Helmet Bowl

This. is. so. fun.

Thank you to the Equipment Managers and voters. We are having a blast and judging from the tens of thousands of votes last round, you are, too! Wow!

These were the Regional Championships and boy o boy did they provide the excitment.

Regional Voting

The Region with the most overall votes was the West Region – where the Kansas State Wildcats battled the Nebraska Kearney Lopers. The ‘Cats were ahead, the Lopers overtook them. The Wildcats responded, the Lopers overtook them. K-State lead on the last day, the Lopers battled back.

Seriously, we had to create “Congratulations” messages for both teams. It was that close until the last possible minute.

In the end, UNK held a lead for the final couple hours and won by an astounding SEVEN VOTES!

Lopers lead all voting

The West contest drew about 1,000 more votes than other Regional Championships and the Lopers did end up with more votes than any of the other seven teams in the contest.

Now, four remain. Here's how they stack up in last round's voting:

1. Nebraska Kearney Lopers with the most votes
2. Gallaudet Bison drew 333 fewer votes
3. Dickinson Red Devils counted 18 less votes than the Bison. EIGHTEEN!
4. The Louisville Cardinals gathered 237 votes less than the Devils

With tens of thousands of votes casts, voters can see that there is absolutely NO WAY to predict a winner in this next round.

Helmet Bowl III Semi-Final

Could we end up with a DIII, all prior Helmet Bowl Champion Championship? Sure could!

The Dickinson Red Devils – our HB2 Champs – are one of two DIII schools remaining in the contest, now battle the DI Louislville Cardinals. In early voting, the Devils lead by a handful of votes.

In the other matchup, the DIII Gallaudet Bison – our HB1 Champs – face the DII Nebraska Kearny Lopers.

Clearly, it will be Bison vs Red Devils, Bison vs Cardinals, Lopers vs. Cardinals, or Lopers vs Red Devils. See our Twitter poll to vote on which matchup you think will determine our National Champion.

How The Got Here

Let's take a look at how each of these teams arrived in the Helmet Bowl III Semi-Finals. We'll go in alphabetical order.

Dickinson Red Devils

The Dickinson Red Devils reveled in their Helmet Bowl II National Championship, adorning their football uniforms with a specially designed patch. We were proud to see that and kept an eye on them from the beginning.

The Red Devils won the Centennial Conference after gathering an incredible 90 percent of the votes in the Conference Semi-final and then easily beating Moravian for the Conference Championship by doubling the Greyhounds' vote totals.

That brought them to the 64-team National Championship bracket.

First, as the East #1 Seed, they faced a surging #16 Wooster Fighting Scots helmet. The Scots put in a respectable fight and would have won many other matchups, but could not overcome the Red Devils.

Next, Dickinson put it in another gear and demolished the Salve Regina Seahawks.

That brought the Red Devils to a serious contender and a beautiful helmet – that of the Maryland Terrapins. Maryland would not be shaken until the end of the round, and ended up losing by a few hundred.

That brought another fantastic helmet from Maryland – from the Navy Midshipmen. Number 2 seeded Navy, with its diagonally-striped lid, gathered thousands of votes in the East Regional Championship, but fell 30 votes short of the Red Devils.

Gallaudet Bison

The Bison, our first National Champion, won the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference by pushing aside the Maritime Privateers to reach the Conference Championship against the surprising Dean Bulldogs. The Bison plodded along and beat the Bulldogs, but only by 37 votes. We wondered.

Then, the National Championship. The Bison were seeded #2 in the South Region and faced some mighty good helmets. First, the Austin College Kangaroos. The ‘Roos put up some good numbers, but did not threaten a win.

In Round 2, the Ole Miss Rebels toyed with the idea of winning early in the week, and could have pulled out an upset with a strong weekend push, but fell to the Bison by nearly 200 votes.

The Richmond Spiders seemed hungry. The Spiders pushed and pushed throughout Round 3, but Gallaudet seemed to find just enough votes to win, but always making it interesting. We wondered again.

In the South Region Championship last week, the St. Thomas Bobcats sprinted and sprinted and sprinted to the lead a few times. Would the Bison be able to recover the lead again and again? They did, winning by less than 50 votes.

We wonder again. Can the Bison find several hundred more votes to challenge the increasingly strong Lopers?

Louisville Cardinals

This red-chrome helmet is simple, menacing, and attractive. The Cardinals won the Atlantic Coast Conference by doubling up Wake Forest in the Semi-final, then beating the North Carolina State Wolfpack by just 11 votes.

