With spring football now behind us, and the Oregon Ducks headed back into the offseason for a couple of months, we look off of the gridiron for content. No longer are there practices or interviews to write about, but fortunately in the world of college football, there’s always something.
Whether it’s recruiting cut-downs, commitments, schedule updates, or everyone’s favorite thing: a ranking, the news cycle in college football never ends. As we start to lean into the offseason, we’re going to dive headfirst and do something that will get the conversation rolling amongst fanbases in the Big Ten Conference: rank things.
To start, let’s look at the helmets that every team in the conference wears.
This is not the first time that we’ve looked at the Big Ten helmets and decided to rank them all, but with several teams introducing new looks this past year, it felt like a good time to revisit things and update the list. You can look at our past ranking here.
Of course, putting together a definitive ranking on a topic that changes week to week is a bit difficult. In today’s day and age of college football — thanks in large part to Oregon — very few teams have just one set of jerseys that they wear each and every week. Like the Ducks, many have at least one or two alternates that they throw on throughout the season. To account for this, we went through the last year and picked out our favorite helmet that each team wore.
Here’s the ranking that we came up with:
No. 18 — Nebraska Cornhuskers
Nebraska may be a program that is steeped in tradition, but the helmet is traditionally boring, in my opinion. A cornhusker is such a unique mascot, why in the world are we not doing something more creative than a capital letter? Some schools put no effort into uniforms, and it drives me crazy.
For more Nebraska news and coverage, check out Cornhuskers Wire!
No. 17 — Northwestern Wildcats
In our original rankings, Northwestern occupied the bottom spot, but they improved a bit thanks to the script logo that was featured a couple of times in 2024. To be honest, though, it’s still not spectacular. A wildcat is a cool mascot, so why don’t we get an actual logo on the helmet rather than just the name?
No. 16 — Rutgers Scarlet Knights
These helmets could be a lot better, but they could also be worse. I am a fan of the style of ‘R’ on the helmet for Rutgers, and in their game against Minnesota, they went with some flair and added the American flat colorway, which is a nice touch.
For more Rutgers news and coverage, check out Rutgers Wire!
No. 15 — UCLA Bruins
I don’t hate the UCLA helmets, but I think they leave much to be desired, especially when you consider the beauty of the powder blue uniforms. The light blue scrip vs. the old dark blue is a bit better, but this is Los Angeles, how about a little flash?
For more UCLA news and coverage, check out UCLA Bruins Wire!
No. 14 — Washington Huskies
Whether you like the classic gold helmet for Washington or the all-black is your personal preference. I am a bigger fan of the matte black look, but that’s just me. Either way, these helmets don’t do too much for me. Maybe there is a bit of Oregon bias in that opinion…
For more Washington news and coverage, check out UW Huskies Wire!
No. 13 — Indiana Hoosiers
Some may think that this is too high on the list for Indiana, but I disagree. I am a fan of the ‘IU’ logo, and once again we get a nice matte finish. On top of that, you get a double stripe down the middle rather than a single stripe, which is a nice touch.
No. 12 — Wisconsin Badgers
It’s the logo that really does it for me here. Wisconsin is a great example of how to take a simple letter and add some flair to it. The red and white scheme is great, and I like that the Badgers go with the all-white helmet and face mask, instead of a red face mask. Nebraska could take some notes.
For more Wisconsin news and coverage, check out Badgers Wire!
No. 11 — USC Trojans
Say what you will about the USC Trojans, but I think their scarlet and gold mixture is classic and always works. The logo is also very nice and detailed, which is better than had they put the USC on the side.
For more USC news and coverage, check out Trojans Wire!
No. 10 — Iowa Hawkeyes
I’m a big fan of the Hawkeyes logo, and I think the color scheme works really nicely together. While I like several other helmets because of the matte finish, I think the shine on Iowa’s lids helps give them a bit of flash.
For more Iowa news and coverage, check out Hawkeyes Wire!
No. 9 — Illinois Fighting Illini
Illinois was a big mover for me in this year’s rankings because they switched it up a bit this year and went away from the block ‘I’ that was typically on the helmets in the past. The script ‘Illinois’ may still be simple, but it’s leagues better than what they had, and I think it looks pretty nice.
No. 8 — Minnesota Golden Gophers
Minnesota was another major riser in this year’s helmet rankings, with a really solid alternate look that features the Gopher mascot on one side and the Minnesota ‘M’ on the other side. I think it’s a great throwback look and deserving of a spot in the top 10 of the rankings.
No. 7 — Maryland Terrapins
I have always thought highly of the Maryland helmets. I personally am a fan of their “state flag” helmet that they wear normally, and I liked the reflective look that they went with this year against Oregon. While they dropped a few spots from my rankings last year, I don’t think that’s due to anything that they did but rather improvements from others on the list.
