The first week of Conference bracket play showed a strong voting surge and left half of the teams competing behind. Half advance to the Championship round and just one will take home the Helmet Bowl III Conference Championship trophy (this year, Helmet Tracker will send two to each school. One for the Equipment Manager, and one for the staff member who has done the most to bring home the hardware – a coach, a SID, someone on the team or anyone).
There are many great matchups this week, so be sure to scroll through the voting and avoid just popping in to vote in your conference.
Fifteen #1 Seeds were eliminated – see our story that lists and shows each one.
Helmet Changes
We allow the Equipment Managers for each team to submit various images of their teams' helmets throughout the Helmet Bowl contest. Simply follow the instructions provided at any time and your image will be updated.
We've received relatively few helmet updates this year – so don't forget!
Now what?
Conference Championship voting finishes at noon Monday (October 21). We will send two championship trophies to the equipment room of each winner.
Then it's on to the national round.
There are 8 NAIA conferences, 10 FBS Division 1 conferences, 13 FCS Division 1 conferences, 17 Division II conferences, 27 Division III conferences, and there will be 1 Independent Champion. That's 77 Conference champions for 64 slots in the Helmet Bowl III National Championship bracket.
The top 60 Helmet Bowl III Conference Champions, determined by vote totals in Conference bracket play, advance to the National Championship bracket. Seeding (1 through 15) is based first on four geographic regions, and then vote totals in Conference bracket play.
The final four slots in the National Championship bracket (one per region) are determined by the winners of the four regional play-in brackets. Play in brackets are populated by four teams in each region as determined by a Helmet Bowl III selection committee. These play-in teams may or may not be Conference Champions.
The National Championship begins Monday, December 2.
Top Ten
As of this writing, here are your Top Ten voting conferences with the Conference that has the most votes at the top:
| Centennial Conference (NCAA III) |
| New Jersey Athletic Conference (NCAA III) |
| American Southwest Conference (NCAA III) |
| Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NCAA III) |
| Missouri Valley Football Conference (NCAA I – FCS) |
| Southland Conference (NCAA I – FCS) |
| Sun Belt Conference (NCAA I – FBS) |
| Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (NCAA III) |
| Colonial Athletic Association (NCAA I – FCS) |
| American Athletic Conference (NCAA I – FBS) |
And, also as of this writing, here are your bottom 20 conferences, with the conference with the least amount of votes listed last:
| Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (NCAA III) |
| Heart of America Athletic Conference (NAIA 1) |
| South Atlantic Conference (NCAA II) |
| New England Women's & Men's Athletics Conference |
| Mid-West Athletic Conference (NCAA III) |
| Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NCAA II) |
| North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAA III) |
| Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference |
| Mid-South Conference (NAIA 1) |
| North Star Athletic Association (NAIA 1) |
| Ohio Athletic Conference (NCAA III) |
| Sooner Athletic Conference (NAIA) |
| Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (NAIA 1) |
| Presidents' Athletic Conference (NCAA III) |
| Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (NCAA II) |
| Old Dominion Athletic Conference |
| Northwest Conference (NCAA III) |
| Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (NCAA III) |
| USA South Athletic Conference (NCAA III) |
| Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NCAA III) |
Coates Picks
Joshua Coates wrote us to share his Top Ten helmets in the contest and though he wasn't predicting winners, we are tracking which of his helmets choices advance.
Still competing, The Fitchburg State Falcons (#9) in the Massachusetts STate Collegiate Athletic Conference, the Lakeland Muskies (#8) in the Northern Athletics Collegiate, the Rhodes Lynx (#7) in the Southern Athletic, the West Virginia State Yellow Jackets (#6), the Southern Methodist Mustangs (#5) in the American Athletic, the Fort Lewis Skyhawks (#4) in the Rocky Mountain Athletic, the Linfield College Wildcats (3) in the Northwest, the Southeastern Oklahoma Savage Storm (#2) in the Great American ,and the Culver-Stockton Wildcats (Coates' #1 helmet) in the Heart of America Athletic. Nice picks, Joshua.
Would you like to have your Top Ten helmets featured? Write to us at helmetbowl@helmettracker.com.
Three-peat possibilities
Bowing out of the possibilities for a three-peat are the Oregon Ducks, the Northwest Missouri Bearcats, and Misericordia Cougars,
Now, there are just six teams left who have a shot at a three-peat Helmet Bowl Conference Championship.
New Jersey Lions – New Jersey Athletic Conference
The Lions were seeded 2nd and now face the William Paterson Pioneers.
Gallaudet Bison – Eastern Collegiate Football Conference
The Helmet Bowl I National Champions begin to turn up the heat and we can't see them being beat against a very nice Dean Bulldogs lid.
Ottawa Braves – Kansas Collegiate Athletic
The Braves are inching away from the cool Sterling Warriors helmet. They are being challenged.
College of Idaho Coyotes – Frontier
The Yotes step into the Conference Championship against the Southern Oregon Raiders – which feature, um, maybe some kind of bird that is in flight and itching for a fight? We don't know, but are hanging in the contest in early voting so far.
Finlandia Lions – Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association
The Lions are currently deadlocked with the cool orange Hope Flying Dutchmen helmet which features an inert anchor. Why the oddly angled anchor? We don't know, but it's attractive. If the winner of the MIAA wants an automatic bid into the National Championship, voting must increase dramatically here.
Kennesaw State Owls (GA) – Big South
The Owls face the grimacing dromedary of the Campbell Fighting Camels.