Ranking the logos of every college football team in Texas

Let’s make some fanbases angry.

By Robert Behrens@rcb05 Jun 27, 2022, 11:39am CDT

We’re in the doldrums of the college football offseason, so it’s time to do some rankings! No no, not something silly like how good the football teams are, I mean the important stuff. Two years ago I did every college football stadium in Texas. Last year I did uniforms. So now, its time for logos.

This list includes every college football team in Texas in Division 3 or higher (sorry JUCOs).

41. Sul Ross State

You have to do something very wrong to make a state of Texas logo look bad (spoiler, you’re going to see a lot of them on this list), but Sul Ross did just that. I have no idea why they chose the cartoonish font, but man does it feel out of place for a college athletics logo.

40. Texas College

Nothing terribly offensive here, but there’s just too many elements. Just the TC and the bull could work. Just the TC and the roundel could work. Just the roundel and the bull could work. But combine all three and it’s a cluttered mess.

39. Prairie View A&M

Prairie View has a good color scheme and a solid mascot to work with, but the poorly rendered panther combined with the gradient in the letters make this feel very dated.

38. Austin College

I want to like this. It’s a unique mascot with a restrained design. But the jagged edges of the yellow outline jump out at me (pun intended) and also I noticed that it looks like the kangaroo has a human foot and now I can’t un-see it.

37. Texas A&M-Kingsville

Another logo that feels like it’s actually very close to being great, but something about the shape of it Particularly the nose/teeth) comes off as very awkward.

36. Midwestern State

Very reminiscent of some other logos you’ll see on this list, but the font kills it for me on this one.

35. Houston Baptist

It feels like the old UConn logo and the new UConn logo had a baby and added orange.

34. Texas Wesleyan

The logo somehow feels too detailed and too abstract all at the same time.

33. UT-Permian Basin

I do like the shield, but the way the head meets the beak just feels all kinds of wrong. It’s like the entire lower half of it’s head was removed.

32. Texas Southern

Is it very similar to A&M’s logo? Of course. But The tiger head gives it just enough personality to be different.

31. Texas Lutheran

In case you were wondering, yes that’s the TexAgs font. And while this logo does look good, especially on their helmets, it’s a bit too simple to be any higher on the list.

30. Wayland Baptist

This logo is far from groundbreaking, but there’s nothing glaringly bad about it, and the blue and yellow really make it pop.

29. Lamar

Fair or not, I’ll never not associate this logo with Angry Birds.

28. UT-El Paso

I really like using the pickax as the T. Much less a fan of the font used for the other letters, particularly the way they angle upwards on the bottom.

27. West Texas A&M

This logo is painfully simple, to the point that I shouldn’t like it as much as I do. But it works in very Virginia Tech kind of way.

26. Mary Hardin-Baylor

A very cook mascot (Crusaders), but I can’t help but feel like this logo could have been executed better. Nothing awful, just not a lot that I love either.

25. Tarleton State

Hey, another Texas shape with a T on it! I must admit though I like the simplicity of this logo (would likely be even higher if they ditched the bevel).

24. Southwestern Assemblies of God

I actually really like this logo. A lot. If I were to nit-pick, Id’ switch the yellow and the white, but overall a really solid logo, especially for a smaller school (around 2,000 students).

23. Angelo State

You may see this and think it’s an LA Rams knockoff (and based on color scheme you’re right on), but Angelo State actually had this logo before the NFL franchise updated their look in 2020.

22. McMurry

A very well done logo. No qualms with the design. But ultimately, it doesn’t really stand out from the crowd of other bird logos in sports. Nothing about it tells you this is McMurry.

21. Baylor

Baylor gets major points deduced for the completely unnecessary notches in the corners of the B and the U (which I fixed in this article), making them the lowest of the Power 5 teams on this list.

20. Houston

It may not be very unique/remarkable, but they got rid of the bevel several years ago so that gets them above Baylor. Congrats on making the top half, Coogs!

19. Abilene Christian

Definitely a modern feel to this, and the purple does enough to make this logo stand out from the crowd.

18. TCU

I mean, it’s TCU in vertically arched lettering. Not much else you can say about it. There are alternate versions of this logo that incorporate the horned frog that I greatly prefer, but overall this serves as a very bland primary logo. But hey, you beat Baylor.

17. Incarnate Word

While Lamar looked like something from Angry Birds, this one just looks like an angry bird. Congrats UIW for having the best cardinal logo in the Lone Star State.

16. East Texas Baptist

A state of Texas logo with loads of personality. It’s different and for that reason I’m for it.

15. Stephen F. Austin

ANOTHER state logo, but I love the way the “SFA” letters are stacked, and I’m a sucker for putting a star on the location of the school.

