When the NCAA Tournament tips off, you may know every team’s star player and its odds to win the title. But how well do you know the mascots? Not just what the teams are called, but where those names came from? Let’s fill you in on some of the tourney’s more unusual nicknames.
1. Wake Forest Demon Deacons: Wake’s teams originally called themselves the Tigers, but that name didn’t stick. People started referring to the squads as “the Baptists” due to the school’s religious affiliation, and when the football team beat arch-rival Trinity (which would later become Duke) in 1923, student newspaper editor Mayon Parker dubbed them the “Demon Deacons” to honor both their Baptist affiliations and “devilish” play.
2. Ohio State Buckeyes: What’s a buckeye? It’s a small dark brown nut with a light brown patch on it. Carrying a buckeye is supposedly good luck; some superstitious people (like me) won’t leave the house without one in their pocket. The buckeye tree is Ohio’s state tree, and Ohio residents have been referred to as Buckeyes since 1788. Hence, the Ohio State Buckeyes.
3. Utah Runnin’ Utes: Utah’s teams are named after the Utes, the American Indian tribe for which the state of Utah is also named. According to the school’s website, the Utes were one of the first groups of American Indians to ride horses. The team’s actual mascot, though, is Swoop, a red-tailed hawk indigenous to Utah.
4. Kansas Jayhawks: According to the school’s website, the mythical jayhawk is a combination of two birds: the belligerent blue jay and the quiet, deadly sparrow hawk. During the 1850s, there was a lot of violence regarding whether or not Kansas would enter the union as a free or slave state, and the militant free staters eventually became known as Jayhawkers. The fictitious bird eventually became a symbol of Kansas’ commitment to freedom, and in 1912 a student drew a depiction of the bird. The bird wore shoes so it could kick opponents.
5. Louisville Cardinals: According to U of L’s website, the school chose the cardinal as its mascot sometime around 1913. They wanted a mascot that would prompt statewide identification, so they picked the cardinal, Kentucky’s state bird.
6. West Virginia Mountaineers: Since 1927, one West Virginia student has played the role of the school’s rifle-toting mountaineer, an homage to the early settlers of the state.
7. Dayton Flyers: The Flyers nickname is a tribute to Dayton natives Orville and Wilbur Wright, who built the first successful airplane.
8. Boston College Eagles: When Boston College was still young, the school didn’t have a mascot. A school newspaper cartoon depicted BC’s stellar track team as a cat licking a plate of rivals, which didn’t sit well with Reverend Edward McLaughlin. McLaughlin wrote a fiery letter to the school’s newspaper suggesting BC get a mighty, scary mascot. He suggested the Eagles. It stuck.
9. USC Trojans: Before 1912, USC’s teams were either the Methodists or the Wesleyans. When school administrators decided to pick a new name, a Los Angeles Times sports editor picked the Trojans. USC was far from a powerhouse in those days, but although the team often did battle against bigger teams with nicer equipment, USC’s squads fought valiantly. Just like the Trojans.
10. Robert Morris Colonials: This one’s not too tough. Robert Morris, the school’s namesake, was a bigshot during colonial times. Morris signed the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution, and he helped finance the American side during the Revolutionary War.
11. UT Chattanooga Mocs: It’s not quite clear why the school’s teams are called the Mocs. Until 1996, they were the Moccasins, possibly a tribute to Moccasin Bend, a large bend in the Tennessee River near the school. The actual mascot currently in use is a mockingbird (Get it? Moc-kingbird!) driving a train, a tribute to the “Chattanooga Cho Choo” and the city’s railroad culture.
12. Siena Saints: Siena is a Catholic school, so the saint part is pretty self explanatory. What’s interesting, though, is that the school’s mascot isn’t a traditional saint. It’s a Saint Bernard.
13. Purdue Boilermakers: In 1891, Purdue’s football rivalry with Wabash was thriving. Purdue’s team took a trip to Crawfordsville and thumped Wabash 44-0. The next day the local paper in Crawfordsville depicted the Purdue squad as conquering bullies and ran the headline: “Slauther of Innocents: Wabash Snowed Completely Under by the Burly Boiler Makers from Purdue.” Instead of being offended, Purdue’s teams ran with the nickname.
