The Blue Board

Auburn- Navy Blue, Burnt Orange
Auburn's first football coach was Dr. George Petrie, whom attended Virginia in the 1880's. Throughout the 1880's the Virginia football team had worn gray and red uniforms, symbolizing blood on a fallen Confederate soldier. It soon became realized by the fans that the gray didn't show up well on the often muddy gridirons. In 1888 there was a vote as to what the new colors would be. No one could come up with any ideas until Allen Potts, a star athlete, walked into the room. Potts was wearing a blue and orange scarf he purchased while in England. When a student snatched the scarf off him and proposed it to the crowd, everyone enthusiastically approved. When Petrie led Auburn's first team four years later, he chose the same colors in respect to his alma mater.

Georgia- Red, Black
The Bulldogs original colors were gold, crimson, and black. But when Georgia Tech whipped the Dogs 28-6 in 1893, UGA's coach Dr. Herty removed gold from the school colors. He claimed gold was too close to yellow, which represented cowardice. The crimson also developed into Georgia red.

Florida- Orange, Blue
No one is sure how Florida got there colors of blue and orange, but the popular belief is that they picked them up from the two schools abolished in the Buckman Act of 1905. University of Florida at Lake City(blue and gold) and East Florida Seminary(orange and black) were the schools eliminated. The Gators sported various combinations in there early years but blue and orange won out.

LSU- Purple, Gold
When the Bayou Bengals ventured south to play Tulane for their very first football game in 1893 they were looking for a boost. So they decided to decorate the locker rooms with colored ribbons. Mardi Gras was quickly approaching New Orleans, so green , purple, and gold were in abundance. The first store the Tigers visited had not yet received their shipment of green ribbons, so the players bought out all the purple and gold ones. The rest is history.

Alabama- Crimson, White
Alabama used to be a military school in the 1880's. The Company E Cadets were to participate in a marching competition in New Orleans in 1885. The sponsor was a southern belle named Mary Fearn. Fearn asked the Cadets what their colors were so she would know what to wear. The Cadets claimed they didn't have an official color, they just wore black caps and gray coats. Fearn claimed black was too funeral like and gray was just boring, so she wore crimson to the event. It caught on and the football team sported crimson stocking when they played their first game in 1892.

Tennessee- Orange, White
In 1891 Tennessee guard Charles Moore suggested the team colors be light orange and white, the color of the daisies that blossomed on The Hill. The students were satisfied with the color for a while, but chose to drop it a year later. After a day long debate, no one could agree on a new color so they stuck to the originals. The orange and white uniforms didn't appear on the team uniforms for another 30 years though.

Kentucky- Royal Blue, White
Prior to the Kentucky-Centre game in 1891, the student body had voted that blue and light yellow be the Wildcats official colors. But the fans were confused as to what shade of blue it was. That's when letterman Richard Stoll cemented his name into Kentucky history by waving his royal blue necktie for the crowd to see. This is when Kentucky adapted their shade of blue. A year later another change was made. Students dropped the yellow for white.

Vanderbilt- Black, Gold
There are two versions of how Vanderbilt got it's unique color scheme. One story is that Judge W. L. Granbery of Princeton gave the Dores the colors of orange and black, with the orange eventually becoming gold. Another is that Commodore Vanderbilt created the colors: Black for his control of coal and gold for his wealth. In the 1930's, the remaining players from Vandy's first squad could not recall why they chose black and gold.

Arkansas - Cardinal and ?
It is not for sure even today what the Razorbacks official colors are. In the 1890's the student body voted cardinal over a shade of purple as the school's colors. White was added with it later that year. But in the 2000's black started appearing on Razorback attire. Even most collegiate merchandise company recognize black as Arkansas's main color next to cardinal. Are the Hog's secondary color white or black?

Mississippi State- Maroon and White
In the wake of their first collegiate football game versus Southern Baptist, Mississippi A&M needed a team color. They decided it was only fair the team captain, WM Mathews, pick. No one knows why Mathews chose the colors he did, but the captain immediately declared maroon and white. They're State's colors to this day.

Ole Miss- Red, Blue
You would be shocked that a school that waves Confederate flags got their colors from Yankee country. In the 1890's the Rebels couldn't decide which colors they would wear for the upcoming season. It was a manager that suggested Harvard Red and Yale Blue. At the time, Harvard and Yale were two of the strongest powerhouses in college football and were also very respected academically.

South Carolina- Garnet, Black
Before a 1895 game, Confederate veteran William Flinn presented a banner to the Gamecock football team. It was decorated garnet and black in honor of the animal. The colors weren't well liked on that day and there was even an attempt to change the colors in 1900, but nevertheless the Cocks still wear garnet and black.