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HB3 South Region Preview

December 5, 2019 By Jeff Zogg

Introducing the Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders.

As quickly as you may start to recognize them and want to know more, they may exit the Helmet Bowl III National Championship.

Wow. The Cru is a rollercoaster.

They won the American Southwest Conference, ranked very high in total voting nationally, then seem to rest contentedly with that. Now, a few days into the National bracket, they are getting beat, and beat handily, by the #16 ranked St. Thomas Bobcats.

However, to be fair. The Bobcats, though a play in contender, gained considerable momentum through their two-week encounter with other teams who had lackluster voting records at the time. In fact, the St. Thomas voters failed to lift the helmet to the Mid-South championship. Yet, here they are, seventh in total voting in the National bracket and could make a real run for the Regional championship – and beyond.

Pay attention now, voters. The Gallaudet Bison are the Helmet Bowl I National Champions and are not to be taken lightly. They were, we believe, taken by surprise a year ago, but have their goals set on returning to the highest podium for HB3. This team has strong leadership and an extremely wide network.

The Austin College Kangaroos have a simple but attractive helmet. They must redouble any efforts they have begun to have even a long shot at removing the Bison from this contest. Call it a bad draw or call it what you will, but the #15 Roos are in, and out.

Now here we have one of the most interesting and perfect match-ups. The #3 Camels are separated by seeding by nearly a dozen places to the Samford Bulldogs, but the Bulldogs will not let up. They are stubborn and currently are on a strong pace to upset Campbell then, who knows?

With the other matchup here, the Richmond Spiders vs the Stetson Hatters, you may expect that the Spiders will squash the Hatters, and you'd be right. Who's next for this splendid lid? They had better watch out.

The South Region is STACKED!

The four helmets above may be the most attractive group of four in the contest, for now. Wow. The Governors of Austin Peay have captured the attention of the voters and are easily handling the Arkansas Pine Bluff Lions – who put forth a classy lid themselves.

The long-time Helmet Bowl contender Howard Bison areas locked up as any team can be with the Limestone Saints – a near tie. Both helmets are good, not great, but both teams have strong voting potential and the winner of this match may advance far in Helmet Bowl – the Greatest College Football Helmet Contest Ever!

The South Region does not stop. Look at the helmets above. This is the middle of the pack – 7, 8, 8, 10. They could be 1, 2, 3, 4 in our contest. Wow, this region is crazy good.

The Lamar Cardinals trail the University of Alabama Birmingham Blazers by a couple of hundred votes and probably won't catch the fire-breathers.

The Argonauts of West Florida trail Ole Miss by a few handfuls of votes and can catch them if they rally the voters. Either helmet will challenge in the next round.

HB3 North Region Preview

December 3, 2019 By Jeff Zogg

The William Paterson Pioneers emerged from absolutely nowhere to claim the New Jersey Athletic Conference. Then, due to their spectacular battle with the New Jersey Lions, they earned the #1 Seed in the North Region of the Helmet Bowl III National Championship. Even more, the NJAC drew more votes in its Conference Championship than any other Conference. The Pioneers are the Super #1 Ranked team in HB3.

Now, though, there is trouble on the horizon.

The Idaho State Bengals, who played into the National Championship bracket and earned a lowly #16 seed, charge. Currently, these #1 and #16 teams are tied. Is an upset in the making? There are six days left to vote, so just about anything can happen. The Pioneers must rally the votes, because we know the Bengals are building momentum.

The second-ranked Sycamores of Indiana State hold a fine lead over the Saint John Fisher Cardinals. The Sycamores are veterans at Helmet Bowl and which ever team they face next should prepare now.

NOTE: Due to current limitations of the voting program, it appears the winners of the #1 verses #16 seeds will face the winners of the #2 verses #15 seeds in the second round. These winners would more normally work through the entire regional bracket before facing each other. We are working with the vendor. Stay tuned.

The Thomas More Saints won the Independent Conference Championship (read: they beat Army and they beat Notre Dame) and have one of the classiest, most attractive helmets in Helmet Bowl. We are partial to the diagonal design, yes, and they have perfected it with the silver stripe from the jawbone around the back of the head. Nice. However, the excellent program at Indiana Wesleyan leads the Saints as of this writing. As much as we are partial to that diagonal, we are impressed with what the Wildcats have done in two years of its football program. This is a fun one to watch and there can be no losers here.

Now, the sort-a kinda pink helmet of the Fightin' Engineers of Rose-Hulman produces a certain amount of attention, yes. But is it more attractive than that Toledo fade? The Rocket helmet suggests a spaceship of sorts leaving the atmosphere. Currently, it leads the pink elephant in voting.

