A version of Maryland's state flag inspired uniforms.
The University of Maryland became the latest school to get creative with its uniforms -- opting for a Maryland state flag inspired pattern for its Monday night matchup against Miami.
The getup -- designed by Maryland alum Kevin Plank's Under Armour -- was widely criticized on social media by athletes and sports commentators.
Everyone from ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas to Miami Heat forward LeBron James labeled the uniforms ugly. James, a Nike sponsored athlete, succinctly tweeted ""OH GOSH! Maryland uniforms #Ewwwwww!"
But despite all of the negative attention Maryland received through social media, the school achieved its main purpose: it got people talking.
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Maryland isn't exactly known as a football powerhouse. If you polled moderate sports fans before last night's game, I'd doubt half could even name Maryland's new coach. (It's Randy Edsall.)
But close to half a day after the school's triumphant win over the scandal stricken Miami Hurricanes, the school continues to be a lead story on ESPN.com and SportsCenter, while maintaining a buzz on social media Web sites.
At one point during the game, Maryland was the No. 1 Google Trend and multiple Maryland related hashtags were trending on Twitter; those are usually the spots reserved for Justin Bieber or Kim Kardashian, but on Monday, it was all Maryland.
For a school that's not particularly well known, that kind of attention and buzz is priceless. Even though the majority of the conversation was directed at how ugly the uniforms were, it really doesn't matter.
It's an incredibly old cliche to say there's no such thing as bad publicity, but it directly applies to this situation. When one of the major issues a team faces is a lack of relevancy, getting into the news for a gimmicky uniform design is absolutely brilliant.
The most important thing is the uniforms are being talked about -- something that the majority of the other teams in college football can't claim.
The players loved them, Maryland fans admired them, and recruits are going to want to wear them.
"Didn't they hate on it?" quarterback Danny O'Brien told The Diamondback, the school's student newspaper. "We loved them... Creating that buzz is what's great about college football."
More importantly, it's this kind of creativity and forward thinking that could lead to long-term relevancy.
Grantland -- Bill Simmons' ESPN offshoot Web site -- looked at Oregon's recent football success and made the argument that its unique uniforms played a major part in it.
One of the main arguments was that once Nike's Phil Knight started getting more involved with the branding of Oregon, the team started to see considerable benefits and success. Maryland has its own apparel alumni in Kevin Plank, and you better believe that he envisions his school as a potential Oregon of the East.
"It's probably the easiest way for Oregon to cut through the clutter of college football, to be undeniably known for something," Paul Swangard, the managing director of the Oregon's Warsaw Sports Marketing Center, told Grantland.
"If no one knows your product exists, there is no demand for your product, and at the end of the day it's about 18-year-old kids. The uniforms are the key ingredient to getting those bodies there, and the bodies are what win you football games."
Maryland is using that same strategy.
And whether you love or hate those new uniforms -- personally I'm a fan -- it's already working brilliantly.
Maryland likely won't be playing for a national championship in the near future like Oregon did in 2010, but these creative new uniforms help them take a major step in the right direction.
For once Maryland is relevant and that's all that really matters.
