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Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix
A college or university is indelibly linked to its nickname – until it’s time for that nickname to change. Whether to shed a name that is racially insensitive or simply to make a change for the sake of it, many schools’ sports teams are known by different names today than they once were. Can you identify the following schools by their former nicknames?
Take the Quiz: Former College Nicknames
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I thought for sure the Nebraska Cornhuskers would be on here, even though the change occurred long ago. I mean, what team wouldn’t want to be known as the “Bugeaters”?
According to Wikipedia, the “Mankilling Mastadons” was also on the table, and I have to admit, that would have been one BA nickname (and mascot). Now, of course, to make it PC, it would have to be the “Man and/or Woman-killing Mastadons”, which would be a bit more unwieldy.
posted by kate on 11-7-2008 at 11:45 am
Western Kentucky University used to be called the Fighting Pedagogues when they were a teacher college in the early days. A pedagogue, of course, is a five dollar word for teacher.
Also, Big Red, their mascot, is not a hill. The univeristy sits atop a hill, hence the Hilltopper name. The mascot is simply the abstract embodiment of the big red spirit of Western.
posted by mark on 11-7-2008 at 2:42 pm
Holy crap. I went to SFSU and never realized why the mascot was the Gators. It’s so obvious.
Now I no longer hate the mascot name.
posted by hifidigitalboy on 11-7-2008 at 3:55 pm
You might have also included the Univ. of Washington Huskies, who were originally called the Sun Dodgers due to the amount of cloudy weather in Seattle. Good quiz!
posted by acc on 11-8-2008 at 9:21 pm