While they may not be as successful as the previously mentioned schools, the Commodores play football in style.

In past decades, Vanderbilt rocked uniforms which were a majority black. Rather simple, bland uniforms which perfectly summed up their play on the field — average. But, when James Franklin took over as head coach in Nashville, things began to change. The Commodores enjoyed relatively unusual success under Franklin and they began to win in style, as well. Franklin introduced new blackout and whiteout uniforms, as well as golden alternates. Even though Franklin departed in 2013 for Penn State, the uniform changes didn’t stop. Current head coach Derek Mason made tweaks to the Franklin-era uniforms and adopted a matte black helmet.

Vanderbilt doesn’t wear the gold uniforms too often, but they should. It was Franklin who made the gold less flashy on the uniforms and added the black on the shoulders, which looks superb. In addition, the black numbering and lettering, as well as the black lines and logo on the collar make it one of the sharpest uniforms in the SEC. Not to mention, the matte black helmet and pants are a nice touch. Thanks to both Franklin and Mason. They may not have been able to completely turn around Vanderbilt (to this date), but at least they gave the college football world a genuine gold jersey.