I'm 99% sure there is no paint on the field anymore.  I think all different colors (numbers, lines, logos) are separate pieces of turf stitched into place.

You're 100% correct.The lines,logos etc. are permanently sewen in.

However, I don't know of any reason why you couldn't   "spruce up"  a field for a special event  by painting over the permanent lines.

I've designed several synthetic turf  fields that had permanent football markings only.
When a school wanted to play a soccer game,you paint temporary  lines on the synthetic turf.

Field Turf provides the instructions on how to do it,including dillution ratios for the paint.The amount of dillution controls the "life" of the temporary markings.

I figure you're joking, but even if we wanted to we couldn't. NCAA has a rule against it now. 

Too bad about the rule because, while I was initially joking, the more I thought about it, the idea for a black field became one of those..."so crazy it might work" kinda things.

Oh well...I guess we could always say we painted the field green because of our colors!!!

The colors don't both me as much as how the seams are looking more and more shoddy every year.  If you look at the Bobcat up close, you can see how it's all uneven now.  Heck, look at the seams of the OHIO's in the end zones, and you can see how it is just showing its age.  Getting close to that 10-year mark, which is believe is the life of turf-fields?  Of course, from the TV cameras you probably don't notice the aging of the seams, but it's very obvious in person.  However, not as noticeable as the giant seam in the middle of the OSU end zones...

Oh, and the MAC logos on the field are painted on, not stitched.  Those get a fresh coat of paint a couple times a year I think.

 



When I design synthetic turf field for football i figure a usefull life of 10 -12 years,depending on how much it is used and weather.

O.U.'s turf has held up pretty well,given the amount of use it gets and the weather in Athens.

In addition to "wear and tear", O.U.'s turf is about 3-4 generations behind what we're using today.

The new synthetic turf is absolutely unbelievable.

Fortunately O.U. should be able to just replace the turf (carpet) which reduces the cost signifgantly.

Watched a lot of games today.

The point is well taken that our turf is showing its age. And I think we'd all agree that it's mostly about the green isn't very green. Our turf is not alone though.

Oklahoma State's turf looked awful today. And even that school up north seems pretty grayish.

Our biggest enemy in this is that our school colors make it more obvious.

Yes, this is from Wikipedia, but I believe it's true. There is no rule against it:

The unique blue turf has spawned several myths. The most prevalent myth is that the NCAA subsequently banned playing surface colors other than green, but allowed Bronco Stadium's field to remain blue under a grandfather clause. In reality, the NCAA has never adopted such a rule. Any school may color its playing surface (or any part, mainly the end zones) any color it wishes. Indeed, other schools have non-green football fields including the University of New Haven (blue)^[12] and Eastern Washington University (red). ^[13] On April 1, 2011, the University of Central Arkansas announced that they would install a purple and grey striped field to Estes Stadium.^[14] Nine high schools also have non-green fields: Barrow High School in Barrow, Alaska,^[15] Lovington High School in Lovington, New Mexico, West Hills High School in Santee, California (alternating royal and sky blue every five yards), Hidalgo High School in Hidalgo, Texas (navy), Chaminade College Preparatory School in the Los Angeles neighborhood of West Hills, Oxford High School in Oxford, Michigan, New Braunfels (Texas) Canyon High (red)^[16][17] and Canutillo High School in El Paso, Texas.