No. 6 — Penn State Nittany Lions
It’s hard to beat the classic Penn State look with the white helmets and a blue stripe down the middle. They may be the most basic on this entire list, but there is dignity in that. I was a big fan of the jersey numbers on the side that they broke out in a few games this year. In the same way that Alabama has a classic helmet with the jersey numbers on the side, the Nittany Lions nail it with the clean look.
For more Penn State news and coverage, check out Nittany Lions Wire!
No. 5 — Michigan Wolverines
The Maize and Blue already look great together, and then when you give it the flair that Mighican does on the helmet, it’s hard to beat. I’m not sure what you call that design that the Wolverines have up front, but it’s a classic and should never be changed.
For more Michigan news and coverage, check out Wolverines Wire!
No. 4 — Michigan State Spartans
Michigan State pulled out a fantastic look this year, going away from the classic Spartan logo and breaking out the throwback look. To make it better, they had the cool, hieroglyphic-like striping down the middle. I love this look.
For more Wisconsin news and coverage, check out Badgers Wire!
No. 3 — Purdue Boilermakers
Purdue deserves a ton of credit for upping their helmet game this year, the best of which was this black-and-gold look against the Oregon Ducks. The Purdue script on the side with a gold facemask is a really great look. It’s hard to see all of its glory in the above picture, so here is a better look:
Flipping the script for Friday night. pic.twitter.com/rUfuD0N4Zk
— Purdue Football (@BoilerFootball) October 15, 2024
No. 2 — Oregon Ducks
Based on the sheer number of helmets that Oregon has each and every year, they likely deserve the No. 1 spot, but if you’re talking about the single best helmet of the year, I couldn’t give it to them in 2024. I loved the ‘Mighty Oregon’ look from the Ducks, but this throwback, to me, was not as good as the throwback they did in 2023, with the ‘UO’ logo on the helmet, rather than the ‘O’. It’s just personal preference, but I like the UO better.
No. 1 — Ohio State Buckeyes
I can’t believe that I am putting Ohio State ahead of Oregon on this list, but it’s what my gut is telling me to do. For starters, the Buckeyes have one of the best helmets every year: the scarlet and grey with the pride stickers to make it pop. But when you add the special Rose Bowl logo throughout the scarlet stripe, that just takes it over the top for me.
For more Ohio State news and coverage, check out Buckeyes Wire!
This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon Football: Big Ten helmets ranked from worst to first
With spring football now behind us, and the Oregon Ducks headed back into the offseason for a couple of months, we look off of the gridiron for content. No longer are there practices or interviews to write about, but fortunately in the world of college football, there’s always something.
Whether it’s recruiting cut-downs, commitments, schedule updates, or everyone’s favorite thing: a ranking, the news cycle in college football never ends. As we start to lean into the offseason, we’re going to dive headfirst and do something that will get the conversation rolling amongst fanbases in the Big Ten Conference: rank things.
To start, let’s look at the helmets that every team in the conference wears.
This is not the first time that we’ve looked at the Big Ten helmets and decided to rank them all, but with several teams introducing new looks this past year, it felt like a good time to revisit things and update the list. You can look at our past ranking here.
Of course, putting together a definitive ranking on a topic that changes week to week is a bit difficult. In today’s day and age of college football — thanks in large part to Oregon — very few teams have just one set of jerseys that they wear each and every week. Like the Ducks, many have at least one or two alternates that they throw on throughout the season. To account for this, we went through the last year and picked out our favorite helmet that each team wore.
Here’s the ranking that we came up with:
No. 18 — Nebraska Cornhuskers
Nebraska may be a program that is steeped in tradition, but the helmet is traditionally boring, in my opinion. A cornhusker is such a unique mascot, why in the world are we not doing something more creative than a capital letter? Some schools put no effort into uniforms, and it drives me crazy.
For more Nebraska news and coverage, check out Cornhuskers Wire!
No. 17 — Northwestern Wildcats
In our original rankings, Northwestern occupied the bottom spot, but they improved a bit thanks to the script logo that was featured a couple of times in 2024. To be honest, though, it’s still not spectacular. A wildcat is a cool mascot, so why don’t we get an actual logo on the helmet rather than just the name?
No. 16 — Rutgers Scarlet Knights
These helmets could be a lot better, but they could also be worse. I am a fan of the style of ‘R’ on the helmet for Rutgers, and in their game against Minnesota, they went with some flair and added the American flat colorway, which is a nice touch.
For more Rutgers news and coverage, check out Rutgers Wire!
No. 15 — UCLA Bruins
I don’t hate the UCLA helmets, but I think they leave much to be desired, especially when you consider the beauty of the powder blue uniforms. The light blue scrip vs. the old dark blue is a bit better, but this is Los Angeles, how about a little flash?
For more UCLA news and coverage, check out UCLA Bruins Wire!
