Post by Coach Campbell on Sept 3, 2011 18:21:34 GMT
"According to Wilson, manufacturer of sports equipment ...
All college and NFL footballs used to have full stripes. But players began complaining that their thumbs were slipping on the paint of the stripe. As a result, the NFL decided to eliminate the stripes from their official footballs all together. The NCAA wanted to keep the stripes for two reasons: 1) the white stripes helped to illuminate the football and most college stadiums are not well lit, 2) by keeping stripes, the NCAA was differentiating itself from the NFL. The NCAA did decide, however, to change to half stripes (on the top half of the ball only) to eliminate the slipperiness of the ball."