Ranking the ACC Helmets

ESPN is doing a "Helmet Clash" and letting online visitors vote for the coolest helmet in CALLLAGE FOOTBAWL. The voting is done in bracket format and unfortunately the two coolest helmets around are paired in the first round: Ohio State and Florida State.

Miami and Clemson are also included in the bracket.

Here are my rankings of the ACC helmets. All images are from Helmet Project.


1. Florida State
- Fear the Spear. They don't even need to put the school's name or initials on it. You know it's the 'Noles.


2. Clemson
- Classic look. Again, you know it's Clemson just because of the orange with the tiger paw.


3. Georgia Tech
- Another helmet that has stood the test of time. Although I liked the throw-back white helmet they wore against UVa a couple years ago much better. I usually hate white helmets, but those looked sweet.


4. North Carolina
- I'm a big fan of Carolina blue and the Tar Heels' helmets.


5. Virginia Tech
- Simple and bold. Tech took off the helmet stripes in the late 90s to give the team a more "professional" look. Personally, I like helmet stripes. Mainly because this is college, not the pros.


6. Duke
- Here come the white helmets, starting with Duke. I like this one a lot more than when they had "Duke" in script across the side of the helmet.


7. North Carolina State
- Really, all the white helmets could be tied for sixth. I think NC State's would look better if it were red. This one looks too much like Stanford's. What if they just put "State" in script on a red helmet?


8. Maryland
- Again, it should be red, like when Frank Reich was there.


9. Miami
- DA U! Too much white. Yes, it's recognizable, but its boring and green-on-orange doesn't do it for me.


10. Virginia
- As much as I make fun of them for being Dopey Scissors University, UVa's logo is pretty cool. Get rid of the orange half-stripe and this is a Top 5 helmet in the ACC.


11. Boston College
- Notre Dame. Navy. Army. Boston College? One of these things is not like the other. Put your logo on your damn helmet. No one knows who you are.


12. Wake Forest
- Like UVa, one slight alteration would make this a Top 5 helmet. Make it to where I can read your logo. Make it gold with a white outline or white with a gold outline. As it is now, I can't read your logo when I'm sitting in the nose bleed seats at the stadium or watching on TV.