We did not seriously consider Louisville a contender. Though they brought in a nice helmet, the voting numbers were just so very low.

Then, the National Championship.

Suddenly, the Cardinals were carrying in hundreds and hundreds of votes. They beat the Beloit Buccaneers. They handled a very good effort by the Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats.

They faced a unique and Helmet Bowl-experienced Lake Erie Storm and put up nearly 400 (!) more votes than the tornado.

They entered the North Region Championship, a #5 Seed, against a momentum-gaining Toledo Rocket helmet, but never gave them a chance. The Louisville Cardinals won their matchup by the widest margin.

Can the defending champ Dickinson Red Devils stop them?

Nebraska Kearney Lopers

Who?

The Lopers helmet is attractive, yes. We like it and voters do too. But still, this DII team made little noise in past years. In the Mid-America Intercollegiate semi-final, they dismissed the Northeaster State RiverHawks.

In the Conference Championship, they faced perennial Helmet Bowl contenders Central Missouri Mules. We thought the Mules would return to the podium, but SURPRISE! the Lopers won the Conference by two votes.

Ok. But what about the National Championship. When we Seeded them #11 and they faced a strong Wyoming Cowboys helmet (#6 Seed) we thought we'd seen the end of them. Nope. They nearly tripled the Cowboys total and caught our attention.

Round 2 wasn't much of a contest for the Lopers – they defeated the Dakota Wesleyan Tigers. Then, in Round 3, they faced the powerful UT Permian Basin Falcons. The Lopers beat them by 109 votes and were gaining traction.

We were impressed and wondered if UNK would be satisfied with that, especially since they faced the Kansas State Wildcats for the West Regional title. The EMAW crowd traded the lead with the Lopers nearly every day last week, but fell SEVEN VOTES short earlier today.

Now, the Lopers, who would be Seeded #1 based on Round 4 voting, take on the Bison. In early voting, they've gathered nearly 100 more votes than Gallaudet, but it's EARLY.

So, remember, each voter can vote daily on as many devices as possible. The strength is not in the number of devices, but the number of voters a team can get voting. It takes seconds to vote, but the winners rally their voters, and others, to vote every day for the week.

Two cats, two ungulates, a service member, spiritual enemy, mechanical wonder, and a bird.

Bobcats, Wildcats, Lopers, Red Devils, Bison, Midshipmen, Rockets, and Cardinals remain.

Thank you, voters, for such a fun Helmet Bowl III National Championship. We break down the Regional Championships below. By Monday, we will have our Fantastic Fabulous Final Four.

Voting Leaders

We are stunned at how close each of these teams are in voting. Tens of thousands of votes cast, and yet just a relative handful of votes separate these final eight teams.

The Kansas State Wildcats led all vote-getters in Round 3.

Navy Midshipmen: 207 less than the K-State

Dickinson Red Devils: 142 less than Navy

Gallaudet Bison: 25 less than Dickinson

Louisville: 44 votes less than Gallaudet

Divisional Breakdown

DI FBS – Four teams remain (5 teams in Round 3, 8 teams in Round 2, 10 teams in Round 1)

DI FCS – Zero teams remain (3 teams in Round 3, 6 teams in Round 2, 14 teams in Round 1)

DII – The Nebraska Kearney Lopers remain. (3 teams in Round 3, 10 teams in Round 2, 15 teams in Round 1)

DIII – Two teams remain (4 teams in Round 3, 5 teams in Round 2, 20 teams in Round 1)

NAIA – The St. Thomas Bobcats remain (1 team in Round 3, 3 teams in Round 2, 4 teams in Round 1)

Seeding

Amazing how the votes in Conference play, which determined the national tournament seeding, had little to do with how teams have performed in the National tournament.

With one exception: The East. In the East, the #1 Seed Dickinson Red Devils face the #2 Seed Navy Midshipmen – just like the voters predicted.

Meanwhile, the North features a #5 Seed (Louisville Cardinals) vs a #13 (Toledo Rockets).

In the West, #5 K-State face #11 Nebraska Kearney Lopers.

And, as everyone knows, in the South, the #16 (SIXTEEN!) St. Thomas Bobcats face #2 Gallaudet Bison.

So very much fun.

Regional Championships

Remarkable run and comeback by the St. Thomas Bobcats. A Play-in team which did not win their conference, the ‘Cats won a four team contest to be ranked #16 in the South Region.

