One Vote Winners
Commonwealth Coast – One Vote! The Salve Regina Seahawks who somehow take the overlapping S and R and make a really attractive helmet, defeat the Western New England Golden Bears.
Empire 8 – ONE VOTE! The Saint John Fisher Cardinals win by one one the Utica Pioneers.
USA South Atlantic – ONE VOTE! The Brevard College Tornados defeat the Huntingdon College Hawks by one.
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic – ONE VOTE! The Platteville Pioneers had it in hand for most of the week, but the Stout Blue Devils, who have shown us they know how to win, did just that by one vote.
Kansas Collegiate Athletic – ONE VOTE! Taking their third Helmet Bowl Conference Championship the Ottawa Braves sneak by the Sterling Warriors. Does anyone think maybe that Warrior helmet should get another chance?
Michigan Intercollegiate – ONE VOTE! This was a fun one to watch! The Finlandia Lions were going for their third conference trophy in a row, but came up one short against a strong helmet from the Hope Flying Dutchmen who have yet to explain it to us.
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic -ONE VOTE! The Clark Atlanta Panthers devastate the hopes of the Kentucky State Thorobreds by the slimmest of margins.
Northeast – ONE VOTE! The Robert Morris Colonials tiptoe past the Sacred Heart Pioneers for a one-vote victory.
Two Vote Winners
Great Northwest – The Western Oregon Wolves defeat the Central Washington Wildcats by just five percent!
Big South – Whoa! The Campbell Fighting Camels charged past the two-time Conference Champion Kennesaw State Owls by just two votes to win it!
Frontier – TWO VOTES! The College of Idaho Coyotes have been big participants in Helmet Bowl, but not quite big enough this year as the Southern Oregon Raiders pull the upset!
Great American – TWO VOTES! The Southeastern Oklahoma Savage Storm ended their year last year a National semi-finalist. This year they squeak by the Northwestern Oklahoma Rangers to win the Conference. Do they have enough votes to get into the Nationals this year?
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic – TWO VOTES! The Ashland Eagles sneak by the Ferris State Bulldogs.
Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics – The Central Missouri Mules knock off the Northwest Missouri Bearcats only to be beat by TWO VOTES by the Nebraska Kearney Lopers.
Mid-American – TWO VOTES! The Toledo Rockets nudge the Buffalo Bills out of the way and claim the championship.
Southern Athletic – TWO VOTES! The Austin College Kangaroos put forth a golden helmet with a soft red roo and it wins against the odd Rhodes Lynx lid.
Upper Midwest Athletic – TWO VOTES! The Westminster Blue Jays drop by two to a cool Greenville Panthers topper.
College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin – TWO VOTES! The Millikin Big Blue defeat the North Park Vikings by two for the trophy.
Northeast 10 – TWO VOTES! The Bentley Falcons, with their simple but attractive bi-color shield, defeat the feathery Saint Anselm Hawks by two.
Mid-States Football – TWO VOTES! The Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats, in their sophomore season of football, go for the two point win and convert over the St. Francis Fighting Saints.
New England Women's & Men's Athletic – TWO VOTES! The Worchester Polytechnic Engineers with some sort of goat with a flat head on their helmet defeat, just barely, the Norwich Cadets.
Three Vote Winners
Middle Atlantic – The Alvernia Gold Wolves gathered three more votes than the Fairleigh Dickinson Devils to win. Three votes!
Mid-West Athletic – THREE VOTES! The Beloit Buccaneers were trailing the morning of the first day, but then end up beating the Chicago Maroons by a slim margin.
Big 12 – The Kansas State Wildcats win by 3 votes over the West Virginia Mountaineers. Will the Wildcats be satisfied with the Conference win, or will they make some noise in the Nationals?
The National Champions
Eastern Collegiate Football – We think the Bison at Gallaudet may have been holding their breath Monday as the Dean Bulldogs made a late charge. But it wasn't enough and Gallaudet becomes one of two teams to three-peat as a
Centennial – The defending National Champion Dickinson Red Devils hold off a Moravian Greyhound push to win the Conference again and position themselves for a repeat.
Three-Peat Conference Champs
Yes, Gallaudet kept the streak alive with a third Conference Championship. Joining them are the Ottawa Braves (see above) from the Kansas Collegiate Athletic.
Ties
In three contests, we had to go to a tie breaker – a one-time, 24 hour vote on Twitter for all the marbles.
The Lyon Scots win BIG in the Sooner Athletic and the Dakota State Trojans win ENORMOUS in the North Star. Will these teams take advantage of their momentum? The Saint Augustine Falcons also win comfortably in the Central Intercollegiate.
The Rest
Great Northwest – The Western Oregon Wolves defeat the Central Washington Wildcats by just five percent!
Conference USA – The Alabama Birmingham Blazers forgo a blazer (?) for their helmet and win with a dragon over the Southern Miss Golden Eagle helmet which uncharacteristically did not change for the contest.
Atlantic Coast – the Louisville Cardinals rode their red chrome past the angry North Carolina State Wolfpack.
American Athletic – Navy. Go Navy. This gorgeous helmet scored big, but Southern Methodist Mustangs weren't too far behind.
American Southwest – the Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders brought the votes -a few more than the cool East Texas Baptist Tigers.
Big Sky – the Sacramento State Hornets stung the Montana State Bobcats by just five more votes!
Big Ten – Finally. The Maryland Terrapins have brought one of the most beautiful helmets into the contest, but cannot advance far in the Nationals. Will they this year after defeating Michigan?
Colonial Athletic – Two great helmets. The Richmond Spiders defeat the Elon Phoenix for the win.
