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Paul Lukas, ESPN.com 7y

Uni Watch -- What's new in the MWC for 2017

Air Force Falcons, San Diego State Aztecs, Boise State Broncos, Wyoming Cowboys, Colorado State Rams, UNLV Rebels, Fresno State Bulldogs, New Mexico Lobos, Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors, Nevada Wolf Pack, San Jos� State Spartans, Utah State Aggies

  

As we do every year, we've prepared a comprehensive team-by-team rundown of the new gear that will be on display this season in the Mountain West Conference. In addition to uniform changes, we've included updates to logos, equipment, field designs and anything else related to a team's visual program. If a school isn't listed here, that means it hasn't yet announced any changes for this season, at least that we're aware of (though schools will undoubtedly be unveiling additional uniforms and helmets -- blackout, whiteout, camouflage, stars and stripes, chrome and so on -- as the season progresses).

Ready? Deep breath -- here we go.

Air Force will wear a 70th anniversary patch for the Oct. 14 game against UNLV:

In addition, the Falcons will wear an alternate jersey and helmet for the Nov. 11 game against Wyoming (Veteran's Day), but the design hasn't yet been finalized.


Boise State has added some interesting shoulder stripes, which look particularly good on the white jerseys:

In addition, the Broncos' jerseys now have "Blue Collar" embroidered on, uh, the blue collar (more on that here):

Also: Former Boise State football coach and athletic director Lyle Smith recently passed away at the age of 101. A team spokesman says some sort of memorial is likely -- possibly a helmet decal, a field logo or both -- but plans haven't yet been finalized.


• Most subtle move of the year goes to Colorado State, which has added "CSU" and "Rams" to a pair of extremely inconspicuous spots on its Riddell helmets. Equipment manager Kris Young says the Rams are the first team in the nation to do this.

CSU also has a new stadium this year. Additional info here.

The stadium has its own inaugural-season logo. For now, it's just being used for marketing purposes, with no plans to use on the team's jerseys or helmets.


Fresno State will retire Derek Carr's No. 4 during halftime of the season opener against Incarnate Word on Sept. 2.


Hawaii is the latest team to switch to matte-finish helmets (additional info here):


• Very straightforward new design for Nevada. The set includes a new matte-blue helmet, and new coach Jay Norvell has restored players' names to the back of their jerseys -- something the Wolf Pack haven't done since 2013 (additional info here).


• Downgrade of the season goes to San Jose State, which has changed from Nike to Adidas, with disastrous results:


UNLV is commemorating its 50th season with a new logo, which will be worn as a helmet decal and will appear on the field:

In addition, the Rebels will wear a 1984 throwback helmet for the season-opening game against Howard on Sept. 2. It's similar to the one from the Randall Cunningham era but without the center striping (because the team now has the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" decal on the back), and the face mask and side lettering are metallic red instead of flat red.

In other helmet news, UNLV is offering a set of mini-helmets to fans who buy season tickets (further info here):

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