kicks

I already commented on the dearth of team shoes this year. Rather, players are wearing shoes matching their playing style and fashion sense. Although the one truism is that Air Jordan kicks are still marquee. You’ll see some Kobes, KDs, and surprisingly even fewer LeBrons. The closest team shoe I’ve noticed is the Nike Zoom Hyperrev 2015.

Arizona Wildcats Kobe X player exclusives

Texas Hyperrevs

Surrounded by Air Jordans

Harvard Hyperrevs

Nike Kyrie 1 behind UAB’s mismatched kicks

Mismatched Nike Zoom Run the One and LeBron Soldiers

Cheery swooshes

Air Jordan 11 Legend Blue

There’s nothing really telling about the kicks distribution in the regions of the 2015 tournament. See for yourself. Nothing eye popping, right?

While scanning images from the early round games, there weren’t true team shoes represented where the entire team wore the same shoe model. In general, players just wore whatever sponsored shoes matched their personal and playing styles. These were the team exceptions to the individual norm – Oregon and UAB.

Being so close to Nike HQ and the alma mater of Phil Knight, Oregon gets the best custom kicks, and the Ducks were decked out in KD7.

While UAB didn’t quite have the same team shoe, they did collectively wear purposely mismatched Nikes. Throughout the entire season, the Blazers have worn “reversed” kicks to raise awareness and funds for pediatric cancer.

The sweet, sweet sixteen of ’15 looks like this:

1. Kentucky (Nike)
2. Purdue (Nike)
3. Notre Dame (Under Armour)
4. Wichita St. (Nike)
5. Wisconsin (Adidas)
6. North Carolina (Nike)
7. Xavier (Nike)
8. Arizona (Nike)
9. Duke (Nike)
10. Utah (Under Armour)
11. UCLA (Adidas)
12. Gonzaga (Nike)
13. N.C. State (Adidas)
14. Louisville (Adidas)
15. Oklahoma (Nike)
16. Michigan St. (Nike)

Nike commands 62.5% (10 out of 16) of the field, Adidas has 25% (4 out of 16), and Under Armour is still holding on with two teams in the Sweet 16 (12.5%).

How does this compare with the start of the tournament? Nike lost ground going from a 75% showing down to 62.5% so that means movement for Adidas and UA. Adidas upped their numbers going from 17% to 25% and Under Armour getting a slight bump from 8% to 12.5%.

In 2015, while Nike is worn by 75% of the participants, the swoosh doesn’t have a lock on the top five seeded teams. Only starting from the sixth ranked teams is Nike worn by all represented teams (Providence, SMU, Xavier, and Butler). Interestingly enough, Under Armour has efficiently picked its spots. With its five teams, UA has three teams ranked fifth or better. That would be Notre Dame (#3), Maryland (#4), and Utah (#5). The other UA teams are St. Johns (#9) and S.F. Austin (#12), the sole UA team from the 2014 tournament. It’s no wonder Under Armour stands to make $83M if its teams do well. It’s too bad Utah and S.F. Austin went head to head in the Round of 64. Adidas teams are well dispersed with no more than two teams in each seed.

Gotta like the hyper green Curry Ones worn by S.F. Austin.

Like 2014, the Big 12 is well represented with seven teams in the 2015 tournament. But this year, the Big Ten tied the 12 with seven teams as well. The Atlantic 10 halved their conference representation going from six to three while the Pac-12 lost a deuce with four teams (but represented by all three kicks companies).

The Big West was bound to be represented by Adidas with either  UC Irvine or UH. But with UCI’s Big West tournament win, they got the bid with stripped big man, Mamadou Ndiaye.

I don’t normally start my annual Kicks Analysis this early, but Yoda808 called me out on it, so here we go… Round 1 of the 2015 NCAA Tournament officially starts with the “First Four” as eight teams vie to enter the Round of 64. Here are the eight teams along with their shoe sponsorships.

1. Manhattan Jaspers – Under Armour



2. Hampton Pirates – Nike



3. BYU Cougars – Nike (based on jerseys)



4. Ole Miss Rebels – Under Armour



5. North Florida Ospreys – Nike (based on jerseys)



6. Robert Morris Colonials – Nike



7. Boise State Broncos – Nike



8. Dayton Flyers – Nike (based on jerseys)

So that’s six for Nike, two for Under Armour, and surprisingly zero for Adidas. Will the First Four field all Nike swooshes? Probably doesn’t matter since I doubt any of the First Four will make it past the Round of 64. While I couldn’t find pictures of all the team’s kicks, I must say that Robert Morris got their kicks game going with a variety of styles and colors.