No. 14 — Washington Huskies
Whether you like the classic gold helmet for Washington or the all-black is your personal preference. I am a bigger fan of the matte black look, but that’s just me. Either way, these helmets don’t do too much for me. Maybe there is a bit of Oregon bias in that opinion…
For more Washington news and coverage, check out UW Huskies Wire!
No. 13 — Indiana Hoosiers
Some may think that this is too high on the list for Indiana, but I disagree. I am a fan of the ‘IU’ logo, and once again we get a nice matte finish. On top of that, you get a double stripe down the middle rather than a single stripe, which is a nice touch.
No. 12 — Wisconsin Badgers
It’s the logo that really does it for me here. Wisconsin is a great example of how to take a simple letter and add some flair to it. The red and white scheme is great, and I like that the Badgers go with the all-white helmet and face mask, instead of a red face mask. Nebraska could take some notes.
For more Wisconsin news and coverage, check out Badgers Wire!
No. 11 — USC Trojans
Say what you will about the USC Trojans, but I think their scarlet and gold mixture is classic and always works. The logo is also very nice and detailed, which is better than had they put the USC on the side.
For more USC news and coverage, check out Trojans Wire!
No. 10 — Iowa Hawkeyes
I’m a big fan of the Hawkeyes logo, and I think the color scheme works really nicely together. While I like several other helmets because of the matte finish, I think the shine on Iowa’s lids helps give them a bit of flash.
For more Iowa news and coverage, check out Hawkeyes Wire!
No. 9 — Illinois Fighting Illini
Illinois was a big mover for me in this year’s rankings because they switched it up a bit this year and went away from the block ‘I’ that was typically on the helmets in the past. The script ‘Illinois’ may still be simple, but it’s leagues better than what they had, and I think it looks pretty nice.
No. 8 — Minnesota Golden Gophers
Minnesota was another major riser in this year’s helmet rankings, with a really solid alternate look that features the Gopher mascot on one side and the Minnesota ‘M’ on the other side. I think it’s a great throwback look and deserving of a spot in the top 10 of the rankings.
No. 7 — Maryland Terrapins
I have always thought highly of the Maryland helmets. I personally am a fan of their “state flag” helmet that they wear normally, and I liked the reflective look that they went with this year against Oregon. While they dropped a few spots from my rankings last year, I don’t think that’s due to anything that they did but rather improvements from others on the list.
No. 6 — Penn State Nittany Lions
It’s hard to beat the classic Penn State look with the white helmets and a blue stripe down the middle. They may be the most basic on this entire list, but there is dignity in that. I was a big fan of the jersey numbers on the side that they broke out in a few games this year. In the same way that Alabama has a classic helmet with the jersey numbers on the side, the Nittany Lions nail it with the clean look.
For more Penn State news and coverage, check out Nittany Lions Wire!
No. 5 — Michigan Wolverines
The Maize and Blue already look great together, and then when you give it the flair that Mighican does on the helmet, it’s hard to beat. I’m not sure what you call that design that the Wolverines have up front, but it’s a classic and should never be changed.
For more Michigan news and coverage, check out Wolverines Wire!
No. 4 — Michigan State Spartans
Michigan State pulled out a fantastic look this year, going away from the classic Spartan logo and breaking out the throwback look. To make it better, they had the cool, hieroglyphic-like striping down the middle. I love this look.
For more Wisconsin news and coverage, check out Badgers Wire!
No. 3 — Purdue Boilermakers
Purdue deserves a ton of credit for upping their helmet game this year, the best of which was this black-and-gold look against the Oregon Ducks. The Purdue script on the side with a gold facemask is a really great look. It’s hard to see all of its glory in the above picture, so here is a better look:
Flipping the script for Friday night. pic.twitter.com/rUfuD0N4Zk
— Purdue Football (@BoilerFootball) October 15, 2024
No. 2 — Oregon Ducks
Based on the sheer number of helmets that Oregon has each and every year, they likely deserve the No. 1 spot, but if you’re talking about the single best helmet of the year, I couldn’t give it to them in 2024. I loved the ‘Mighty Oregon’ look from the Ducks, but this throwback, to me, was not as good as the throwback they did in 2023, with the ‘UO’ logo on the helmet, rather than the ‘O’. It’s just personal preference, but I like the UO better.
No. 1 — Ohio State Buckeyes
I can’t believe that I am putting Ohio State ahead of Oregon on this list, but it’s what my gut is telling me to do. For starters, the Buckeyes have one of the best helmets every year: the scarlet and grey with the pride stickers to make it pop. But when you add the special Rose Bowl logo throughout the scarlet stripe, that just takes it over the top for me.
For more Ohio State news and coverage, check out Buckeyes Wire!
This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon Football: Big Ten helmets ranked from worst to first
