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Names are not required on the backs of jerseys in college football, so why have a rule legislating what can be written in the space?

The NCAA only allows three FBS schools—Air Force, Army and Navy—to put something other than a player's name on the space above the numbers on the backs of their uniforms. Yet for every other school it's a surname or nothing at all.

A handful of teams wanted to go with non-names in 2014, yet each was rebuffed. Vanderbilt still went ahead and wore its "Anchor Down" jerseys for the season opener against Temple and nearly paid a steep price.

"We sent an email design concept to the NCAA football rules committee, got a cursory response which says, 'It looks good to us,'" Vanderbilt athletics department spokesman Rod Williamson said via David Climer of The Tennessean. "We thought that meant every piece of the communication was fine."

Initially, officials working the game announced that the Commodores' uniform violation would result in a loss of a timeout for each quarter those jerseys were worn. That ruling was quickly overturned, though it didn't help Vandy in the long run, as it was blown out 37-7 in its first game under new coach Derek Mason.

This isn't a matter of schools wanting their players to stand out, like with the old XFL and its use of nicknames on jerseys. Instead, it's meant more to inspire camaraderie and solidarity, as with South Florida coach Willie Taggart's (disallowed) wish to have "The Team" on the back of the Bulls' tops.