FirstCuts: Nike Outnumbers adidas In NCAA Tourney

Chris Littmann
Sports don’t start and end with a referee’s whistle. FirstCuts, a blog dedicated to sports culture, will cover everything outside the lines, from games to gear.
With Reebok now dormant on the college front -- only Boston College is in the fold, last I checked -- the NCAA Tournament’s shoe game is essentially narrowed to two brands: Nike and adidas.
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Nike leads the way with 42 schools in the field. If you count the Jordan Brand schools -- Georgetown and North Carolina -- that brings Nike up to 44. adidas clocks in with just 19 schools, but they’re all about quality. Consider that adidas has three of the four No. 1 seeds in this year’s tournament (UCLA, Kansas and Memphis). In addition, Louisville, Tennessee and Wisconsin wear the three stripes. Check out the full breakdown by brand (and enjoy today’s game).
Nike:Coppin State, George Mason, Washington State, Winthrop, Oklahoma, St. Joseph’s, Boise State, Butler, South Alabama, American, Portland State, UNLV, Kent State, Clemson, Villanova, Vanderbilt, Siena, USC, Kansas State, Gonzaga, Davidson, Oregon, Michigan State, Oral Roberts, Kentucky, Stanford, Cornell, Miami (FL), Texas, Austin Peay, Miss. Valley State, BYU, Texas A&M, Western Kentucky, Connecticut, Purdue, Xavier, Georgia, West Virginia, Arizona, Duke, Belmont.
adidas: Indiana, Arkansas, Notre Dame, Louisville, Tennessee, Kansas, Wisconsin, Cal State Fullerton, UMBC, Memphis, Texas Arlington, Mississippi State, Temple, Pittsburgh, Saint Mary’s, UCLA, Drake, San Diego, Baylor
Jordan Brand: North Carolina, Georgetown
Converse: Marquette
New Balance: Mount St. Mary’s
Bonus linkage: The adidas TS Pro Model being worn by many of the brand’s top schools is available at Finishline.com, complete with team logos. The Nike Zoom BB II, being worn by many Nike schools during the tourney, is available to be customized at NikeID.com.↵