Here, in early voting, we are somewhat surprised by the standings. The Louisville helmet of a chrome red with a simple but angry bird leads the menacing pirate of Beloit (they are the Buccaneers). Additionally, the Hope Flying Dutchman's resting anchor on a brilliant orange helmet trails the stalwart Eagle on a purple helmet for Ashland. Does any of this make sense? Voters have nearly a week to figure it out.

Finally, the middle of the pack. The angry cartoon whirlwind of the Lake Erie Storm currently dominates the growling Bearcat of McKendree. The Storm went far in last year's contest, so we look to them to advance a place or two.

Millikin may not have much imagination to their team name – Big Blue – nor to their helmet design, but they also don't have the votes to overcome the Saint Olaf Oles – at least not yet. The Decatur, Illinois based Big Blue has nearly a week to turn things around. At the same time, the Oles can extend their lead with the simple but effective lion shield.

HB3 West Region Preview

December 2, 2019 By Jeff Zogg

In the West Region, the Clarmont-Mudd-Scipps Stags took the top seed. That pits them against the play in team — the Redlands Bulldogs.

Currently, the Stags (the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Champion), are having no problems with the Bulldogs. However, we know the Equipment team at Redlands and they, frankly, embody bulldog moxie. Keep voting Stag fans, or you may experience an epic upset.

At the same time, the Sacramento State Hornets, the West Region #2 Seed, trail the #15 Colorado School of Mines Orediggers. How does this happen? Is it that the Colorado School of Mines have a voting block that is turning out in great numbers? Or, is it the fans of other helmets are clicking on that stubborn working burro due to it's unique look? Regardless, the Hornets have the rest of the week of voting to rally the voters or bow out of HB3.

NOTE: Due to current limitations of the voting program, it appears the winners of the #1 verses #16 seeds will face the winners of the #2 verses #15 seeds in the second round. These winners would more normally work through the entire regional bracket before facing each other. We are working with the vendor. Stay tuned.

The match-up between the #3 San Marcos Bobcats and the # 14 Minnesota State Moorhead Dragons is building already to an amazing contest that could produce a real contender. Voters seem to love the curled up dragon, while the Texas voting bloc is pushing the Bobcats to an early lead. These teams are deadlocked at 50 percent each after hundreds have voted and thousands wait to cast their ballot.

Meanwhile, the #4 Southern Oregon Raiders badly trail the #13 Dakota Wesleyan Tigers. This is a huge upset. Frankly, neither of these helmets engender a strong response from non-connected voters. Yet, anyone can win Helmet Bowl III and it starts with this first round. One of these teams will advance.

The Kansas State Wildcats have toyed with greatness in Helmet Bowl national championship brackets of the past, and hold a healthy lead over the Western Oregon Wolves. If they can garner some momentum, the EMAW folks could make some noise in HB3.

When we look at the match-up between the #6 Wyoming Cowboys and the #11 Nebraska Kearney Lopers, we see two things: 1) a D1 vs DII contest, and 2) two fairly unique and attractive helmets. The Lopers bring a growing number of voters and currently hold a 75 to 25 percent lead! Watch this team, Helmet Bowl fans!

The Southeastern Oklahoma Savage Storm come into this contest a #10 Seed, but last year charged into the Fantastic Final Four of Helmet Bowl II. Do they have the gumption to do it again; or even push further? First, they have to get past a fairly basic helmet from the Central College Dutch. Currently, the Storm lead the Dutch 71 to 28 percent.

Now, the UT Permian Basin Falcons have a gorgeous helmet and a really nice image this year. They bring their #8 Seed against the Oregon State Beavers, at #9. The Falcons have a strong lead after the first six hours of voting. Will they hold it, grow it, or lose it? That's what a week of voting is all about!

Helmet Bowl III Update

November 12, 2019 By Jeff Zogg

Here you will find the Helmet Bowl National Championship Play-in finalists, the 60 teams who qualify for the National Championship bracket, and a schedule of National Championship Regional Seeding announcements.

And this.

This is a stack of Helmet Bowl III Conference Championship trophies and they are ready to ship out to the Equipment Managers of the 77 Conference Championship teams.

Our thanks to Schutt Sports for the helmets and the design. We are proud to award these trophies to the Equipment Managers of the winners.

Play-In Round

For Helmet Bowl III we introduced an opportunity for 16 teams to play-in to the National Championship bracket of 64. The first 60 spots were earned by the winners of the top Conference playoff vote getters. That left 17 Conference Champions who did not qualify, plus other helmets we deemed worthy of another shot. From that pool, we sat down and selected 16 teams to battle for four spots.