14. Sam Houston State

Props to Sam Houston for undergoing a fantastic brand update in 2020, taking an exceptionally dated logo that would’ve ranked near the bottom of this list and vaulting it into the top 15. Clean and simple, hints at both the school name and the mascot. No qualms here.

13. Trinity

One of the very best of the state of Texas logos. I like the simplified outline and the boldness of the “Trinity” across it.

12. Texas Tech

Personally I’m a fan of the non-beveled version of this logo (a recurring theme), but props to Tech for having stuck with this version for going on 20+ years now. Beveled or not, the double T is iconic.

11. North Texas

A very well-designed logo combined with a fantastic color sceme. Nothing but good things to say.

10. UT-San Antonio

TOP 10, ROADRUNNERS! A unique mascot used to create an equally unique logo. Feels traditional but also very different at the same time (and balances the orange and blue well, which can be difficult to do).

9. Texas A&M

Perhaps a bit of a homer pick here, but I’ve loved the aTm over the state of Texas since it was first rolled out in 2012 (and it became the primary athletics logo in 2021), and of all the state logos we’ve seen on thist list, I feel like this one is the most cohesive. I’d be fine with the bevel going away too, but I doubt we see that happen.

8. Rice

Sure, it’s just an old english “R,” but it’s so very Rice.

7. Southwestern

A very recent update for Southwestern, and man it looks great. Perhaps skews toward the generic side just a bit but it’s so well done that I don’t even mind that much.

6. Howard Payne

Another great logo update (this one less than a year ago). I mean is this not the most attitudinal yellow jacket you’ve ever seen?

5. Texas A&M-Commerce

I love how regal this lion logo looks. Making a logo this simple but also so clearly look like a lion is no simple task.

4. Texas State

There are so many cat logos out there, but this one does a great job of accentuating the unique features of a bobcat to separate it from the crowd. That burgundy/gold color scheme is also [chef’s kiss].

3. SMU

Just different enough to avoid a lawsuit from Ford, amirite? Kidding aside, this logo is another iconic look in Texas, so much so that it’s hard to imagine SMU ever going away from it. That’s all you need to know.

2. Texas

Look, I don’t like Texas. You don’t like Texas (please disregard if you like Texas). But we all have to admit that the longhorn logo is a great one. Instantly recognizable, and has stayed consistent for generations. And as much as we may all hate the color, it does add to the logo’s distinctive quality. Most would assume this would be No. 1 on any list of college football logos in Texas, but...

1. Hardin-Simmons

I know this pick seems out of left field, but man do I love this logo. The mascot (Cowboys) is obviously Texan AF, but the execution is what I love. The way the yellow makes it look like a silhouette with just a tinge of rim lighting, like a cowboy watching a Texas sunset. Oh my God, it even has a watermark. Bravo, Hardin-Simmons, congrats on the best college football logo in Texas.

Where was I egregiously wrong? Tell me in the comments.

Poll

Which Texas college football logo is your favorite?

This poll is closed

1%

Abilene Christian

(20 votes)
0%

Angelo State

(10 votes)
3%

Austin College

(60 votes)
1%

Baylor

(31 votes)
0%

East Texas Baptist

(8 votes)
26%

Hardin-Simmons

(439 votes)
0%

Houston Baptist

(2 votes)
1%

Howard Payne

(19 votes)
0%

Incarnate Word

(2 votes)
0%

Lamar

(1 vote)
0%

Mary Hardin-Baylor

(15 votes)
0%

McMurry

(13 votes)
0%

Midwestern State

(1 vote)
1%

North Texas

(18 votes)
0%

Prairie View A&M

(3 votes)
0%

Rice

(14 votes)
2%

Sam Houston State

(41 votes)
1%

SMU

(21 votes)
0%

Southwestern

(10 votes)
0%

Southwestern Assemblies of God

(2 votes)
0%

Sul Ross State

(5 votes)
0%

Tarleton State

(16 votes)
0%

TCU

(9 votes)
19%

Texas A&M

(325 votes)
1%

Texas A&M-Commerce

(25 votes)
0%

Texas A&M-Kingvsille

(7 votes)
0%

Texas College

(5 votes)
0%

Texas Lutheran

(1 vote)
0%

Texas Southern

(2 votes)
2%

Texas State

(43 votes)
4%

Texas Tech

(77 votes)
0%

Texas Wesleyan

(3 votes)
0%

Trinity

(6 votes)
19%

UT

(321 votes)
1%

UT-El Paso

(18 votes)
0%

UT-Permian Basin

(5 votes)
1%

UT-San Antonio

(23 votes)
0%

Wayland Baptist

(4 votes)
0%

West Texas A&M

(7 votes)
0%

Houston

(10 votes)
0%

Stephen F. Austin

(14 votes)

1656 votes total Vote Now