Ranking the College Football Helmets in SEC. Where does Texas land?

Texas Football fans are fiercely proud of the Longhorns helmet. Consistently ranked as one of the best in college football, UT’s helmet is iconic. You don’t have to be a decades old design to be one of the best helmets in the sport, but it helps.

The helmet is the visual identity of a football team. Some teams in the NFL, such as the Cowboys, Steelers, Packers, 49ers and Raiders, have had the same helmets for decades. The same is true in college football, especially at programs that are considered “Blue Bloods.”

When you think of Michigan, you think of the maize-colored wings. When you think of USC, you think of the Trojan. Notre Dame and Penn State? You think of a plain canvas of gold and white respectively. Alabama? The numbers.

There are some newer helmets that work well. Even rotating through helmets can be its own tradition, as is the case with Oregon. But for the most part, the best helmets are the ones that have remained mostly unchanged for decades.

Here is our updated rankings of the best helmets in the SEC:

16. Vanderbilt Commodores

Vanderbilt Commodores helmet on the turf against the LSU Tigers during the first half at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

It feels like Vandy changes every year. They’ve had a black base. They’ve had a white base. They’ve had a gold base, but not even an attractive gold like Notre Dame or Colorado. Vanderbilt’s helmet has had a star. They’ve had chains down the middle instead of a stripe. “Vandy” has been in script cursive. There’s been a “V” with “Vanderbilt” across it. Sometimes there are stripes. Sometimes there aren’t.

All of these iterations have been since 2000. It’s hard to keep up. The Commodores primary helmet is black helmet with a white “V” outlined in gold. But there are alternative versions. Of course there is.

15. South Carolina Gamecocks

The Gamecocks also change their helmet a lot. It has featured the same block “C” with the rooster in the middle since the 70s. But sometimes the helmet is white. Sometimes it is garnet. Sometimes it has two stars on the front. Sometimes it doesn’t.

Garnet, black and white is an odd color combination to begin with. It’s not awful, but it certainly doesn’t stand out.

The rooster logo is generally much more detailed than it needs to be. Logo iconography experts probably hate it. Its ruffled neck makes it odd looking. Encompassing it within the “C” muddles the picture more.

Here’s the biggest problem: “Gamecocks” is a cool mascot. It could have such a cool logo and helmet.

14. Kentucky Wildcats

Kentucky just can’t settle on a helmet design. For the most part, the Wildcats’ helmet has featured the interlocking “UK” since 1997. But what color? They’ve had royal blue, dark blue, silver and white. They’ve had metallic, glossy and matte.

The current primary look is sort of a royal-ish blue with a white “UK.” Last year, the Wildcats had an alternate helmet that looked like a black and blue version of Kansas State.

13. Missouri Tigers

Mizzou has decided it wants to be the Oregon of the Midwest. The result is less successful than in Eugene. The block “M” looks traditional and has been in use off and on since 1970. Missouri has gone back to it after a couple decades primarily sporting the oval with a picture of a tiger.

Last year, Mizzou amazingly used five helmets, black with a gold “M,” black with an oval that has a tiger in it, gold with a black “M,” white with the oval and white with a gold “M.” It’s hard to have an iconic look when you change every week.

12. Auburn Tigers

Maybe it’s the colors of blue and a dull orange. Maybe it’s the 5 stripes down the middle. Maybe it’s the logo. Whatever the case, I’ve never been a huge fan of the Auburn helmet.

The interlocking “AU” was introduced in 1966 and has been mostly the same since.

Auburn’s helmet is traditional and historical. It’s also pretty generic.

11. Ole Miss Rebels

Ole Miss wore helmets featuring “Colonel Reb” during the 70s and early 80s. In 1983, the cursive script “Ole Miss” was introduced.

Originally, Mississippi’s colors were Harvard Red and Yale Blue. But in 1951, the manufacturer made a mistake and delivered the wrong shade (it was lighter) of blue. The team stuck with that color through most of the 50s.

Apart from some one-offs, the team has stuck with the script “Ole Miss” since it was introduced. But the base color has rotated through dark blue, light blue and white. I like the dark blue the most.

10. Texas A&M Aggies

The Aggies. It’s fine. The A-T-M logo has been around since 1972. The current version with the larger block logo has been the most used and is the most identifiable.

A&M will use alternate versions. The Aggies have tried a white version, a black version and a version with a state of Texas outline. They have even tried “Aggies” in cursive on a black matte helmet.

