Being one of the oldest conferences in college football means the Big Ten is home to some absolutely classic looks on the field. From iconic looks like Penn State‘s basic blue jerseys and white pants to Michigan‘s winged helmet and Ohio State‘s silver-gray helmet and buckeye stickers, the Big Ten hits it out of the par when it comes to some of college football’s all-time best looks.

The Big Ten also is home to some of the sport’s best stadiums in the sport of college football, with more classic venues joining the fold with the upcoming expansion of the Big Ten. But who has the best uniform when playing in their home stadium? That’s where this ranking comes into play.

For the purposes of this ranking, we are only looking at the standard home uniform for each of the Big Ten’s 14 members. No alternate uniforms are considered here, nor are alternate helmets. Some schools may switch things up with their uniform combo on a weekly basis, so some editorial decisions were made to determine what the standard home uniform should be for that school if necessary. I’m looking at you, Minnesota.

So who has the best home uniform in the conference? Let’s start at the bottom and work our way to the top of the mountain.

Rutgers is one of the OGs of college football as the birthplace of the sport, but the uniform could be due for a little bit of an overhaul. Rutgers has gone with a more traditional look in recent years, which is to be applauded. Unfortunately, it’s some tough competition for Rutgers in this game.

Indiana’s look is strikingly similar to what we see from Rutgers, just with a different shade of red for the uniform. Indiana scores slightly higher than Rutgers on this list for the better uniform numbering. The helmet is fairly underrated in this uniform connoisseur’s personal opinion.

Blue and orange can be a tricky color combo to work with, and Illinois could probably use a little help with it. The Illini could benefit from outlining the uniform numbers in white to pop a little bit more than they currently do. This is what is done on the helmet, so why not bring that down to the jersey too? But that’s really the worst that can be said here. It’s not a bad look, but it could easily be improved.

Northwestern’s look may be greatly underrated. It is not always easy making purple look good, but the Wildcats manage to pull it off quite well. Under Armour has done a solid job with the Northwestern uniform, including a fan-favorite alternate look. But as far as the standard home uniform, Northwestern’s is easily overlooked and may be deserving of a little more praise. But as is the case, it’s tough competition in the uniform game in this conference.

Purdue is a school that can hit you a few different ways with its uniform when at home, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with the traditional gold pants and black jersey with the gold helmet combination. The Boilermakers have a solid look when they trot out this uniform, although the shoulders in the uniforms seen here seem like a little much.

Just as this list started, we are going back-to-back with a couple of similar uniform styles. Wisconsin‘s home look is one of the classics in the Big Ten, and you would not get much of a fight here if you wanted to rank them one spot higher by swapping these next two home uniforms. Wisconsin’s motion “W” above the uniform number should probably be removed, and the uniform number font is fine.

Nebraska‘s home uniform does everything I want Wisconsin’s uniform to do. The classic block-style numbering looks better and the lack of a school logo crowding the chest of the uniform helps. Wisconsin’s helmet scores higher than Nebraska’s small block “N”, but the Huskers do just a little more right with the uniform overall to stay just a hair ahead of the Badgers.

Let’s just say this and live with the consequences from Steelers nation, but the Iowa Hawkeyes do the Pittsburgh Steelers jersey better than the Steelers. If anything, Iowa should just avoid going with the current number font of the Steelers moved to years ago. This is a solid look for the Iowa program and despite some odd uniform choices in the 1990s, something we can probably all relate if we lived through it, you have to respect Iowa staying with this look. Plus, the Iowa logo really is one of the best in the conference.

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Here is one where editorial control took the wheel and decided on what Minnesota’s standard home uniform be. This is it, right here. Maroon from head to toe with gold accent on the helmet logo. This is a great look for the Gophers, a program not afraid to change its look every week of the season. Swap out the helmet for a gold helmet if you wish, and I’ll be perfectly fine with that. The Gophers probably go a little overboard in some areas, like the NFL-style captain patch.

Cracking the top five is Michigan State. The Spartans can go a few different ways at home and they typically will wear a green helmet at home. That’s not what is pictured here, but we’ll take this look any day especially if it happens to be snowing! The subtle elements making for a unique number style helps Michigan State stand out as well.

There may not be a school in the Big Ten with as much of a polarizing uniform than the Maryland Terrapins. But here’s the cold hard truth about the Maryland uniform; it was horrible when the concept of the state pride look was first adopted but has evolved to become one of the best uniforms in the Big Ten, hands down. Maryland has allowed this concept to be refined over the years and is now an absolutely fantastic look the school should be proud of.

Of all the schools that have a red uniform in the Big Ten, nobody does it as well as Ohio State. Unlike the other Big Ten schools that pair their shades of red with white, the Buckeyes have the luxury of having a silver-gray as a school color to work into the mix. Ohio State’s look is classic and storied and looks as good as the program has come to be in the sport.

Few uniforms in the Big Ten have as long a history as the Michigan Wolverines. Michigan’s signature winged helmet design may not be a Michigan original, but who cares? It’s what makes Michigan what they are, and the return to basics with the home uniform was a wise decision after a brief time experimenting with a few uniform changes in previous years.

As you can probably tell, keeping things fairly simple with the uniform tends to score some points around here. This brings us to No. 1 on our list…

Are we being just a little bit biased by ranking Penn State on the top of this list? Yeah, probably. But c’mon. Look at that beauty right there. Want me to say anything negative about that? I could actually do it. I endorse a return of the white neckline and on the sleeves and I would remove the logo from the front of the uniform just above the jersey number. But I would do that for every uniform on this list, so how can I knock Penn State too much for that?

Simply put, simplicity wins. Penn State’s classic look on a Saturday in Beaver Stadium is the best the Big Ten has to offer.

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