West Virginia Rolls Out Another Throwback and It Raises a Bigger Uniform Question

Wednesday night, the West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball social media account revealed a new throwback uniform set, which they will debut on Saturday at home against the Colorado Buffaloes.

Unmistakably West Virginia.#HailWV pic.twitter.com/Bsdnjwq9Qa
— WVU Men's Basketball (@WVUhoops) January 15, 2026

From the early 2010s to about two or three years ago, schools have tried to revamp their uniforms with cool, unique designs, fonts, and pieces of the uniform that are far from what their fans are accustomed to. Now, the new trend is turning back the clock to what everyone is most familiar with, giving a clean and simple look.

One of my biggest arguments over the last few WVU football and basketball uniform sets is that they just didn't look like West Virginia. Whether it was the funky pick-axe numbering or matte helmets in football, or the current basketball uniforms, where it reads Mountaineers in small lettering across the chest and the two thick shoulder stripes, along with the two thick stripes on the back of the shorts — it just doesn't look like West Virginia.

When they released the Jerry West throwbacks last year, it gave hope to a lot of fans that there would be a chance that going back to a more simplistic look would be in the cards. Bringing out a home uniform set makes it one step closer to doing so, with the navy and gold being the only two left to produce.

We've seen the football program go back to a look everyone is familiar with, bringing back the glossy helmets and shoulder pad stripes from the first Rich Rod era, so it shows WVU is open to the idea of going back to a classic look.

West Virginia will look to get back on track on Saturday against the Colorado Buffaloes following a beatdown handed to them by No. 7 Houston earlier this week. A win would push the Mountaineers to 3-2 in Big 12 Conference play and to 12-6 overall. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. ET and will be televised on CBS Sports Network.

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