The first week is done and now we have one-on-one battles for one spot in each of the four Regions.

With less than five minutes left in the previous round Elon trailed by one vote to the New Jersey Lions. Then, a burst of votes, the Phoenix lept to the lead and won by five votes.

Meanwhile, the Wooster Fighting Scots pushed aside the Gannon Golden Knights, scoring well more than double the amount of votes.

In the North Region, the Eastern Michigan Eagles may have finally awoken to Helmet Bowl. However, they had a tough Montana State Bobcat helmet to compete against. They ended up winning by just three votes.

Then, the Idaho State Bengals locked up with the Lakeland Muskies. The teams were tied until very late in voting. It ended up being just a four vote win.

In the South, the Vanderbilt Commodores, who don a wonderfully attractive helmet, racked up nearly FOUR TIMES the votes of the Kennesaw Owls. They meet the St. Thomas Bobcats, who similarly beat the VMI Keydets.

With the most votes cast in the Play-in round, the Ottawa Braves are now one step away from the National bracket. They defeated a strong Sterling Warrior vote to face Redlands. Redlands had an uphill climb against the absolutely gorgeous San Diego State Aztec helmet, but emerged victorious.

Congratulations.

National Championship Bracket Teams.

The top 60 Conference winners, as determined by the Conference bracket total votes, automatically qualify for the National Championship.

The teams in the National Championship bracket (in alpha order) are:

Alabama (Birmingham) Blazers
Alvernia Gold Wolves
Arkansas Pine Bluff Lions
Ashland Eagles
Austin College Kangaroos
Austin Peay Governors
Bates Bobcats
Beloit Buccaneers
Bentley Falcons
Bucknell Bison
Campbell Fighting Camels
Central College Dutch
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags
Colorado School of Mines Orediggers
Dakota Wesleyan Tigers
Dickinson Red Devils
Fitchburg State Falcons
Gallaudet Bison
Hobart Statesmen
Hope Flying Dutchmen
Howard Bison
Indiana State Sycamores
Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats
Kansas State Wildcats
Lake Erie Storm
Lamar Cardinals
Limestone Saints
Louisville Cardinals
Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders
Maryland Terrapins
McKendree Bearcats
Millikin College Big Blue
Minnesota State Moorhead Dragons
Navy Midshipmen
Nebraska Kearney Lopers
Ole Miss Rebels
Oregon State Beavers
Princeton Tigers
Richmond Spiders
Robert Morris Colonials
Rose-Hulman Fightin' Engineers
Sacramento State Hornets
Saint Augustine Falcons
Saint John Fisher Cardinals
Saint Olaf Oles
Salve Regina Seahawks
Samford Bulldogs
San Marcos Bobcats
Southeastern Oklahoma Savage Storm
Southern Oregon Raiders
Stetson Hatters
Thomas More Saints
Toledo Rockets
UT Permian Basin Falcons
West Florida Argonauts
West Virginia State Yellow Jackets
Western Oregon Wolves
William Paterson Pioneers
Worchester Poly Technic Engineers
Wyoming Cowboys

Seeding Schedule

We will announce the National Championship bracket Regional Seeding starting Tuesday November 19, after the Play-in finals complete on Monday.

The National Championship begins Monday, December 2.

Here is the announcement schedule:

Tuesday, November 19 – South and West Seeds 13 through 16

Wednesday, November 20 – East and North Seeds 13 through 16

Thursday, November 21 – West and North Seeds 9 through 12

Friday, November 22 – East and South Seeds 9 through 12

Saturday, November 23 – East Seeds 5 through 8

Sunday, November 24 – North Seeds 5 through 8

Monday, November 25 – South Seeds 5 through 8

Tuesday, November 26 – West Seeds 5 through 8

Wednesday, November 27 – South Seeds 3 and 4

Thursday, November 28 – East Seeds 3 and 4

Friday, November 29 – West Seeds 3 and 4

Saturday, November 30 – North Seeds 3 and 4

Sunday, December 1 – North, West, South, East Seeds 1 and 2

National Championship Play-In Round

November 4, 2019 By Jeff Zogg

We created Helmet Bowl to give you the say in which are the best college football helmets in the country.

We start with one helmet from every college football team. Often, the Equipment Managers who design and create the helmet submit to us an image of the helmet they want in the contest.

This year, for Helmet Bowl III, we created a three-week Conference contest for each of the 77 football Conferences in the country. After three weeks of voting, 1,000s of votes had been cast and we had all but three Conference Champions.

