Most Recognizable?

I had recently considering ranking the best logos in college football. USA Today did it for me - the top-25 most recognizable and iconic college logos, they said. Like many rankings like this, it’s way wrong. Virginia more iconic than Clemson? Neither of the top two programs in the top five? No way.

A logo should be simple, unchanging, and recognizable from a distance. Wearing a different outfit every week can dilute the effectiveness of a good logo. School colors also make a team more recognizable. Wearing all black or grey or white makes a school look like everyone else.

GT used to wear the same uniform in every game of the season: white jerseys with gold helmets and pants. Since they’ve been below average for several years, wearing different unis in literally every game may attract recruits, but the average fan flipping channels has no idea who they are.

25. The Navy north star. Never heard of it.

24. Notre Dame’s ND. Should be higher.

23. Colorado. Logo is too busy.

22. West Virginia’s WV. Simple, but not great.

21. Wyoming bucking horse & rider. Should be higher on the list.

20. Indiana’s interlocking IU. Nah.

19. Arkansas razorback. Decent.

18. Clemson tiger paw. A top five logo, if not #1.

17. Miami’s U. Top ten for sure.

16. UNC. #16 is about right.

15. Michigan State Spartan. #15 is about right.

14. Florida gator. #14 is about right.

13. Virginia. Not a top 25 logo. They just changed it last year.

12. Northwestern N. Ranked too high.

11. Harvard block H. Ranked way too high. No one ever sees Harvard play.

10. Oregon O.

9. Georgia Tech’s GT.

8. Oklahoma’s OU. Could be ranked higher.

7. Texas A&M. Might be slightly too high.

6. Alabama’s script A.

5. Michigan block M

4. Georgia’s oval G

3. Texas Longhorn

2. Tennessee’s T. Simple and good, but not #2.

1. UCLA. Good, but not #1.

Missing: Southern Cal. LSU. Auburn. FSU. Pitt. Nebraska. Arizona State. There’s room for all these in the top 25. 

Players may like all-black uniforms, but most of the devoted fans showing up wearing school colors are shaking their heads. As UGA learned, blackout game is fun until the team loses. GT is having so much fun wearing something different every week that they hardly seemed bothered by all the losing.

https://ugawire.usatoday.com/gallery/ranking-the-top-25-most-recognizable-and-iconic-college-logos/