The standard Aggie helmet is recognizable. But it is hard to be iconic if you can’t settle on one look.

9. Mississippi State Bulldogs

A relatively new design that is an upgrade. MSU has mostly gone with a block “M” with the word “state” in a banner over it for years. The Bulldogs have also had a stacked and diagonal “MSU” or an “M” with an arrow circling it.

But the current helmet with the simple cursive “State” is a really good look. It seems iconic and historical while also being new. Nice job.

8. Arkansas Razorbacks

Arkansas has a very solid helmet. It’s simple. Classic. No stripe. No extra pieces of flare. A solid “cardinal red” helmet with a white running Razorback. The Hog’s helmets look similar to the 1969 Great Shootout between Texas and Arkansas 55 years ago.

Arkansas has played with its helmet a bit over the years. A tiny tweak to the pig here. A slight repositioning there. The school has used a reversed white version. Thankfully, the Hogs mostly stick to their original combination.

7. Tennessee Volunteers

The mark of a good helmet is when you instantly know the team thanks to decades of memories seeing that team in that helmet. Tennessee’s fits that bill. The traditional clock “T” with an orange stripe down the middle on a white helmet has been used since 1964.

There’s been some tweaking of the stripe over the years. In 1973 the Vols used two stripes and in the 2010s the back of the stripe turned into the end zone checkerboard. A black outline was tried out a couple years ago.

The Vols will break out a black version that isn’t bad either, but the white one is timeless. Like Texas, the Volunteers use Orange and White. But the versions of orange are very different. Tennessee Orange works for them.

6. LSU Tigers

The Bayou Bengals sport another iconic classic. The block purple “LSU” arched over the Tiger logo on a gold dome (though it looks more dark yellow) with two purple stripes around one white stripe down the middle debuted in 1977 and LSU hasn’t changed much since.

When paired with LSU’s tradition white jerseys, the helmet oozes tradition. Sometimes, LSU will wear a white version. But the traditional helmet is better. It is hard to imagine LSU wearing anything else. That’s the sign of a great helmet.

5. Florida Gators

The cursive works. Florida’s blue script “Gators” on the orange helmet is instantly recognizable, while also being unique. The look was introduced in 1979 and has been the basic Florida helmet since.

Before that, Florida had some versions of a block “F” or “UF.” Once in a while, the Gators will break out those throwback designs. But it is the classic version that fans love.

4. Oklahoma Sooners

The Sooners have another classic, historic helmet. Again, it’s been mostly unchanged since the 60’s. Introduced in 1966, the interlocking “OU” is one of the more iconic logos in college football.

Oklahoma toyed with alternate looks in the Bob Stoops era, which included a stripe down the middle. It looks better without it. Once in a while, the Sooners will throw out a white version. But OU’s primary helmet stands the test of time.

3. Georgia Bulldogs

Georgia Bulldogs helmet during the CFP national championship game at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Another instantly recognizable helmet. It’s clean. It’s iconic. Yes, it looks like a black and red version of the Packers logo. But it works for Green Bay, too.

The Bulldogs have had the same basic helmet since the 1960s, when then coach Vince Dooley introduced the logo. The wife of a coaching staff member studied commercial art at UGA and came up with the design. There was a realization that it looked similar to the Packers and Dooley cleared it with Green Bay. But Georgia’s black and red really make that “G” pop.

2. Alabama Crimson Tide

Simple. Classic. Instantly recognizable. Unique. Alabama’s helmet defines iconic. No need for fancy gimmicks or flashy logos. All you need is the player number. Bama’s helmet oozes college football tradition.

The Tide went to its current basic helmet style in the early 60s — crimson with white numbers and a single white stripe. Before that, the helmet was reversed — white with crimson numbers and stripe. Many, if not most, teams had this basic look in the late 50s to early 60s. Bama stuck with it.

Who else? Texas is consistently ranked as one of the best helmets in all of college football.

There’s no logo more recognizable in the sport than Texas’ longhorn logo. Oozing with history and tradition, Texas has never cycled through alternate versions or tweaked the design much. Texas has stuck with the white and burnt orange and it isn’t changing anytime soon.

The current logo design has been used on helmets since 1961. The logo IS Texas tradition. Texas used to include the player numbers on the helmets above the logo. But since 1970, the helmet has been mostly unchanged.

Another historically iconic helmet. Through ups and downs on the field, the Longhorns have always sported one of the best and most traditional helmets in the game.

This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: SEC Helmet Ranking: All 16 SEC football helmets from worst to first

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