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Best and Worst Helmets from the Mountain West and AAC

By Sonny Martinez

BOISE, ID - SEPTEMBER 06: Boise State Bronco helmets are seen during the gamed between the Marshall Thundering Herd and the Boise State Broncos on September 6, 2019 at Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho. Boise State won the game 14-7. (Photo by Loren Orr/Getty Images)
BOISE, ID - SEPTEMBER 06: Boise State Bronco helmets are seen during the gamed between the Marshall Thundering Herd and the Boise State Broncos on September 6, 2019 at Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho. Boise State won the game 14-7. (Photo by Loren Orr/Getty Images) /
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PULLMAN, WA – SEPTEMBER 08: A San Jose State Spartans helmet sets on the field during the game against the Washington State Cougars at Martin Stadium on September 8, 2018, in Pullman, Washington. Washington State defeated San Jose State 31-0. (Photo by William Mancebo/Getty Images)
PULLMAN, WA – SEPTEMBER 08: A San Jose State Spartans helmet sets on the field during the game against the Washington State Cougars at Martin Stadium on September 8, 2018, in Pullman, Washington. Washington State defeated San Jose State 31-0. (Photo by William Mancebo/Getty Images) /

Air Force

Best: 2010

Plain and simple. The white helmet with the iconic lightning bolt, but the bolt is a patriotic Stars and Stripes look. Its a look they should incorporate more. Honorable mention to helmet M (2016) which is the shark helmet.

Worst: T, 2020-present

Exactly like Army and Navy, it’s hard to not like a helmet when you know what it represents. So strictly for looks, T gets the vote for being another half one color half another color look (red and gray) that has four different logos on them.

Boise State

Best: Q, 2019-present

Way too many good ones to choose. It’s a bit hypocritical to pick this one: Logo on one side, numbers on the other, and color on color all in one. But this helmet IS Boise: blue, and lots of it. The helmet, the facemask, and the logo are all blue, but the logo has enough white that you can tell exactly what it is.

Worst: 1997-2001

It’s not bad, but when you compare it to other Boise State helmets, this gets the call. Plus, it’s a copy of Florida’s helmets: same script style and same colors, just inverted. Again, nothing too bad with it, but when the bar is so high, not all will meet it.

Colorado State

Best: A, 1995-present

It’s basically what the Rams have worn since the 70s, but the deep green and light gold combo look great together. Its a carbon copy of the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams look, but much better.

Worst: C, 2017

A state logo on a college football helmet? Hard pass. It didn’t loom good on the old Colorado Rockies hockey jerseys (Yes, Rockies hockey) back in the day. And all these years later, it doesn’t look good on a football helmet.

Fresno State

Best: D, 2014-2016

There have been many versions of this helmet, but there are a few things that set this one apart. First is the wide blue stripe down the middle, which either didn’t exist or was much thinner in previous versions. Second is the Bulldog logo looks better in red than red, white and blue, which it wears now.

Worst: J, 2019-present

Talk about a downgrade. From one of the coolest logos anywhere to a script “Bulldogs” high on the helmet that can barely be seen due to the gray on white. The alternate to this, which has the script in red isn’t much better, but at least its easier to see.

Hawaii

Best: D, 2018-present

Again, two different logos, but this pulls it off. The Hawaii logo is present on one side, while the Hawaiian Islands are on the other. What really does it is how great the green looks on black.

Worst: 1970-1973

If you line up this helmet next to Army (iconic) and Notre Dame (iconic) helmets, you would barely be able to tell the difference. The RAINBOW Warriors have a lot of colors to choose from with that name, but gold isn’t one of them.

Nevada

Best: H, 2012

Its a shame Nevada only wore this version one year. They’ve changed it up over the years, but the silver facemask that matches the color of the logo on a navy blue helmet is a really good look. They have completely abandoned the wolf logo since 2015.

Worst: E, 2014

Cool concept, but another pass. A white helmet with gray facemask, this features the state of Nevada with a 150, celebrating the anniversary of the state joining the US. Again, good in theory, just not on a football helmet.

New Mexico

Best: O, 2020-present

The silver looks much better than the gray for what New Mexico is working with. The red of the facemask and outline of the logo stand out much more and make the logo overall much easier to see.

Worst: J, 2016

The logo looks like something from the 1960s, which in most cases wouldn’t be a bad thing. This is not one of those cases. The N and M are connected and it just looks off. If you didn’t know it was for New Mexico, you wouldn’t even know what the logo was supposed to be.

San Diego State

Best: 2015-present

I’m not even sure what’s going on here, but its awesome. Actually, I think its the Aztec calendar. It has a black stripe down the middle too, which breaks up the look. It’s probably the most unique look in all of college athletics.

Worst: 1996-mid 1997

San Diego State is another school that has had some quality helmets, but this one isn’t it. Not bad, but the script for the “Aztecs” is a bit high as well as a font that isn’t great.

San Jose State

Best: A, 2013-present

Another helmet that’s had a few variations since the 90s, this one sticks out because of the white facemask. Previous versions have had mixtures of yellow and/or black mixed in, and it just doesn’t look as clean as this look.

Worst: 1980-1985

The biggest offense here is the script Spartans, and to a lesser extent the facemask, look like they were colored in with a highlighter. Change that shade of yellow and it’s a great looking helmet.

UNLV

Best: A, 2015-present

Very similar to K, the only difference between those two is A having a black facemask that looks better than the all-red look. The helmet, done in a matte finish, looks great with any uniform combo the Rebels have. If the logo on the helmet was black instead of gray, it would really turn things up.

Worst: 1981

Another script helmet, and this has two major problems. First, it reads more as URLU than UNLV. Second, if you look too quick, you’d ask when UCLA wore red. Of all the styles the Rebels have found to put on their helmets, this is definitely the worst.

Utah State

Best: J, 2016, 2019-present

This helmet features a gray bull on a navy blue shell with a gray facemask. The color match on the helmet just works, and the bull looks fantastic.

Worst: Q, 2019-present

Remember on old tv’s when you’d enter a channel that didn’t exist and it went to that fuzzy screen? Now imagine that inside the Utah State logo. You almost have to squint at the logo, and even that doesn’t help. Why?

Wyoming

Best: Q, 2014-present

Wyoming has used a variation of this logo since the 60’s. A rare brown facemask appears, on a white shell. The cowboy on the horse is an excellent logo. A yellow stripe in between a thin brown stripe breaks up the white.

Worst: H, 2012

Why is brown rare on helmets? Look no further than this disaster. It looks like a tribute to UPS trucks more than it does a Wyoming helmet. Even worse, its color on color, with the logo brown as well with a thin yellow outline. Horrendous.

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