Helmets. They are seen as the symbol of a college football team. You have throwback lids that hearken to yesteryear, new age ones worn with alternate jerseys and refurbished ones that try to rebrand a program in need of it.
Many teams in the Big Ten have iconic helmets that stand the test of time, while others could use a little more work than just slapping a logo on both sides.
We decided to poll an array of people from — um, our site here — to rank the best helmets in the Big Ten. We did it before, but now that we have the additions of Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington from the West Coast, it’s time to go through that exercise once again.
Of course, opinions vary, and of course we might be homers here with an Ohio State slant, but we’ll try to be as objective as possible.
Also, we’re going with the traditional helmet here, not any of the alternate stuff. We like all of that, but none of those are symbols of the programs.
Here’s a look at ranking the headgear of football teams in the conference that loves tradition, the Big Ten. We’ll go from worst to first. Don’t shoot the messenger, just get on board with what he’s selling.