SEC, Pac-12 Helmet Concepts Hit Web

We know that Houndstooth is the unofficial pattern for the University of Alabama, so why not come out with a helmet to honor the late, great Bear Bryant? With the massive script “A” on the side, this helmet is perfection.

Pig Sooie! We love that this Arkansas helmet is bringing a pig to the forefront. Man, do we love that red animal leaking down the back of the helmet to make these lids look intimidating. When your mascot weighs approximately 500 pounds, you need a logo a little bigger than the current one the Razorbacks use.

We are fans of the Cincinnati Bengals uniforms and helmets, so making the Tigers’ lids look more like those isn’t a bad thing. Auburn just hopes its road to another title is easier than Cincy’s path to its first.

Wow. Just, wow. This helmet is truly eye-catching. The gator skin that engulfs the lid is fitting and the blue coloring on most of the helmet still complements the script “Gators” outlined in orange on the side.

We don’t care if Georgia or the Green Bay Packers created the giant “G” helmet, it is synonymous with the NFL. We are in favor of a fresh look and this is a whole lot better than the Bulldogs’ last Pro Combat look.

Let’s be honest: This should be Kentucky’s permanent helmet. Let’s make it happen. The royal blue lid has “UK” on the side and a Wildcat draped over the top. Yes, please.

It’s hard to see LSU actually implement lids like these just because there is so much going on. But c’mon, look at that helmet that literally shows off the team’s eye of the tiger (a staple of Death Valley’s midfield). We love the placement of the eyes that will stare into your soul.

This helmet really doesn’t jump out at us like some of the others, but it’s an improvement over the current lid. The Bulldog mascot deserves a spot on the lid instead of just “M-State.”

We know that Sean Tuohy of “The Blind Side” fame wants to serve Ole Miss fans. If he were to become the school’s next AD and gave them these lids, they would go crazy for it – and him. We love the now-extinct Colonel Reb and how everything blends together.

First, the black lids are really sleek and the addition of the interlocking “SC” logo makes this helmet even better. It’s a shame that the logo goes unused now on the football field, and this lid seeks to change that.

Here’s another sleek black look that utilizes another Tennessee logo. The orange team name is written across the side, so don’t worry, Vols fans, the school’s main color isn’t going away.

It’s a new era of Vanderbilt football under James Franklin, who has made it his business to ensure that the school no longer is a doormat. So it’s fitting that this new helmet with an enlarged Commodore is in your face, much like Franklin.

We love that this design starts it all over for Arizona football and new coach Rich Rodriguez. All in red, this lid gives the Wildcats a fiery new look that includes a cool logo which is also very underused.

Sparky’s revenge! The program introduced its beloved Sparky logo on its helmets in 1980 and it stayed until 2010, when Nike redesigned the lids to include a giant pitchfork (lame). We like that Sparky is back in a big way on these helmets.

Cal’s bear claw helmets are back, at least in this faux rendition. It was a look fondly remembered from coach Joe Kapp’s 1982-86 tenure. These are an oversized version of the claw apparently to make up for lost time. Count us in!

We love whenever a helmet goes for authenticity. And frankly, this look has the Buffs looking like an actual Buffalo. Our opinion? It’s a little out there, sure, but it might just be crazy enough to work.

We know that Oregon is no stranger to change in its helmets or uniforms, but this is actually a new look that we can support. The old logo of Donald Duck screaming through the school’s block “O” is awesome – and way better than any of Nike’s futuristic looks.

Similar to Minnesota’s concept from our previous post, we love the buck teeth on Oregon State’s Beaver and cartoonish logo on the side. The bright orange lids and giant rodent would definitely turn some eyeballs away from Eugene to Corvallis for a day.

Any time you can include the best mascot in college sports – one known for its antics and stunts on the sideline – then it’s a win for a helmet concept. Look at that big, green tree on the side and tell me that it’s not better than a red block “S.”

As we’ve said many times in the past, you can never go wrong with powder blue. We think this is one of the coolest looks out there and certainly an upgrade over the white helmets that the Bruins just couldn’t make work last fall.

We ranked USC’s helmets the second best in college football. But even we’d like to see a smoldering Trojan logo on a black helmet for a night game in the L.A. Coliseum. We love the grainy texture on these.

This doesn’t really scream Utah Utes to us, but hey, we like the dark red and the bird logo makes them look a bit like the Atlanta Falcons. It would be a nice tribute to “Swoop” – who many fans aren’t away of – and this look wouldn’t draw any controversy.

We’re sensing a patter with these oversized logos, but it seems as though bigger is better. We love the old school Huskies logo jumbo-sized on the side that really helps U-Dub accentuate its Husky dog mascot.

Yargh! One thing is for sure: Mike Leach would love this look. The pirate-loving coach would be all aboard the Cougars’ logo adding a skull and crossbones and duplicating a “Jolly Roger” look. • Big Ten, Big 12 helmet designs • ACC, Big East helmet designs