Ranking College Football's Best New Uniforms of 2016

College football is a brutal, vicious sport that requires amazing physical strength and athletic ability in order to be successful. And with all that effort being put forth, it doesn't hurt to look good in the process.

The uniforms that college teams wear is a constant source of discussion, almost as much as the quality of play from those wearing the helmets and jerseys. Every year a handful of teams update their uniforms, partly to better appeal to recruits but also to prompt fans to add to their wardrobe, and these changes are graded and analyzed to the point they might as well be used as criteria by the playoff selection committee.

The 2016 season offseason has seen more than a dozen schools make some sort of tweak to their gear, some minor but others to a greater degree. We've ranked the 10 best updates:

10. UCF

Following an 0-12 season that saw the head coach quit midway through, something needed to change in order for UCF to get back on track. New coach Scott Frost has plenty of on-field ideas, but he also felt a revamped uniform look from Nike couldn't hurt.

And having come from Oregon, which is basically Nike's No. 1 college team in terms of uniform updates, Frost is well-versed in the value of some fresh threads.

"

A closer look… 

HAIL » https://t.co/27JyzgULDw #GoBlue #HAILMichigan pic.twitter.com/CEXQ4NhJ6q

— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) August 2, 2016"

The Knights' overall look isn't too different, just angular changes that are most noticeable in the logo and jersey numbers, but they fit well with the #UCFast theme they're going for.

9. Rutgers

It's addition by subtraction for Rutgers, which under new coach Chris Ash will look less like a cross between Sir Lancelot and a steampunk-era robot and more like a football team trying to get back to its roots.

That's somewhat ironic, since the Scarlet Knights' best run of football success—six seasons of eight or more wins from 2006-12—came while wearing the Nike motif that was a combination of medieval knighthood and metallic accents, as well as a "scarred" look to the jerseys and helmets. Most of that is gone, now, replaced by a cleaner look.

There's still a chainmail pattern on the shoulders, while the jersey numbers are an odd serif font instead of standard block ones, but it's still far less busy than the previous version.

8. Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech has teamed with Nike to make the uniforms of all of its sports more, well...uniform. That means a common font, logo and color scheme, all of which gives off a feeling of a technicolor sci-fi movie.

"

New Era! New Gear! Reveal of #RFootball new uniforms. pic.twitter.com/v85gzSzU3d

— Rutgers Football (@RFootball) May 3, 2016"

This is fitting, since one of the first NASA engineers—Christopher Columbus Kraft Jr.,—is a Hokies alumnus and because the school is well known for its polytechnic research aspects.

7. Notre Dame

Notre Dame's annual "Shamrock Series" game, which it's played since 2009, has served as an occasion for the Fighting Irish to break out a special uniform. This year's contest is Nov. 12 against Army in San Antonio, Texas, when Notre Dame will break out this combination:

"

We're excited to share our brand refresh, honoring our past & positioning us for the future! https://t.co/3A3x2bYgib pic.twitter.com/1KQOfy92lW

— HokieSports (@hokiesports) April 23, 2016"

So far, reviews have been mixed.

For starters, the Under Armour jerseys are olive, making them look like some of the brighter green variations they've tried in the past had gone through the spin cycle too many times. That's paired with a duller gold than normal for the pants, but at least the helmet stands out.

"

You've seen the #ShamrockSeries uniform — now take a closer look at the details. pic.twitter.com/9CNsD9M5wm

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) July 22, 2016"

That's the best part of this getup, with a hand-painted image of the Basilica on campus, complete with "God, Country, Notre Dame" written above the earhole. It matches a similar look on the shoulder pads, which should pop on television.

6. Purdue

Purdue might be in last place in the Big Ten on the football field, but its Nike uniform update moves the Boilermakers at least into the middle of the pack from a visual standpoint.