14. Cornell Big Red: In 1905, Cornell alum Romeyn Berry was trying to write a fight song, but he hit a snag. The school didn’t have a mascot for him to reference. To solve this problem, he called Cornell “the big red team,” and eventually fans just started calling their squads the Big Red.
15. California Golden Bears: In 1895 Cal’s powerhouse track team went on the road to challenge top college powers back East in a series of meets. Arthur Rodgers, a university regent, commissioned a blue banner decorated with a gold grizzly bear for the team to carry on its journey. The team kicked some serious tail, and a nickname was born.
16. East Tennessee State Buccaneers: The Buccaneer is a fine mascot for a coastal school, but ETSU is decidedly landlocked. What gives? According to the university’s website, a series of subterranean rivers runs through tunnels in the mountains near the school’s campus. These waterways, known as Pirate Creek, were according to legend once home to pirate Jean Paul LeBucque, who had fled from the coast to hide his treasure. Thus, an inland school has a pirate mascot.
17. Tennessee Volunteers: This name derives from Tennessee’s nickname, the Volunteer State. During the War of 1812, President Madison asked Andrew Jackson to find 1500 fellow Tennesseans to voluntarily help him fight the British at the Battle of New Orleans. Later, during the Mexican War, Tennessee’s governor put out a call for 2800 men to help Santa Ana, but 30,000 volunteers showed up. All of this voluntary participation earned the state, and later its biggest college, a nickname.
18. Minnesota Golden Gophers: According to the school’s website, Minnesota has been known as “the Gopher State” since an 1857 cartoon depicted local politicians as gophers pulling a locomotive. Thus, the school’s teams eventually became the Gophers. The “golden” part came later. In the 1930s the football team wore gold jerseys and gold pants, so a radio announcer started calling them the “Golden Gophers.”
19. North Carolina Tar Heels: No one’s quite sure why residents of North Carolina are called Tar Heels. It could be because the state’s huge pine forests once supported thriving tar and pitch industries. Another legend springs from the Civil War, where North Carolina’s Confederate soldiers were said to be so brave that they held their ranks like they had tar on their heels holding them down.
20. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers: If you’ve ever been to Bowling Green, this nickname makes perfect sense. WKU’s campus sits on top of a hill that’s 232 feet higher than the surrounding area. Big Red, the lumpy, furry mascot who looks like Grimace and the Kool-Aid Man’s illegitimate child, came along in 1979.
21. Akron Zips: In 1925 student Margaret Hamlin pocketed ten bucks for winning a contest to name Akron’s sports teams. Her winning suggestion was “The Zippers,” a nod to a popular overshoe of the same name made at the nearby B.F. Goodrich plant. The name stuck around until 1950, when the school shortened it to the Zips.
22. Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks: According to Stephen F. Austin’s website, when the school first opened in 1923, administrators held an assembly to pick a nickname. English professor T.E. Ferguson suggested the Lumberjacks since the school’s campus was in the middle of a pine forest. [Photos courtesy of Albert Brown & CSTV.]
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Mocs also comes from water moccasins, a deadly snake found in these parts known elsewhere as the cottonmouth. The mockingbird logo is a recent change to be more politically correct, the previous mascot was “Chief Mocanooga”
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 3-18-2009 at 10:51 pm
T-O-P-S! TOPS!! TOPS!! TOPS!!
posted by audrey on 3-18-2009 at 11:16 pm
The title of this post makes me think of My Cousin Vinny.
posted by Zach on 3-19-2009 at 1:57 am
Thanks, I’ve always been dying to know just what “Golden Gophers” meant!
posted by MetFanMac on 3-19-2009 at 6:07 am
While not in the tournament this year, St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia got its mascot, the Hawk from the prolific air attack of its football team. SJU hasn’t fielded a football team since the 40s.
posted by Chris on 3-19-2009 at 7:41 am
Did you know that WKU’s mascot was part of an international lawsuit? A Television station in Italy stole the idea of Big Red from WKU and used it as their mascot for the TV station. The suit was settled a few years ago, with the TV station paying damages to WKU.
posted by Myra on 3-19-2009 at 8:42 am
I like how the Depaul Blue Demons got their name:
“In 1900, when the first athletic team to represent DePaul University was organized, the monogram “D” was selected for the uniforms. From this originated the nickname “D-men” which evolved into “Demons.” The blue, which combines with Demons, signifies loyalty and was chosen in 1901 by a vote of the student body.”
