Clothes don't make the men

All speculation that the Terrapins football team would become the preeminent collegiate testing ground for Under Armour became an obvious reality just more than a week ago as the Terps' long-awaited new uniforms debuted at an on-campus fashion show.

There was a catwalk for linemen to strut their stuff. There were enough uniform combinations to satisfy any fashion snob. There was also a seeming confirmation of what has long been presumed: The Terps want to be the Oregon of the East.

As the favored son of Nike, Oregon is showered with the flashiest and finest gear from the clothing behemoth. Naturally, the Ducks and Terps have been lumped together as college football fashionistas, mere showpieces for their corporate overlords. But there is one major difference separating the two.

The Ducks win. A lot.

Oregon's ever-changing duds have become a sideshow to their status as a perennial contender: The Ducks have three Pac-10 championships under their fancy green belts in the past decade. The Terps might now have the threads to match, but with their last league title having come in 2001, certainly not the success.

While some athletic department officials have in the past preferred to downplay any link between the two programs, coach Randy Edsall didn't shy away from the comparison in a Saturday teleconference.

"If we can have that partnership to have our kids play at the highest level they can based on the technology and the materials that they're going to use ... that's great if people want to compare us to Oregon," Edsall said.

Could new uniforms bring top recruits to College Park in the same way Eugene, Ore., saw an influx of blue-chippers coincide with their increasingly crazy uniforms? It's doubtful, but perhaps an eye-catching look is what the Terps need to stand out among Division I's mediocre, where they have languished since the latter years of former coach Ralph Friedgen's tenure.

"A lot of this now is not if we like the uniforms, but if the young people that we are recruiting like the uniforms," Athletic Director Kevin Anderson said at the Aug. 22 unveiling. "And recruiting is everything. If we don't recruit great athletes, then we're not going to be competitive."

Stylish, modern uniforms may appeal to recruits, but what you wear isn't nearly as important as how often you win. Players beg for the chance to play in simple crimson uniforms at Alabama. Penn State has worn its plain, navy-and-white uniforms for decades, and top prospects head to Happy Valley every year.

Cool uniforms can be a recruiting tool, but they'll almost always never be the basis for a prospect's college decision. At best, they're the icing on the cake for an impressionable high school senior.

Oregon has its cake, and it's a sweet one. The Terps', meanwhile, is still in the oven.

So no matter how often Edsall says he "loves" his squad's new jerseys, he knows they won't mean a thing until the Terps have done something meaningful in them. Win games in an eye-catching getup, and your successes tend to get more attention. Lose, and you run the risk of becoming a joke.

Yes, fans and recruits might like a good-looking team. But not nearly as much as they like a good team.

schneider@umdbk.com