Michigan will wear alternate jerseys for the opener against Florida

Last August the buzz around Michigan’s program was electric as the program was on the cusp of becoming the first college football team to wear Jordan brand gear. Fans went wild with a midnight release party, complete with huge volumes of shoe, jersey and merchandise sales that continued throughout the season.

The traditional home and away jerseys were worn all last season, which many people prefered following years of less orthodox takes on the classic Michigan uniform by Adidas. However, it appears that this year some variations on the vintage Maize and Blue will work their way into the game day attire of Michigan Football.

Athletic director Warde Manuel spoke last week about alternate jerseys and said, perhaps ominously, that he was not involved in decisions concerning what individual teams wore. Jim Harbaugh was involved in the design of this season’s uniforms and he has commented in the past about introducing alternate uniforms during this season. It now appears that this will start with the very first game. Yesterday it was reported that all maize uniforms will be worn against Florida on Saturday.

Mark Calcagno of the Michigan Daily confirmed the news yesterday evening, as did MGoBlog. Further confirmation came from Michigan fans around the region, as similar jerseys were also found in a Saginaw, Michigan Dick’s Sporting Goods store. We also learned late Sunday that the team practiced in the maize uniforms last Friday.

While we do not have the official word from the program, it is likely that this maize jersey will be worn with the traditional maize pants. If that is the case, this Saturday will not be the first time Michigan football has worn all maize uniforms. In 1928 the team played Navy in a neutral site game wearing all maize uniforms, and the look was dubbed “the canary disaster.” The idea is one that may excite some, while others are totally against the all maize alternative jerseys. I know my first reaction was mixed, because I would rather see them worn for Michigan State or another home game.

What do you think of this new look? Weigh in with the poll below and down in the comments.

UPDATE (2:26 PM):

The University has tweeted out a photo confirming this news. The tweet has been included below. The title of this article has been updated to reflect the story being confirmed.