"

A CLOSER LOOK: The Helmet

The #ShamrockSeries helmet is hand-painted illustration of motif above Basilica doorway. pic.twitter.com/BRTmbol9nP

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) July 22, 2016"

It starts with an upgrade to the jersey numbers, which have gone from a corny setup of being curved and leaning to the right to ones that are standard block digits. They're also embroidered in gold, getting that distinct color into the mix on white, gray or black tops.

The shoulders now feature "cowcatchers," which are the pointed guards on the front of trains meant to push debris (yes, including cows) off the tracks and prevent derailment. Whether these will keep Purdue's team from running off the rails, though, remains to be seen.

5. Pittsburgh

Pat Narduzzi is entering his second season at Pittsburgh, coming off a strong 8-5 campaign. Whether his latest team will perform better remains to be seen, but at least the Panthers will look better thanks to a return to a beloved logo on the helmets.

Pitt has brought back the script on the helmets, replacing the block version that had been used since 2005. The Panthers last went script in 1996. The rest of the Nike uniforms are mostly the same, though the font of the numbers has an older look to them.

4. Wisconsin

Under Armour can get a little crazy when it starts redoing uniforms. Just look at some of the versions that flagship school Maryland has worn, going with differing shoulder designs on either side of the jersey and helmets that have the Constitution on them.

Thankfully, Wisconsin didn't get hit with anything too drastic in its first set of gear since switching over from Adidas this summer. In fact, the update to its tried-and-true red-on-white design is quite minimal.

"

New Red Threads. #OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/qLGMQgOFGU

— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) July 21, 2016"

The most significant change is to the numbers, which are more curved than before. Beyond that there's the "Forever Forward" theme, inspired by the state motto, that's represented by incorporating an arrow into the stripes on the helmet, jerseys and pants.

3. Clemson

Change doesn't always have to be significant, nor does it need to be moving in one direction. That's the approach the Tigers and Nike took to update the uniforms while also harkening back to the program's past.

Namely, to the 1981 uniforms they wore en route to the national title.

"Who says you can't go back?," the video voiceover asks. "Who says you can't recreate history?"

The main changes involve enlarging the chest and back numbers, moving the shoulder numbers to the side sleeves and using the shoulder space for the Tiger paw that was on the '81 set.

2. Oklahoma State

The Cowboys and Nike have made numerous tweaks to the football uniforms the last few years, and there are more little changes in store for 2016.

The most noticeable adjustment this time around are the jersey numbers, which have a "barbed wire typeface" that is meant to remind fans of the state's original settlers, who rustled cattle and "drove their herds across Oklahoma across the great Chisholm Trail."

The other major change is to the neck fringe, which is meant to resemble a bandana—like the one wore by mascot Pistol Pete—that includes a variety of school-centric images and phrases laid out in a paisley pattern. It's topped off by a Marshal Badge at the bottom.

No crazy new helmets in this edition, at least yet.

1. Michigan

It's good to have you back, old-school Michigan.

The school's much-criticized stint as part of the Adidas brand has ended, and with that has come a return to the traditional look that it had for decades and which it has again with the switch back to Nike.

Don't notice much difference, other than the “Jumpman” logo that comes with being the first football program to wear Jordan Brand uniforms? Well, that's because there isn't much different, and that's on purpose.

"The new football uniforms for Michigan, which look a lot like the old uniforms for Michigan," Phil Hecken of Uni-Watch.com wrote. "And that’s a good thing, especially if tradition and continuity are what you’re looking for."

It wasn't that the Adidas set was drastically off from what came before, though it did do something to the maize of the color scheme that made it come off as more highlighter and less yellow. Nike has dulled the hue, which it refers to as "amarillo" (which is Spanish for yellow).

Beyond that, the biggest change is to the font of the numbers. They're thicker, and the “4” is stylized to harken back to the 1934 uniforms made famous because future President Gerald Ford—who wore No. 48—was on the team and because he threatened to quit if a black teammate wasn't allowed to play against Georgia Tech.

All recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports, unless otherwise noted. All statistics provided by CFBStats, unless otherwise noted.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.