Sun Belt Conference

Sun Belt Conference


ARKANSAS STATE	FLORIDA ATLANTIC	FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL
"Indians"	"Owls"	"Golden Panthers"
Jonesboro, AR	Boca Raton, FL	Miami, FL


LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE	LOUISIANA-MONROE	MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE
"Ragin' Cajuns"	"Warhawks"	"Blue Raiders"
Lafayette, LA	Monroe, LA	Murfreesboro, TN


NORTH TEXAS	TROY
"Mean Green"	"Trojans"
Denton, TX	Troy, AL

Comments

Arkansas State and North Texas were using new helmet designs for the 2007 season (shown above). Arkansas State's nickname will be changed from "Indians" to "Red Wolves" at the beginning of the 2008 academic year, so one might conclude that a new helmet design for 2008 is probable.

Historical Helmets

ARKANSAS STATE


c.1966	c.1969? - 1979	1980 - ?
	*see note 1 below	*see note 2 below


? - 1995	1996	1997 - 1998


1999 - 2005	2006	2007 -

An early ASU helmet from the 1960s has been described as having a white shell with a red stripe and with red uniform numerals on the sides; photographs of this one would be appreciated.

*1 This design was used at least through the period 1974 to 1979 (possibly with other facemask colors having been used at various times), and the same logo was worn on the left sides of the helmets in 1969, with a version of the "100" decal that many teams used that season worn on the right sides.

*2 Two different versions of the helmet logo shown on this design were in use during the early 1980s; one with a white, curved line beneath the big "A", and one without the line. At least sometimes these were used simultaneously. It has been reported to me that the curved white line was a remnant of a large "U" that was part of the logo on one set of decals; most of the "U" was cut away when it was decided not to include it. The white facemasks were in use through at least 1987.

FLORIDA ATLANTIC


2001 - 2004	2005 -

2001 was the first football season for FAU.

FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL


2002 -

2002 was the first football season for FIU. If anyone has a copy of the current FIU helmet logo, I would appreciate a copy of it.

LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE


c.late 1960s - 1973	1974	1975 - 1979
*see note 1 below	*see note 2 below	*see note 2 below


1980 - 1986; 1992 - 1995	1997	1987 - 1991; 1996; 1998


1999 - 2001	2002 -

This school was named the University of Southwestern Louisiana until September 1999. It has been reported to me that the team had several other helmet designs during the mid-1960s, but I have not received any photographs or specific information about these.

*1 This helmet featured a picture of what is known as the "Acadiana" flag, which is representative of the region in which Lafayette is located.

*2 I have been told that the shell color of these two helmet designs was actually "cardinal red" rather than maroon, but I have not been able to obtain photographic confirmation of this yet.

LOUISIANA-MONROE


1960 - 1963	c.late 1960s	c.early 1970s
	*see note 1 below	*see note 2 below


1972 - 1974	1975 (last 10 games)	1975 (game #1); 1976 (game #1)


1978	? - 1998	1998


1999 (first 3 games)	2000 - 2002	2003


2004 - 2005	2006 -

*1 This design appears in photographs from the 1966 season. The 1969 helmet was similar, but a version of the "100" decal was worn on at least the left sides of the helmets. I do not know the colors of the "100" decal.

*2 "Plain" helmets without stripes are visible in photographs from the 1971 season.

MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE


1960 - 1963	1964	1965 - 1966


1967 - 1968	1969	1970


1972	1971 - 1973	1974
*see note 1 below


1975	1976	1977


1978	1979 - 1981	1982 - 1998


1999	2000 -

These are all of the known helmet designs used by MTSU during the period covered by this site (1960 to present); thanks once again to Dan C. for most of this information.

*1 MTSU used plain white helmets during at least games #3 and #7 of the 1972 season, but the design labelled "1971 - 1973" above was used during game #10.

NORTH TEXAS


c.1963	1964 - 1966	1967


c.1968 - c.1971	1972	1973 - 1978


1979 - 1982	1983 - 1993	1994
	*see note 1 below


1996 - 1997	1995; 1998 - 2000	2001 - 2003
*see note 2 below	*see note 2 below


2003 - 2004	2005 - 2006	2007 -
*see note 3 below

I do not yet have any information for North Texas for the years 1960 and 1961. In 1962, the team used white helmets with uniform numerals of some unknown color (probably green) on the sides; no stripes are visible in the photographs that I have from 1962. The team used plain white helmets during at least one game in 1963 (vs Cincinnati).

*1 During part of the period when this logo was in use, a completely white version of it, without the yellow parts, may have been used; this has been reported to me but not confirmed with photographic evidence.

*2 The difference between these two helmets is probably not readily apparent: the 1996 - 1997 helmet included two navy blue stripes flanking the central white stripe.

*3 The black facemasks were first used during the October 30 game against Troy State.

TROY


c.1978 - 1982	1993 - 1998?	1999? - 2003


September 4, 2004	October 20, 2005	September 9, 2004 -
*see note 1 below	*see note 2 below

It was reported to me that black helmets were first used for Troy State's opening home game of the 1993 season (I am not sure if this was the team's first game that year).

*1 Plain black helmets were used during the team's first game of the 2004 season at Marshall, with a new design featuring shells of a dark red color being introduced for game #2, a home game against Missouri.

*2 Troy wore black helmets during the 2005 home game against Florida International as a tribute to former team member Al Lucas, who died on April 10, 2005 as a result of injuries sustained during an Arena Football League game between his team, the Los Angeles Avengers, and the New York Dragons.