Dabo Swinney details Clemson's uniform combination against Tennessee in extra orange Orange Bowl

The jokes started as soon as Clemson, in its purple and orange, and Tennessee, in its orange and white, were matched up in the Capital One Orange Bowl. It’s going to be extra, extra orange.

“You want to get together,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said to Dabo Swinney at an Orange Bowl press conference Wednesday afternoon in Miami, “and see how much orange we can get on the field at one time?”

No. 7 Clemson (11-2) will be the home team against the sixth-ranked Vols (10-2) on December 30 (8 p.m. Eastern Time; TV: ESPN) at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. That means the Tigers got the first pick for uniform combinations in the New Years Six bowl game.

Swinney said on Wednesday he thought his players had already made the decision.

“I think we’re orange pants and maybe white jerseys,” Swinney said. “I think that’s what the guys, I think we got to pick, if I remember. My equipment guy (asked me) and I said ask the players what they want to do. 

“So I think we’re white on orange. I think that’s what we’re wearing. We’ve got orange helmets, orange tape, orange shoes. We’ve got a lot of it.”

For Heupel and Tennessee, the decision will also be made by the players, but the head coach didn’t have an answer for it on Wednesday.

“I don’t know what (the players) have picked,” he said. “Our guys pick the uniforms every week. I’m sure there will be a ton of orange in it.”

Vols wore four different helmets, two alternate uniforms during regular season

Tennessee players have had plenty of options in picking uniforms this season. In 12 regular-season games, the Vols wore two alternate uniform sets and four different helmets.

At South Carolina on November 19 Tennessee debuted a new orange helmet paired with the white road jersey and white pants. 

The orange helmet was the fourth different one the Vols have worn this season, to go with the traditional white helmet, the black helmet with the ‘Dark Mode’ alternate uniform and the Smokey Grey helmet.

The black helmet featured a black face mask with an orange stripe and orange Power T’s. The Smokey Grey helmet has multiple shades of grey, with the Smokey Mountains on the back to go with a grey face mask, orange stripe that includes a checkerboard pattern on the back, and orange Power T’s.

The ‘Dark Mode’ uniform added the black helmet to an alternate uniform that made its debut last season, with black pants and black jerseys trimmed with orange stripes on the pants and orange numerals on the jerseys.

No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 7 Clemson, Orange Bowl, Dec. 30, ESPN

Tennessee wore its traditional orange-on-white home uniform in the 66-24 win over Missouri on November 12. The same uniform was worn in the 52-49 win over then-No. 3 Alabama on October 15 and in the 38-33 win over Florida on September 24. The all-orange look — orange pants and orange jerseys — was worn at home in both the 63-6 win over Akron on September 17 and the 65-24 homecoming win over UT Martin on October 22.

The Vols wore orange pants with its traditional white road jersey and white helmet in the 27-13 loss against No. 1 Georgia on November 5 at Sanford Stadium in Athens. The Vols wore their Smokey Grey alternate uniform in the 40-13 win over No. 7 LSU at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge on October 8. The all-white look was worn in the overtime win at Pitt on. September 10, the first road game of the season.