After the three tie-breakers, every Conference had its Champion. Schutt Sports has donated Helmet Bowl III Conference Championship trophies and they will be shipped to Equipment Managers by the end of the month.

This year we introduce an additional way a team can make it into the National Championship – a play-in round. Sixteen teams have been selected to play for four spots in the Championship. Four teams have been selected for each of the four national regions.

We reached out to Equipment Managers and then sat down and selected the teams – it's the only time in Helmet Bowl where we make decisions about who moves on. However, the real decision is with you – who moves forward? It's up to you.

The Play-in brackets launch today at noon. Each of the two rounds lasts one week and in the end, one team will be seeded #16 in each of the National Championship regions.

Here's who made it.

East Play-in Round

The New Jersey Lions have won their Conference Championship but this year got beat, barely, by the William Paterson Pioneers in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. Due to their strong history in Helmet Bowl, and the strong voting of the conference (The NJAC gathered the second most votes in the country!) the Lions are in.

(Another note on the Lions – it is possible that the Lions will face the Pioneers in the first round of the National Championship in the East or North Region. If so, it may be the greatest Seed #1 vs Seed #16 in the history of Helmet Bowl.)

The Elon Phoenix were runners up on the Colonial Athletic Conference to the Richmond Spiders, but we love their moxie and their helmet. The Phoenix are in.

The Wooster Fighting Scots simply have a cool helmet. That charging warrior with the sword drawn creates a unique look. They won the North Coast, but votes there weren't enough to gain an automatic place in the National Championship. The Fighting Scots are in.

The Gannon Golden Knights battled the similarly donned Seton Hill Griffons and won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference by a handful of votes. The Conference didn't have enough votes for an automatic bid, but now have a chance to get into the National Championship. The Golden Knights are in.

South Play-in Round

Vanderbilt Commodores have maybe the most beautiful and most underrated, under-voted helmet in the country. They got beat in the SEC Championship by Ole Miss, but deserve a shot at the National Championship. Frankly, DI schools often lack the votes in Helmet Bowl. However, if you're not Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, or one of a very few elite programs, the Helmet Bowl is where your Championship hopes should rest. The Commodores are in.

Kennesaw State Owls were a quarter-finalist in Helmet Bowl I and though they lost to a great Campbell Fighting Camels helmet in the conference contest, they deserve a shot. The Owls are in.

Virginia Military Institute Keydets have experienced success in Helmet Bowl in the past and their clean, attractive helmet gives them another chance now. VMI lost by just four votes to the Samford Bulldogs for the Southern Conference Championship. The Keydets are in.

St. Thomas Bobcats simply have a cool helmet – so we put them in. The Bobcats won the Mid-South Conference, but conference voting was sub-par and they now have a chance anyway. The Bobcats are in.

West Play-in Round

San Diego State Aztecs put forth a gorgeous helmet. It was the Helmet Bowl I National Championship Runner-up to the Gallaudet Bison. The Aztec calendar is embossed on a candy-apple red helmet and though they lost by a small margin to the Wyoming Cowboys in the Mountain West this year, they get this chance. The Aztecs are in.

Redlands Bulldogs pushed and pushed and pushed, but came up just a bit short to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – but the voting was HUGE. The SCIAC gathered the third-most votes in the country and if the Bulldogs can somehow win the play-in, they may have another shot at the Stags. The Bulldogs are in.

Sterling Warriors – look, the ready knight is cool. We like it and for that reason, the Warriors are in. Nobody in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic has ever beaten the Ottawa Braves, but the Warriors came within one vote. The Warriors are in.

The Ottawa Braves won the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference for the third time in Helmet Bowl III – a feat not accomplished by any team except the Gallaudet Bison. Though we originally chose the Linfield Wildcats for this slot due to their crazy sailor-hatted cat, the Braves deserve a shot and they are in.

North Play-in Round

This is a very strong play-in bracket, lead by the strong Eastern Michigan Eagles green helmet with the diamond plate E. We don't know who came up with it, why, or how in the world the voters of the Mid-American only ranked it SIXTH (!), but we are giving them another chance. The Eagles are in.

The Montana State Bobcats lost by five votes to the Sacramento State Hornets in the Big Sky, but have this simple, fierce blue bobcat outline on a plain white helmet. It's cool. The Bobcats are in.

The Idaho State Bengals put this chrome-like overlayed I and S in a cooper-like color on its white helmet and, yes, cool! Though they landed seventh in the Big Sky, they get another shot. The Bengals are in.

The Lakeland Muskies may have gotten in just because of their name, but they won the Northern Athletics Conference and came up just short of the top 60, so they get a shot. The toothy Muskies are in.

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