Whew, finally another SWC Game!

[Helmets above from 1974-76]
Had to wait almost a month after the slurry of early match-ups... So this is the first time Texas has been to Fort Worth since the SWC ended. It's a different world up there now. I would like to say "Longhorns, this isn't your grandpa's TCU." - but it kind of is this year. :/
Texas uni updates are in the right column now.

In the Wash
Arkansas
Minor tweaks for the hogs and one horrific development. Solid color numbers are back - dropping the white-to-black fade which was outlawed by the NCAA. Unfortunately, the fade landed on the helmet. Let's hope that gets outlawed next year! The helmet also seems to be a much darker red - maybe due to the matte finish? The white helmet worn twice in 2012 now has a shiny solid hog (not a red outline). There are some additional minor items discussed in this article.

Baylor
Not much good to report here... except there are STILL actually gold pants in the rotation that might get worn! And the stripes on the pants at least have some resemblance of the old Baylor Line. Hell, they even looked good as recently as 2008! Baylor in all white - still stupid. As the Oregon of the Big XII, can't miss out on a chrome helmet... God save the Queen. I really can't believe everyone likes it - even the old schoolers. Favorite quote from that video: "I mean, that's gorgeous. It's gold and shiny"... exactly. Wait - better quote: "It looks like winning." Sigh... And let's not leave out the flat black... God help us! They actually try to tie the black in the unis to the black bear mascot in this video... nice try. Another example of Nike bending the facts to sell their stupid ideas. Personally, I am looking forward to the 1950 throwbacks on tap for the last game at Floyd Casey. I am so glad that stadium is going away - haven't been there in over a decade when Tech was SUPPOSED to win and we got slaughtered. It was awful - will be nice to go to games in Waco again.

Houston
Coogs got a uni overhaul with lots of contrasting panels and gasp, multiple helmets. And then there is this... Lots to not like here... two new silly helmets. I have to laugh... for everyone saying Texas unis are boring, the whole nation is copying them in all whites! Although - as much as I want to level the bevel, the white helmet is solid. I like the addition of a gray outline on the numbers. Partial stripes on the pants look much better than the crappy piping filler of last year - and add somemore gray. Those stripes can be seen better at the end of this video.

Rice
I believe there are no changes for Rice.

SMU
Big news for SMU - back by popular demand..... drum roll... the Yale blue jerseys! For one game (honoring the 1983 team). See the middle column about why that is so odd. My guess is they had to get a blue jersey to make the fans happy and just said "since it's 2013, let's honor the 1983 squad and make it a big 80s night thing! Oh, and they had stripes on their pants - even better! because the fans love those too."
Released uni shows the jersey has no stripes and the pants do! It even looks like the right shade of blue... let's see if Nike gets it right.

Texas
The very year after Darrel Royal enters the pearly gates, Texas adds a Bevo on the jersey. Jicky - it just isn't needed. DKR would have never let this happen... Billed as "A few new twists to a classic look" - wonder if this waiting in the wings until DKR died. One of the new twists - a raised nose bumper. The worst development - it's not the right color! A "brighter shade of orange" isn't a good thing... at all.

Texas A&M
One change to the Aggie unis from last year is the under-layer which continues the shoulder stripes down the arm - but now in a fade pattern and with no number. Major downgrade. The uni now looks better without the underlayer. To make matters worse Johnny Football is wearing a terrible zubaz type Adidas arm sleeve, hope that goes away soon. Other changes for A&M include addition of Gig'em inside the collar, carried the Texas outline logo up to above the nameplate replacing the aTm logo. They will also be wearing a memorial decal for Polo.

TCU
Well, as you can only imagine being under the control of a Nike hand that TCU will have a wealth of sillyness on display. Black continues to be a prime player unfortunately - along with ridiculous red accents... I have never ever feared a frog in my life. As we saw in TCU's opener, blood (spitting blood is a purely defensive mechanism when you have no game) is still a popular theme with Nike. The helmet attempts to show blood squirting out the eyes... big fail since it's pointing backwards. I guess the froggy is RUNNING AWAY! I love the last two graphs in this teaser article for the opening game unis!

Texas Tech
First of all, let's hope most of these Tech helmets never hit the field! This ugly thing was rumored earlier in the year... bleh! But hopefully it's absence at the uni unveiling is a good sign! (Tech Unveil Video)
Most notable is the lack of a red jersey or pants - so less options than last year. Now we are the RED RAIDERS, but we have worn lots of black decades before black was supposedly cool, so... But I am not sure if I like how this one will play out... I have been working on a uni tracker (of the mix-and-match era) for Texas Tech complete with coach and records - hope to turn it into a supreme infographic. It started to include other SWC unis for the Tech games and has the potential to grow - but it is a different project from my official SWC uni tracker (that one only goes up to 1995). It is worth noting that most game photos of Kliff Kingsbury have him in all white or all black. Maybe a nod to Coach Leach... or his playing days?