It's definitely a year of transition in the Sun Belt as Idaho and New Mexico State will be playing in the conference for one last time. The Vandals will drop down to the Big Sky of the FCS while the Aggies will play as an Independent. Joining the Sun Belt as a transitional team before being eligible for bowl play in 2018 is Coastal Carolina.
RELATED: Ranking the 7 Most Absurd College Bowl Game Names of all Time
Both Appalachian State and Troy won a impressive 10 games in 2016, but did either of them secure the top spot in our ranking of all 12 Sun Belt Conference helmets?
Let's find out.
Note: These rankings are for each team's standard helmets. We'll be ranking the best overall Group of 5 alternate helmets soon. In the meantime, check out our helmet rankings for the AAC, Conference USA, Mountain West and MAC.
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12. Texas State
There's just not much going on here, and the chin strap often covers part of the logo. The Bobcats helmets could definitely use a facelift.
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11. South Alabama
Expect to see the Jags near the top of our alternate helmet list, but these standard lids are just plain boring.
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10. Louisiana-Monroe
Why do these helmets feel like they're castoffs from the now-defunct World League Football? With such a unique nickname like the Warhawks, ULM is falling short of its potential.
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9. Louisiana-Lafayette
ULM's rival has easily some of the best alternate helmets in all of college football, but its "normal" headpieces are pretty boring. We give them the edge over the Warhawks due to the cool usage of a pepper as an apostrophe.
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8. Idaho
The Vandals push past the four previous squads on this list by shifting from gold helmets of year's past to this evil-looking black.
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7. Troy
Troy's standard fare isn't half bad, but we still love their letter "T" dagger-inspired lids better.
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6. Arkansas State
Between the matte finish and way the "A" pops in "State," we're giving the Red Wolves the nod in the sixth spot.
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5. Georgia Southern
This is far and away the most difficult team to rank. If you love the classic cool like we do, we could argue that the Eagles should be first on this list. We could also argue that nothing is more boring in today's alternate-helmet-crazed world of college football than a number on the side.
We compromised by placing Georgia Southern fifth.
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4. Appalachian State
Another matte helmet. Another eye-popping "A." Another awesome helmet provided this time by Appalachian State
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3. Coastal Carolina
Get ready for all the "What's a Chanticleer?" articles starting this fall as Coastal Carolina moves up from the FCS.
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2. Georgia State
If the Panthers were still sporting these sleep-inducing lids it wore during its debut season of 2010, they would have secured the number 12 spot by a mile. Thankfully the squad changed to these beauties.
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1. New Mexico State
What can we say other than we're a sucker for Pistol Pete.
There just isn't anything even remotely like the Aggies' helmets in all of college football. From the glorious mustache of Pete to the crossing pistols arching from facemask to base, New Mexico State definitely has the best helmet in the Sun Belt Conference.
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