#148/341 - DePaul Blue Demons

Same as my last post, we have another big conference school that has been slightly off the national radar for quite some time. DePaul hasn't made a tournament appearance in over a decade and to my mind they are one of the schools that I remember playing on the first day of the old Big East Tournament.

What's strange to me is how they can be consistently inept despite their proximity to the city of Chicago, which has always been a hotbed of basketball talent.

#147/341 - South Carolina Gamecocks

It's usually a challenge to find big name, or at least big conference, schools when their basketball program isn't up to snuff. The Gamecocks haven't been to the Big Dance since 2004 but do have a few NIT titles to their credit.

#146/341- USC Upstate Spartans

Okay time to drop some knowledge bombs. So there are what I'll call, directional college names. Western Michigan, Northern Illinois, names that tell you roughly what part of that state the colleges are located in. But what do you when your state already has one? I mean the name, "Southern North Carolina" is just strange. Hence, South Carolina got creative and used the word "Upstate" instead of Northern. Hence, USC Upstate or, the University of South Carolina Upstate.

But what about East/West? Well North Carolina already took East Carolina and Western Carolina, so South Carolina used Coastal Carolina for their Easterly school.

#145/341 - Pacific Tigers

Another lucky ebay find, with rich vibrant colors and a distinguished font. The Pacific Tigers have had success in the big dance including three straight appearances from 2004-06. The first two saw them pull first round upsets while the third saw them take Boston College to a memorable 3 Overtime game before falling.

#144/341 - Northwestern Wildcats

The most elusive of the BigTen schools and the country's hub for journalistic studies, the Northwestern Wildcats. If I'm being honest I hate this jersey. It looks ugly and needs to be replaced, but it's the best I've found thus far.

#143/341 - East Carolina Pirates

This is just a weird looking jersey. It's square-shaped, and is big enough for width but the length is short. I don't know if this was made for a fat child but it's mine now.

#142/341 - Nebraska Cornhuskers

I have officially joined the ranks of Team Nebrasketball.

#141/341 - Georgia State Panthers

Another lucky ebay find with so much to love about this jersey. The "C" above the Nike logo has me wondering if I lucked myself into a team-issued jersey. Any jersey with an NCAA logo is a nice plus.

Update/341 - Ohio State Buckeyes

Just an update, my original Ohio State jersey came with a lesson in learning the difference between XL and Youth XL. Found one that fits at a reasonable price.

#140/341 - Houston Cougars

Hard to believe it took this long to obtain a jersey from such a historic college basketball program. Awhile back I wrote about my struggles in avoiding "vintage" jerseys and no other school has presented this problem as thoroughly as Houston. I must have passed over hundreds of "Drexler's" and "Olajuwon's" before finding this one.

#139/341 - Rhode Island Rams

And America's first state is on the board! Despite it's size, the state of Rhode Island is home to 4 D1 schools. I really like this jersey even if the design is noticeably similar to another state-named team from tobacco road.

#138/341 - Drexel Dragons

I did it again. I bit on a jersey that is terribly out of date because the price was right and I really wanted it. Drexel is from my hometown of Philadelphia which didn't help matters.

Drexel, if you're out there, this was the best I could do. I'm sorry.

#137/341 - Richmond Spiders

Really happy to find this modern, and possibly game-used, jersey for a reasonable price. The Richmond Spiders were the first 15-seed to pull off the big upset when they defeated 2-seeded Syracuse in 1991. Before that they made the Sweet Sixteen in 1988 as a 13-seed and then again in 2011 as a 12-seed. Now they play in the Atlantic-Ten so I doubt they'll be flying under anyone's radar.

#136/341 - Memphis Tigers

Another big market school that has alluded me. This one was found on clearance from Lids. Hard to think of Memphis without thinking of a team that was a few free throws away from a title. That legendary failure to execute the fundamentals has to be a hard pill to swallow for any fan base.

#135/341 - Virginia Tech Hokies

Oh the allusive Hokies! I came across a Virginia Tech clearance sale and jumped all over it. If I had to guess I would say their rarity comes from their once prominent football program that overshadows the basketball team. This jersey puts me one away from completing a 2nd conference.

#134/341 - Mercer Bears

Having hoarded my change for a few more months I returned to the Coinstar to procure an Amazon gift card with which to break my <$20 rule and get a brand new jersey. Gift card in hand, I sought the advice of a random number generator to decide which. When the Mercer Bears were selected, a smile crept up my cheek. These same Mercer Bears, from the same Atlantic Sun Conference as "Dunk City," had just made the same 15 v. 2 upset, only this time it was Duke on the receiving end of March Madness. It only seemed fitting that I once again break my rules for them.

This year the Mercer Bears move to the Southern Conference and I can only wish them well. God speed Bears.

#133/341 - Lipscomb Bisons

Another strange find from the state of Tennessee. This was another lucky eBay find that is both recent and well fitting. Lipscomb is a recent addition to Division 1 and is part of one of the closest geographical rivalries in college basketball. Belmont is located less than 2 miles from their campus and they compete against one another in the Battle of the Boulevard.

#132/341 - Xavier Musketeers

Another non-ebay pickup from a found clearance sale. The first and last school that starts with the letter "X" and helps to fill out the state of Ohio, with its 13 D1 schools. Xavier has gotten very close to the Final Four but not quite there with 5 Sweet 16 and 2 Elite 8 appearance in the last 10 years.

#131/341 - Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks

This jersey was long overdue principally because it is the only located within an hour's drive of my own backyard. It is then, only fitting, that this jersey came from the result of generosity. For a 2nd time I emailed UMES and this time they were gracious enough to send me a beautiful basketball jersey. With that UMES joins the ranks of Indiana State, Gardner-Webb, and Montana State as being kind enough to donate to the JerseyQuest project, and in return, received a donation to the school from me in their honor.

Thank you UMES.

#130/341 - Tennessee Martin Skyhawks

It seems to be getting rarer and rarer where I find an obscure school's jersey that is the right size and modern. This is one of those rare times. I'm getting closer to having the state of Tennessee complete with is bizarre because they have a surprising 12 teams and most of them are obscure.