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What is a Hilltopper?
It’s actually not a mascot at all but instead a term referring to the geographical location of Western Kentucky’s campus. The school itself rests on top of a hill while most of its students live at the bottom.
Quirky isn’t it?
That’s enough explanation for a program that’s only been in the Division I FBS ranks since 2008 and is still trying to find its footing against similar teams of its stature. After announcing a multi-year contract extension with Russell Athletic in 2011, Willie Taggart-led Western Kentucky unveiled updated uniforms that provided a retro vibe featuring double stripes on the shoulders of jerseys and down the sides of pants.
The switch included player numbers reappearing on sleeves as well instead of the previous “WKU” wordmark. Western Kentucky currently has nine uniform combinations of red, white and grey jerseys and pants. The program’s all-black uniform combination was dropped and a white helmet was added as the normal gameday shell.
From 2007-10, the Hilltoppers donned a silver shell and before that, red. Three-dimensional, drop-shadowed numerals were switched to a more simplistic block style.
Western Kentucky left the Sun Belt in April 2013 for Conference USA becoming the fifth school to jump league ships. To officially ring in the announcement, the Hilltoppers are expected to unveil new uniforms for the 2013 season according to Russell Athletic and new head coach Bobby Petrino. The flashy garb — a mix of red, white and silver — will be matched with an already released reflective chrome helmet complete with a red stripe and facemask.
Since 2003, Western Kentucky’s primary logo has been its red towel with an embossed “WKU” wordmark in white. The previous two decades, the Hilltoppers preferred the standard “WKU” diagonal lettering.
WKU’s current deal with Russell Athletic ends in 2016. The company sponsors three other DI FBS programs — Ohio, Southern Miss and Louisiana-Lafayette. Samford, Johnson C. Smith and Coastal Carolina don the “R” in lower college football classifications.