Great Lakes Valley – The McKendree Bears defeat the University of Indianapolis Greyhounds.
Great Midwest Athletic – The Lake Erie Storm win big over the Walsh Cavaliers.
Gulf South – In the battle of the “wests” the Argonauts of West Florida defeated the West Alabama Tigers.
Heart of America – In slow voting, the Culver-Stockton Wildcats return to the Championship stage; this time over the Clarke Pride.
Heartland Collegiate Athletic – the Rose-Hulman Fightin' Engineers took the Hoosier battle against the Franklin Grizzlies in a late push to win.
American Rivers – the Central College Dutch emerge victorious with a simple Cincinnati Reds' C helmet over the Nebraska Wesleyan PrairieWolves.
Ivy League – The Tigers of Princeton unseat the Cornell Big Red in slow voting.
Liberty League – the Hobart Statesman slash a medium-sized H diagonally and come away with the W over the Buffalo State Bengals.
Lone Star – the UT Permian Basin Falcons return to the Championship podium over the Texas A&M Commerce Lions.
Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic – Fitchburg State Falcons triple the voting of the Bridgewater State Bears for the win.
Mid-Eastern Athletic – The Howard Bison seemed to struggle against a Florida A&M Rattlers helmet, but a strong finish gives them the clear victory.
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic – the Saint Olaf Oles beat the once-champion Saint Thomas Tommies for the trophy.
Missouri Valley Football – The Indiana State Sycamores defend their crown by beating the North Dakota State Bison.
Mountain East – the West Virginia State Yellow Jackets make handy work out of beating the Fairmont State Fighting Falcons (cool helmet, few votes).
Mountain West – This was a good one to watch! The San Diego State Aztecs have a hugely popular helmet but the Wyoming Cowboys have five more votes for the win. Expect the Aztecs to be in the play-in bracket out West.
New England Small College Athletic – The Bates Bobcats announced themselves with strong voting and easily swatted way the Tufts Jumbos.
New Jersey Athletic – Wow. The votes that came in here were astounding. William Paterson Pioneers came into the voting booth and camped out. They defeated two-time Conference Champion New Jersey Lions. Expect the Lions to have another shot at the National Championship bracket.
North Coast Athletic – the Wooster Fighting Scots put forth a winning helmet that could carry them far – if they can bolster the voting block. The Hiram Terriers, with one of the most original helmets, fall.
Northern Sun Intercollegiate – the Minnesota State Moorhead Dragons defeat the Upper Iowa Peacocks in a great battle.
Northwest – We still don't get the sailor hat on the cat for the Linfield College Wildcats – someone from this conference champion team explain it for us. They defeat the Willamette Bearcats.
Ohio Athletic – This battle was one to watch for days – it was close. In the end, the Student Princes' of Heidelberg did not have enough to overtake the Mount Union Purple Raiders.
Ohio Valley – The Monopoly man on the lid of the Austin Peay Governors wlll draw attention in the National Championship bracket, but will it draw votes? They beat a fine helmet from the Racers of Murray State.
PAC 12 – The Oregon State Beavers, riding a wave of victory after beating Oregon, dispatch the Colorado Buffaloes by nearly twice as many votes.
Patriot – The Bucknell Bison defeat the Colgate Raiders by FIVE votes to claim the crown.
Pioneer – The Stetson Hatters return to the podium after winning against the Wildcats of Davidson.
Presidents' Athletic – The Waynesburg Yellow Jackets didn't draw very many votes, but still defeated the Carnegie Mellon Tartans.
Pennsylvania State Athletic – We loved this matchup. It seems the helmets for the Gannon Golden Knights and the Seton Hill Griffins were designed in the same room. Gannon wins by FOUR VOTES.
Rocky Mountain Athletic – Watch out. The Colorado School of Mines Orediggers helmet has caught the attention of some of our staffers and now reign over the Fort Lewis Skyhawks and the rest of the conference. Do they have enough to make it into the National bracket and go anywhere?
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic – Great contest! The victorious Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags, with a helmet we have admired for three years, win over strong voting by the Redlands Bulldogs (who will have a chance in the play off round, me thinks).
SEC – What? The heavy favorite Vanderbilt Commodores go down in flames to the Ole Miss Rebels. Wow.
Southern – The Virginia Military Institute Keydets were attempting to return to the podium, but it is not to be. Samford Bulldogs take the winner's circle.
Southland – In strong voting, the Lamar Cardinals once again show strength – this time by defeating the Central Arkansas Bears.
Sun Belt – The San Marcos Bobcats of Texas State take the crown by defeating the Arkansas State Red Wolves.
Southwestern Athletic – the Arkansas Pine Bluff Lions once again win – this time over the Southern University and A&M Jaguars.
Independent – Wow, we love this helmet. The Thomas More Saints defeat the Liberty Flames after qualifying for the championship by beating Notre Dame.
Great Plains Athletic – With more than 3-times the votes, the Dakota Wesleyan Tigers win over the Morningside Mustangs.
Northern Athletics Collegiate – the Muskies of Lakeland have gathered some attention and won over the Concordia Wisconsin Falcons, but will have to roll that ball much farther down the field to be competitive in the next round.
Old Dominion – The Southern Virginia Knights beat the Ferrum Panthers. It's as simple as that.
South Atlantic – The Limestone Saints couldn't shake the Newberry Wolves for days, but then pulled away over the weekend to win – again.
Mid-South – The St. Thomas Bobcats defeat a great helmet from the Faulkner Eagles.
Congratulations to all the winners! To the rest of you, if you think you deserve a slot in the play in round, email us at helmetbowl@helmettracker.com and tell us why.