Ranking the 50 most visually-appealing college football uniforms

While Princeton isn’t the first team to don a winged helmet on the gridiron, they were the university that first made famous the distinctive three-stripe look that is so familiar throughout college football. The Tigers, under legendary coach Fritz Crisler, wore the design for the first time in 1935 as they swept their way to a 9-0 record. That year, Princeton scored 256 points and allowed only 32 points en route to the national championship.

When Crisler left Princeton in 1938, the Tigers abandoned the design for six decades. In 1998, the distinctive three-stripe winged helmet returned in its black-and-orange glory and has been a mainstay of Princeton uniforms ever since.

Pulling off an orange-and-black color scheme is far more difficult than it might initially seem. Oregon State and Oklahoma State both employ the colors to varying degrees of success. Princeton, given their mascot, is the most natural fit for incorporating those two hues together on the football field.

Working with Nike, Princeton has had fun in recent years playing up their moniker and embracing a historic look. With an honorable mention shoutout to Delaware for the blue-and-gold winged helmet donned by the Blue Hens, the Tigers get the nod as the FCS team that wears the wings best due to the historic affiliation with Crisler.