Now, they face the Helmet Bowl I National Champion (this team will ALWAYS be the first winner of Helmet Bowl) Gallaudet Bison. The Bison have, for an always-favorite) sort of snuck (sneaked) through the contest and now perch (can a Bison perch?) on the cusp of a Regional Championship.

This will be fun.

South Region

Let's stay right here.

The Bobcats won by FIVE VOTES (!) against the surging Samford Bulldogs. Samford brought a clean, attractive helmet to the contest and, unknown until a few weeks ago, sprinted. They beat the Campbell Fighting Camels, then we thought we would have to say “so long” when they faced the unique helmet of Austin Peay. Nope. They beat the Monopoly Man, collected $200, and moved on.

The contest in Round 3 between the Bulldogs and Bobcats was a seesaw and so fun to watch. We are sorry to see Samford leave the contest and look forward to their run in Helmet Bowl IV.

Meanwhile, Gallaudet faced a strong and getting stronger Richmond Spider helmet. The Spiders waltzed through the National Championship and had a shot at Round 4. The Bison outpaced them, just by 100 and a handful of votes.

As we look now, the Bison are leading the Bobcats by 12 votes! Twelve.

North Region

Two surprises.

The Louisville Cardinals put forth a chrome red helmet with an angry bird head. They took on an experienced Lake Erie Storm helmet, but dismissed them by hundreds of votes. Yes, we were surprised.

The Toledo Rockets, now, yes, the Rockets' graduated helmet from yellow to black with the art deco-ish spaceship blasting forward, has grown on us. It's a nice helmet – it really is. The Toledo team took on a hungry Indiana State Sycamore helmet with its history of winning its conference and knowing how to make a run in the National Championship. The Rockets won by a hundred and a handful of votes.

This is a an interesting matchup – the strong recognizable Cardinals versus the relatively unknown Toledo team. Either Louisville will flex some might or the Rockets will jetson one stage and ignite another. The Cardinals lead, right now, by exactly 50 votes.

West Region

Yes, we admit falling hard for the Nebraska Kearney Lopers blue helmet overlayed with the gold antelope bust. It's cool. It's different. It's attractive. The Lopers faced a long-time Helmet Bowl favorite in the UT Permian Basin Falcons and beat them by just 109 votes – less than 2 percent.

They face Helmet Tracker friends Kansas State Wildcats. We've spent a lot of time in the Bill Snyder Family Stadium and always thought the ‘Cats could make a run at a Helmet Bowl National Championship. The EMAW folks just never got behind their helmet. Then, everything changed. The Wildcats changed their helmets mid-week a few weeks ago and things took off for them. They beat a strong Texas State Bobcat helmet, then took on #1 Seed Clarmont-Mudd-Scripps Stags – a heavy favorite. Well, K-State just destroyed the Stags and outpaced the rest of the field in voting last round. Wow.

Now, a great West Region battle. The Wildcats lead the Lopers by 17 votes as we checked just now.

East Region

These are the big guys.

Defending Helmet Bowl National Champion Dickinson Red Devils face the Navy Midshipmen. These two teams racked up more votes in Round 3 than any other two teams in the National Championship.

One has to go.

The Red Devils rely on the football Moms' network. The Midshipmen awoke a few weeks ago and pile on the votes. Navy leads, right now anyway, by just 22 votes.

Dickinson beat a very VERY strong Maryland Terrapin helmet to get here. Navy more than doubled up a nice Alvernia Golden Wolves helmet.

If you watch one contest this week of Christmas (who are we kidding? We know you won't watch just one contest here) watch this one.

Thank you for taking the time to read up on the Helmet Bowl III National Championship. We wish you a very Merry Christmas. Don't forget – you can vote every day. Enjoy your gifts, have fun with your family, then vote.

Now, 16 teams remain. It's the Fantastic Four in each of the four regions. We break it down for you.

For those of you keeping track, what we have left:

DI FBS – five teams remain (8 teams in Round 2, 10 teams in Round 1)

DI FCS – three teams remain (6 teams in Round 2, 14 teams in Round 1)

DII – three teams remain (10 teams in Round 2, 15 teams in Round 1)

DIII – four teams remain (5 teams in Round 2, 20 teams in Round 1)

NAIA – one team, the St. Thomas Bobcats, remains (3 teams in Round 2, 4 teams in Round 1)

South Region

Very little drama in South Region voting in Round 2. That is about to change. in a very big way. Round 3 promises drama.

