Some Thoughts on The IVY League Jerseys

The Ivy League has a deep lacrosse tradition. The league captured the first USILA championship in 1881, the first NCAA Championship in 1971 and remains one of the premiere leagues today even with the absence of athletic scholarships.

As far as jerseys, there is an emphasis on the classic. Dartmouth, Cornell, Harvard are even so old as to simply have colors for their mascot. Not surprisingly, some schools have remained very conservative in their attire, while others have broken the mold.

Dartmouth has looked similar for years, although hopefully they will learn the all-White setup is the best look for them especially with their new Maverik Maybachs.

Cornell has seemingly always employed the shadowed numbers, so the White won’t blend in with the Cayuga snow? Their Nike padding isn’t too shabby either.

Yale would have to try very hard to mess up the classic Navy Blue and White.

Harvard’s Maroon base color is tough, but they look better in Black helmets. Black helmets would mesh better with their Brine Shakedowns.


Other schools have changed it up. UPenn has consistently rocked the Navy, but have been using less Maroon than before and are one of the only teams to wear Philly-based Boathouse.

Princeton and Brown both looked good in the old Reebok jerseys, but now follow the brand of their sponsor. Warrior outfits Princeton (and their gigantic jersey numbers). The jerseys however do flow well with the Warrior Burn Speed 3.0 cleats.



Adidas outfits Brown with the name on the back. These schools learned two colors are better than three.

Reebok Jerseys


Adidas Jerseys

Missing from the league is Columbia, which currently does not have a NCAA team. Too bad, because their Columbia Blue would look great with these.


The old school mesh jerseys were the best, especially when combined with short shorts and traditional non-offset heads. This era is when lacrosse really grew into its own.

Who do you think has the freshest jerseys in the Ivy League? Who needs new threads? What league has the best jerseys?

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6 Comments

  1. Stormy on April 25, 2010 at 8:38 pm

    I think he means EVERY top teams (‘Cuse, Hoyas etc.) are wearing THAT exact Nike jersey AND in the same combo.. Nowaday, all the teams are going back to “basic” as the Ivy, 2 colors combo… (example: Brown- Brown/white, Cornell- Red/white, Yale- Blue/white…..etc. with exception of Princeton and Penn). One main color + white…. it seems, even the school that suppose to have 3 colors are now “force” it self to have two. I mean you may noticed the trend of “have as much white as I can on my team gloves” trend, even JHU who used to have the baby blue/black/royal blue combo on their gloves…. now I think only UMD are the only top team that ADD color with all the color of Maryland flags are now on their gloves (+yellow this year).

    Over the year, many of the Ivy Schools could have “gone princeton” = fashionista of the Ivy (maybe because they fighting ‘Cuse for the better half of ’90 so they caught on, but now ‘Cuse is going conservative). But they stick to the conservative theme of their roots… there has been “misadventure” but at the very core of the Ivy league lacrosse seems to remain, and affecting other teams outside their Ivy gates.

  2. Stormy on April 25, 2010 at 2:07 pm

    I think he meant the style of jersey been used up by majority of the top teams… ‘Cuse, Hoyas and a few more in DI and either in 2 colors or solid one color all over… all the same just different color.

    The ivy had always used two colors: One main “school” color + white, not many team uses more than two colors… Until Princeton come out with abit “flashy” with warrior gears over the year (abit of the Ivy blacksheep if you ask me, come on Tigers you’re not John Hopkins here with 4 uniform and 5 diferent helmet combos).

    Now everyone… even Cuse are following Ivy lead. With 2 colors (eventhough they have traditionally been 3: orange, navy and white) look at all the gloves NOWADAY, one school color and white… or ALL WHITE, with main color trimming (yes like jersey). I think only Maryland to have the balls to REALLY go multiple colors with their gloves… so props to the Terps.

    Lastly I would like to go my “personal view” ranking + comment:

    1. Cornell (indeed big red, and matching helmet for both uniform… good choice, no need for 4 and 5th helmet)

    2. Brown (being able to put it off, nice move with the white gloves color combo) – please just use Cascade not Riddell.

    3. Dartmouth: Should have another “all green helmet too

    4. Harvard, kinda like Brown… but Brown’s color is harder, you cant go wrong with C

    5. Yale (basic, Navy and white just works… clean looks) Cant go wrong…

    6. Princeton (finally… some normalcy with the new helmet, but your gears are still showoff)

    7. UPenn (identity crisis? go BOLD next time.. be independent, don’t let Boathouse give you a half ass job)

    Don’t get me wrong… I truly respect these teams. True “student athlete” high GPA and CAN play lacorsse. They play lacrosse even when people in America having really spreading the sport… they’ve been there in the history of the lacrosse here. And extreamly influence to the other teams, whos they’re now copying the looks of Ivy teams (well some).

  3. jordan on April 20, 2010 at 7:58 pm

    I think Cornell looks great Simon. How do you think they are overdone?

  4. Adam Edg on April 20, 2010 at 10:13 am

    I have to say Brown looks the best. The uniforms are simple and clean. Not only do very few teams wear Adidas in lax, like nobody wears brown. Such a bold color to wear and it really stands out from all of the black, red, and blue uniforms out there. The single color names & numbers are the epitomy of “classic.” Not to mention the badass brown helmets. Riddell or not, you cannot deny the awesomeness of a brown lid.
    Dartmouth would be seond best for many of the same reasons. The solid white look suits them for sure.

  5. sidvish on April 19, 2010 at 2:29 pm

    Well done, lets see more of this

  6. Simon on April 19, 2010 at 12:13 pm

    As a lacrosse enthusiast, I like how the Ivy jerseys have stayed pretty traditional (except for Princeton, but they have always been a little bit different if you know what I mean). If I would make any changes, I would get rid of Cornell’s Nike unis. Those uniforms are so overdone by many teams, I’d like to see the Big Red in something more original.

    Are the tire tracks on the back of the UPenn jerseys part of the uniform or is that from getting run over all year?

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