What is a helmet school?

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Cobra

Cobra

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Never heard this before until I joined GH...
Please explain, & thanks in advance!
 

A high-profile school that can be identified simply by looking at the helmet.
 

I hate that expression. I could probably name every FBS team just by looking at their helmet
 

The 12th Man said:
A high-profile school that can be identified simply by looking at the helmet.
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OK, thanks!
Would this include all BCS schools then?
I could prolly identify all BCS schools by helmet alone...
 

Cobra said:
OK, thanks!
Would this include all BCS schools then?
I could prolly identify all BCS schools by helmet alone...
Click to expand...

I think it is referring to the casual observer, not the real football fan. For example, Michigan and Miami are pretty easily identifiable for most folks, regardless of how much football they watch. Boston College, however, is not.
 


The 12th Man said:
I think it is referring to the casual observer, not the real football fan. For example, Michigan and Miami are pretty easily identifiable for most folks, regardless of how much football they watch. Boston College, however, is not.
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This.

Michigan, OSU, Florida, Miami all are helmet schools for the reason stated above. I don't think our UofM could be considered as much. Iowa I can see.. Not sure about Bama or Penn State, but I personally would consider them helmet schools (but the casual fans may not recognize them).
 


Lets compile a list:
My would be:
Mich
tOSU
PSU
Neb
Notre Dame
Miami
Florida
Fla ST
Alabama
Auburn
Tenn
Texas
Okla
USC

I don't think its that many schools. Has to be a long tradition of winning over multiple generations and past NC's. The list is really pretty small. I may have missed some obvious ones and would even question Fla St, Auburn and Tenn being on the list.
 




I can say this for real, because I found out on Twitter, Facebook, and Medical Journals for those of us who are proctologists. Helmet school looks like this....... (*)

Sorry to be so obtuse, but what is, is.
 



To me a helmet school is a school that the average person identifies most with their football team. When you hear "Michigan" I think the average person thinks football before academics, basketball, hockey, etc.
 




Dr.Don said:
I can say this for real, because I found out on Twitter, Facebook, and Medical Journals for those of us who are proctologists. Helmet school looks like this....... (*)

Sorry to be so obtuse, but what is, is.
Click to expand...
:eek: :eek: :eek:
That's friggen hilarious!!!
WooHoo!!!
 

CJTGopher said:
Lets compile a list:
My would be:
Mich
tOSU
PSU
Neb
Notre Dame
Miami
Florida
Fla ST
Alabama
Auburn
Tenn
Texas
Okla
USC

I don't think its that many schools. Has to be a long tradition of winning over multiple generations and past NC's. The list is really pretty small. I may have missed some obvious ones and would even question Fla St, Auburn and Tenn being on the list.
Click to expand...

This is pretty good. But you can't possibly have Auburn on a list and not have LSU for example. LSU has 2 national titles this decade. Auburn has none. None for decades. Would you have put them on this list 6 months ago? No.

Anyway, the definition of a helmet school is kind of like the definition of porn..you know it when you see it.
 

I could not put Auburn on the list, simply because at quick glance I can't tell them or Arizona's white helmets apart. Sure they are a little different. But if I see Arizona's white helmet, I am left wondering if it may be Auburn. And I am a little more than a casual football fan.
 


howeda7 said:
This is pretty good. But you can't possibly have Auburn on a list and not have LSU for example. LSU has 2 national titles this decade. Auburn has none. None for decades. Would you have put them on this list 6 months ago? No.

Anyway, the definition of a helmet school is kind of like the definition of porn..you know it when you see it.
Click to expand...

LSU is a good one. I did say I had probably missed one or two and that I wasn't sure Auburn even deserved it. I was not basing that choice off this season otherwise I would have included Oregon. There are some schools like Oregon who are maybe close to this group but I think there needs to be a long history and a helmet/uniform that has been the same for a long time. Someone mentioned on another thread that Colorado was once close to being is this group but they have fallen off. Takes a long, long time to become a "helmet school".
 

Delaware has the exact same helmets as Michigan. Are they a helmet school?
 


CJTGopher said:
LSU is a good one. I did say I had probably missed one or two and that I wasn't sure Auburn even deserved it. I was not basing that choice off this season otherwise I would have included Oregon. There are some schools like Oregon who are maybe close to this group but I think there needs to be a long history and a helmet/uniform that has been the same for a long time. Someone mentioned on another thread that Colorado was once close to being is this group but they have fallen off. Takes a long, long time to become a "helmet school".
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LSU is also made easier by the fact that the helmet says LSU.
 

A helmet school is any school where the majority of students wear hardhats. Purdue comes to mind.;)
 

Helmet school is another way of saying "Perennial Football Power".
 

nsmike said:
Helmet school is another way of saying "Perennial Football Power".
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I think that is very close. I think percieved perennial power might be a little more precise. For lack of a better word, some teams have a "mystique" about them that takes time to build up, and time to wear off. By the time that a school is considered a "helmet school", they will have been a perennial power for some time. But once you have that status, you have to have a lot of bad years before it really wears off. A few subpar years hasn't made people feel that Michigan is a has been, and Notre Dame's best years are long behind them, but the shine on the golden dome hasn't dimmed that much yet.
 

The helmet is only a small part of the equation here. Lots of schools have had the same helmet for a long time but still don't qualify. Iowa being an example. Texas A&M maybe being another one?
 

Didn't we just go over this?
 

A school where you learn to make helmets. A vocational/technical school.
 

CJTGopher said:
The helmet is only a small part of the equation here. Lots of schools have had the same helmet for a long time but still don't qualify. Iowa being an example. Texas A&M maybe being another one?
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Agreed, though the Aggie fans down here would love to be thought of as a helmet school, kind of like whiskey.
 

I always thought a helmet school was a place where all the people on campus had to wear helmets for safety reasons.
 

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