Ranking Oregon Ducks' helmet among Big Ten's best in 2025 season
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We are getting deep into the offseason months, and the stretch of summer ahead of us promises to be positive for the Oregon Ducks, particularly on the recruiting trail. However, this is the time of year when content can get stale, and a person who covers college football for a living — Hello, how's it going? — can grow frustrated, searching for things to write about.
Fortunately, this isn't our first rodeo here at Ducks Wire. We've experienced the summer slog before, and produced some things during this time of year that ended up being among the most-read articles in the site's history. So why not run it back?
Over the next several weeks, expect some evergreen content to come from our site as we try to keep from twiddling our thumbs and choose to have some fun with the last 60 days or so of the offseason. To kick things off, we're teeing up one of our favorite articles from years past and giving it a fresh take.
Welcome to the Big Ten helmet rankings.
Two years ago, we introduced this subject as the Ducks entered the Big Ten Conference. To this day, it is still the most-read thing we've ever done. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I'm not one to turn my nose up at numbers. We ran it back last year to great success again, changing it from each team's best helmet to the "best helmet they wore last season."
Third time's a charm, huh?
Putting together a definitive ranking on a topic that changes week to week is a bit difficult. In today's day and age of college football — thanks in large part to Oregon — very few teams have just one set of jerseys that they wear each and every week. Like the Ducks, many have at least one or two alternates that they throw on throughout the season. To account for this, we went through the last year and picked out our favorite helmet that each team wore.
Here's the ranking that we came up with:
No. 18 — Nebraska Cornhuskers
Nebraska typically finds themselves at the bottom of this list. A bland "N" with a single stripe down the middle doesn't do much for me, and looks more like the Netflix logo than anything else. Making everything black helped a little bit, but not much.
No. 17 — Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin's throwback helmet this past year was solid, but it still is just a big block "W" on a white helmet with a stripe. I feel like the Badgers could do something really cool with their mascot, but we rarely see them stray from tradition.
No. 16 — Penn State Nittany Lions
Penn State fits into the same group as those like Michigan and Ohio State — a school that is rarely ever going to change up the helmets — but they don't quite have the style or look to be ranked as highly as those other teams. There's nothing wrong with the white helmet and blue stripe down the middle, but it doesn't inspire much, either.
No. 15 — Indiana Hoosiers
Indiana may have had the best team in the nation last year, but I don't think it's unreasonable to say that they weren't winning any trophies for their uniforms. The white script "Indiana" is better than the "IU" logo in my opinion, but it's also not the best helmet in the conference.
No. 14 — USC Trojans
The USC helmet is classic, and it will never change. It's as ingrained in the history of college football as any other. With that being said, I think we can be honest in saying it's not one of the best helmets out there. Sure, the logo is great, and the cardinal and gold are iconic, but it feels like USC could do so much better and at least get some alternates in the mix.
No. 13 — Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Much like the next team on this list, Rutgers tends to break out this alternate American flag-themed helmet, which I think is a nice look. It sits well on the white helmet, and the white facemask is a nice touch.
No. 12 — Iowa Hawkeyes
Iowa rarely changes up their uniform, but when they do, it's typically with these nice American flag alternates, which are classy and not over-stated. They by no means are the best helmets in the conference, but they are a nice change of pace for the Hawkeyes.
No. 11 — Northwestern Wildcats
The purple logo is nice on the matte black helmet for Northwestern, but I wish it was a bit bolder and easier to tell what it is. Still, I think that this is far better than the normal "N" that the Wildcats typically use.
No. 10 — Illinois Fighting Illini
Illinois has a couple of nice looks that they've gone with over the years, but I think the best one they had in 2025 was this one against the Maryland Terrapins. It's better than the big block "I" that they typically go with, and the blue and white stripe complement the "Illini" well.
No. 9 — Washington Huskies
Credit to the Huskies, they put together a nice look here. The combo of the gold facemask, gold strike down the middle, and the gold outline of the "W" works well, and matching it with the purple on the helmet on top of a matte black is very nice.
No. 8 — UCLA Bruins
The Bruins are another team that is typically going to find its way into the top 10 just by doing what it always does. Once they changed from the dark blue logo to the powder blue, these helmets got remarkably better. The mix of gold and powder blue will always stand out, and I think they've got it right here.
No. 7 — Maryland Terrapins
Maryland has done some cool things with their helmets over the years, and while 2025 might not have been their best, I do like the simple red, with the "Terps" script over it. The white facemask is what makes things pop the most, though. I am excited to see what they can pull out in 2026, because they tend to be on the cutting edge when it comes to uniform fashion.
No. 6 — Michigan Wolverines
Much like Ohio State, the Michigan Wolverines are going to find a spot in the top 10 just about every year on this list thanks to their time-honored look. The helmet stickers are a great touch, and these will forever be one of the most recognizable helmets in all of college football.
No. 5 — Minnesota Golden Gophers
Minnesota has a great look here, with the classic "M" on one side, and a great, oversized mascot logo on the other. Sometimes when teams do the oversized logo, it can be too much, but I think the Golden Gophers hit the mark with these, especially since the mascot is just an outline, with no coloring.
No. 4 — Michigan State Spartans
Michigan State's product on the field may not have been great, but their look was on occasion. This helmet featuring the old school logo and the maze print down the middle is fantastic, and it is complemented well by the print down the pant leg as well. They aren't overstated or loud, but clean and classy.
No. 3 — Purdue Boilermakers
It may be a surprise that Purdue is as high up here as they are, but I really like what they did this year with these alternate looks that feature a number on one side and the Purdue script on the other. The gold trim on the matt black is very clean, and they should wear them more.
No. 2 — Ohio State Buckeyes
While Ohio State doesn't switch anything up and just kept things simple, they still belong as one of the best in the conference when it comes to helmets. The Buckeye helmet stickers will forever be classic, along with the black, white, and red stripes down the middle. Ohio State doesn't have to try; they will always be among the top two or three teams on this list every year.
No. 1 — Oregon Ducks
As expected, the Oregon Ducks are at the top of the list here once again. To be honest, they had three or four helmets worn in 2025 that were deserving of the top spot, but this "Shoe Duck" model, designed to honor Uncle Phil Knight and the history of Nike, is more special than what meets the eye. The entire jersey is great, but the helmet, with its marble and gold finish, takes the cake.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Ranking Oregon Ducks' helmet among Big Ten's best in 2025 season
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