When you're certain level of blueblood program, your fans won't allow you to change your uniforms. Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Michigan get away with it on a limited basis, but Penn State, Alabama, USC and Texas have never really tried it.
So, when you want to spice your wardrobe up a little bit, you end up mining your past -- which isn't all that different, because the rules were the same as they are now.
Texas will play that game on Saturday, as the Longhorns will honor their 1969 national championship team.
The '69 season was the 100th in college football history, and the Longhorns wore a decal marking the sport's 100th birthday all season long, seen here in this iconic photograph of quarterback James Street and head coach Darrell Royal in the 1970 Cotton Bowl.
Saturday's kits will have a similar touch, with an updated decal.
It's notable that the numerous flair pieces on the upper chest that leaves the Longhorns looking like decorated war heroes -- Texas wears a Big 12 patch, a CFB150 patch, script TEXAS and a Nike patch -- are all gone save for the most important patch, the Nike one. All in all, these throwbacks are... what's the word I'm looking for?