St. Thomas Bobcats – These guys understand Helmet Bowl and keep rolling up the votes. A 16 Seed in the quarterfinals! Whoo. They defeated the University of Alabama at Birmingham who rolled out a great Blazer helmet adorned with a fire-breathing dragon. Hate to see you go.

The Bobcats now face a surging Bulldog helmet.

Samford Bulldogs – the Bulldogs ran away from the strong Austin Peay helmet festooned with the Monopoly man on a chrome red helmet. Great helmet. But they are done. The Bulldogs need to step it up to advance a week from now.

Gallaudet Bison – the Helmet Bowl I National Champion keeps winning though we expect the Bison voting team has not shifted into high gear as of yet. They beat a strong Ole Miss team, threw some fun shade at the Rebel's new coach, and now face a Spider team whose voters tallied nearly the same number of votes as the Bison in Round 2.

This is a great matchup to watch this week.

Richmond Spiders – The Spiders faced a strong voting Limestone Saints team and emerged the winner. With nearly as many votes as the powerful Gallaudet Bison, the Spiders are a force to be reckoned with if they remain in the contest next week.

North Region

The North Region is easily the underdog region now. Look, when we set up the regions, we spread out the top vote-getters as much as we could. But in the North, the #1, #3, and #4 seeds have bowed out. If there is anything we've learned, though, is that teams who can harness some momentum and then build on it have the potential to surge through the Helmet Bowl National Championship.

Toledo Rockets – This #13 seed won a squeaker over the Ashland Eagles. We love the art deco-ish rocket blasting through the yellow to black gradient – a unique helmet. They face the highest remaining North Seed.

Indiana State Sycamores – This is an experienced Helmet Bowl team. They repeated their Conference win and then started knocking off teams in the national contest. They were about a dozen behind the St. Olaf Oles with an hour and a half left in Round 2, but won. The Terre Haute-based voters know what they are doing.

Lake Erie Storm – Another well-experienced Helmet Bowl voting block. The cartoon tornado with its dukes up will be difficult to stop in this region. This helmet defines uniqueness.

Louisville Cardinals – the Cardinals put forth a gorgeous red chrome helmet festooned with a grimacing cardinal head in white. It's a good helmet and the Cards could push it to the national Fantastic Four.

East Region

Currently, the East Region is the strongest of the four regions – by a wide margin. Unless the winner of another Region figures out how to pile up the votes when students are home for Christmas, the National Champion may very well come from the East.

Dickinson Red Devils – We just cannot start writing about the Red Devils without saying “the defending champions.” And we won't here. The defending champions are showing their metal. They had the most votes in Round 2 in the entire contest (by a slim margin) and know how to pile up more when necessary. However, necessary is now. The Maryland Terrapins will compete.

Maryland Terrapins – We've said it before – the Terrapin helmet caught our attention when we put together Helmet Bowl I. Voters have caught up to this magnificent helmet and have a chance to stake a claim with a win over the Red Devils. Possible? Yes, possible.

Alvernia Golden Wolves – Man o man we wish the Golden Wolves folks would send us a new image. It's a fine helmet, but hard to see through all the fuzz. The route Alvernia has taken through this tournament seems easy – but that's only because the wild canines have destroyed their opponents.

Navy Midshipmen – Well, they sure handed it to Army over the weekend on the field, then nearly doubled up a fine St. Augustine Falcons lid in Round 2 of the Helmet Bowl National Championship. These guys have the steam up and are full ahead. The Midshipmen could win this region and then the whole thing.

West Region

These four helmets. Wow. If voters were asked which Region has the best quarterfinal group, how could they not vote for this quad? The team that emerges from this Region looks to have the most growing momentum as voting numbers continuously climb for these teams.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags – one of two #1 Seeds remaining, the Stags swept aside the Southeast Oklahoma Savage Storm (a Helmet Bowl II quarterfinalist) after beating a strong Redlands Bulldogs helmet. Now they face the most improved voting team in the contest.

Kansas State Wildcats – these guys are always hovering around. And WOW. Between Round 1 and Round 2 they DOUBLED their voting total. Then, they were the only team, so far, who switched out their helmet image. Watch out Stags. This is a big team at a big school with big votes now.

Nebraska Kearney Lopers – we just love this team, the helmet, and the deep dive they are taking in this contest. They've not been challenged and so our suspicions that the Lopers could be a sleeper may be proven out this week.

UT Permian Basin Falcons – This is another helmet we've watched for a couple of years. The Falcons soared through Round 1, but then faced a strong effort by the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers. They met the challenge and now face the Lopers. We'll be watching.