Noticed a jersey marked FROSH, and it got me thinking. Short of markings like this or clear provenance, what distinguishes a freshman jersey/helmet/etc from the ones worn by the varsity teams? Maybe it depends on the university. Identical jerseys purchased as part of the same order? Different quality? Hand-me-downs?

Anyone have insight?


http://www.ebay.com/itm/VTG-1980s-Ra...item589ec07274

As background, here's some information about freshman athletics.
http://askville.amazon.com/year-NCAA...estId=10382567
... and some game photos from 1968.
http://randygaschler.com/RandyGaschl...ootball.html#0