Another thing that is important to understanding "Helmet" is that Helmet status is MUCH easier to maintain than it is to obtain.
A look at TCU and Michigan last year makes for a great example:
TCU did better than Michigan last year. They flat out beat Michigan H2H and thus they played in the NC. Doesn't matter. TCU was not and is not a helmet and last year did little or nothing to alter that because the blowout loss to UGA simply confirmed that they aren't a helmet.
Michigan clearly did worse. The flat out lost to TCU and thus did NOT play for the NC. Doesn't matter. Michigan was a helmet and remains a helmet because it is about "brand" and "brand" is more about being in the conversation.
Michigan actually makes a great example of this. They won an NC right after WWII and in the almost eight decades since they have one split NC. That is terrible by helmet standards. They also had two prolonged periods of mediocrity. For 18 years from 1951-1968 they only won one league title and were generally irrelevant. Then after winning the league in 2004 they went 16 seasons (2005-2020) with zero league titles. By Helmet standards that is BAD. For comparison in those same 16 years (2005-2020) the other helmet in the league won 10 league titles. Penn State also won three as did lowly (by helmet standards) MSU and Wisconsin.
The proof that Michigan is a helmet anyway is that in they won back-to-back league titles in both the two years prior to those 16 (2003/4) AND the two years after that (2021/2). So if you look at league titles for the 20 years from 2003-2022:
- 10 tOSU
- 4 Michigan
- 3 Wisconsin
- 3 Michigan State
- 3 Penn State
- 1 Iowa
- 0 MN, IL, NU, PU, IU
Sure, Michigan isn't keeping up with the Buckeyes but I've also cherry-picked the years (it is last 20 but still) and they are STILL second. Four titles in 20 years isn't all that good by helmet standards but this is also the worst stretch of Michigan Football since 1951-1968. That IS their bad times and it is still second best in the B1G.
I want everyone to understand something here. I'm using Michigan as the example because they are local and convenient not because I want to. I'm an Ohio State guy. I ALWAYS root against Michigan. The only exception is when they play Notre Dame and in that case I root for an asteroid strike. I'm not one of those guys who wants a strong Michigan for the sake of the rivalry. I NEVER want them to win. We had a conversation about rivalries a long time ago and I think it was
@utee94 who said how I feel (he was talking his TX/OU but same concept). I want Michigan to lose every game they play. I want to see their fans cry on National Television, especially the children. I would LOVE for Michigan to no longer be a helmet.
In the depths of their post-Lloyd issues I thought (and truth be told hoped) that they would fall from the ranks of the helmets. After their Covid-year debacle it really looked like Harbaugh wasn't going to work out. They'd gone 16 years without a league title, 23 years (1998-2020) without playing for an NC, and just generally looked lost. They had just wrapped up a sub .500 season in which the only reason they didn't lose to tOSU was that they used COVID as an excuse to duck a beatdown. For comparison, in the 16 years that Michigan hadn't won a league title Ohio State had won 10 (see above) and in the 23 years (1998-2020) of the BCS and CFP where Michigan had NEVER made it, Ohio State had gotten to the BCSNCG or CFP seven times (
2002, 2006, 2007,
2014, 2016, 2019, 2020) and won it all
twice.
As I said upthread though, Helmet status is MUCH easier to maintain than it is to obtain. If a non-helmet had Michigan's record over the last quarter-century (1998-2022) they would CLEARLY still be a non-helmet. That record isn't enough to OBTAIN helmet status but it is enough to MAINTAIN helmet status because maintaining helmet status is really just about keeping your brand in the discussion enough to introduce a new generation of fans to your brand as a helmet. Michigan's #1vs2 game against tOSU in 2006 and their CFP appearances the last two years did that. It doesn't matter that they lost the #1vs2 game and have yet to win a CFP game. Simply getting there was enough to remind people that Michigan IS a helmet. I hate it and I wish it weren't so but the fact is that they've renewed that membership in the helmet club for another generation.