![Baskketball team leaves their kit at home, wins in opposing team's uniforms [Image via PDPics - Pixabay]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2019/3/1/660x290/b_502x220x82/a-basketball-laying-on-the-floor-of-a-court-image-via-pdpics-pixabay_2216941.jpg "Baskketball team leaves their kit at home, wins in opposing team's uniforms [Image via PDPics - Pixabay]")
The Indiana University of Pennsylvania is located in Indiana, Pennsylvania. Its athletics teams are nicknamed the Crimson Hawks and have had a number of successes. They compete at the NCAA's Division II level.
The school's men's basketball team has been a national championship finalist twice. They also won nine conference championships. Despite the heights the program has reached, mistakes can still happen.
The team uniforms were forgotten and left behind
The Crimson Hawks have been having a very good season. Depending on which poll you might look at, they were ranked 2nd and 3rd in the most recent polling.
On February 27, they had a big road game against their conference rival, the Edinboro Fighting Scots.
But the team was in for a surprise. According to USA Today, a team manager forgot to pack IUP's uniforms. The error apparently wasn't realized until it was close to game-time. As Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Edinboro, Pennsylvania are more than 100 miles apart, it was much too late to send for the uniforms.
IUP's hosts and rivals would graciously step in. The Fighting Scots would wear their traditional home whites. IUP was offered the chance to wear Edinboro's old red road uniforms. The offer was accepted and both teams took to the court.
IUP would eventually prevail by nearly 30 points. In effect, they clinched the West Division championship of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
ESPN reports that it's the third consecutive season that IUP was won the title. It also marked the 300th career win for their head coach, Joe Lombardi.
There have been many other sports uniform mishaps in the past
Over the years, there have been several other mistakes pertaining to athletic uniforms. Leagues can have various rules about matching outfits and other similar matters.
Some sort of penalty can be given if a team and/or player is in violation of them.
Oftentimes the mistakes can involve a spelling error of some kind. Usually, people find it humorous, but it's not much of a problem. A unique apparel situation emerged in 2007.
The West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team won the National Invitation Tournament that year.
As is customary, the team was quickly given commemorative shirts to make the occasion. But as many people noticed, the shirts featured a misspelling of the word 'Virginia'. At the time at least, it apparently didn't matter much to the Mountaineers. Team members seemed to either not notice or not care as they were donned on the court. Smiles were abundant on players posing for pictures with the championship trophy.