It’s also funny because they are the Blue Demons despite being the largest Catholic University in the US
posted by andy on 3-19-2009 at 10:11 am
Not in the tourny this year but Tulsa’s mascot is the Golden Hurricane. I’m pretty sure Oklahoma has never been hit by a hurricane, nevermind Tulsa. Plus why is it in the singular form AND golden?!???
posted by Jake on 3-19-2009 at 11:33 am
As for number 20, in Italy we have a REALLY idiotic mascot on MediaSet (a TV station) that has been around since 1982 named Gabibbo, and he looks IDENTECAL to the mascot in the picture. Like… its UNCANNY how identical they are. He talks like if Fat Albert were a dirty southern Italian and is surrounded by ‘really classy ladies’ -cough cough whores cough- all the time. It never fails. Creepy Mascots always get the ladies…
posted by Kate on 3-19-2009 at 12:06 pm
two things
1: How NC State got their name, originally the aggies (for agriculturers) then to the red terror for the school color, in 1922 following the NC State UNC game where NC State won a disgrunteled UNC reporter wrote that State played like a “pack of wolves.” Instead of bieng insulted the school ran with it and has been called the wolfpack ever since.
Two UNC is the tarheels due to when North Carolina was founded the pine forests wer used for tar production in the 1600′s, it was the states first major “crop”. the majority of people who worked for it were either slaves or the very poor and as such didnt have shoes, tarheels started as an insult but overtime just became a common pharse for someone from that area of North Carolina.
posted by Andrew on 3-19-2009 at 12:18 pm
My favorite mascot is the one for UC Santa Cruz: the banana slug
http://www.ucsc.edu/about/campus_mascot.asp
It was picked to be a blatant contrast to the fierce mascots of other universities and to reflect the schools belief that school athletics is for the benefit all students… pretty cool if you ask me…
posted by Jason! on 3-19-2009 at 12:30 pm
GO JAYHAWKS! :)
posted by jplanet on 3-19-2009 at 12:45 pm
No love for CT’s adorable pun on UConn/Yukon?
posted by Lynn on 3-19-2009 at 1:21 pm
“6. West Virginia Mountaineers: Since 1927, one West Virginia student has played the role of the school’s rifle-toting mountaineer, an homage to the early settlers of the state. ” Wow, how old is that student?!?
posted by Ron on 3-19-2009 at 1:34 pm
The mascot for Gonzaga University was originally the “Fighting Irish,” but we dropped that in 1921 when a sports reporter said that our football team (a program that was discontinued in 1941) fought with the “tenacity of bulldogs.” From that point on, we’ve been the Bulldogs, although people often shorten the university’s name to refer to us as the “Zags.”
Today the Zags are playing the Akron Zips–the selection committee must have a sense of humor!
posted by MC on 3-19-2009 at 2:00 pm
UNC got their nickname during the Revolutionary war when a british colonel made the comment that the rebels refused to give ground “It was if their heels were stuck to the ground with tar.” Or at least that’s what my NC History book proclaimed back when I had to take state history.
posted by That Jeff on 3-19-2009 at 2:25 pm
Jake – My admissions counselor told me the story, but I couldn’t remember it all, so I looked it up…
“The origination of The University of Tulsa nickname – Golden Hurricane – came in 1922. A new football coach, Howard Acher, came to town and inherited a slew of nicknames dating back to 1895.
Past Tulsa teams were referred to as Kendallites, Presbyterians, Tigers, Orange and Black, and Tulsans. In the fall of 1922, the team nickname was “Yellow Jackets,” which was apparently due to the fact that the team was wearing new black and yellow uniforms instead of the traditional orange and black.
The team opened the season and it was apparent that Tulsa was going to have a great year, and trying to seize some publicity for his team, Acher wanted to find a new nickname quickly.
After a remark was made in practice one day about “roaring through opponents,” and because of their new jersey colors, he thought of Golden Tornadoes. However, he quickly found out that the name had been taken by Georgia Tech a few years earlier. From the tornado, he evolved meteorologically to the hurricane. A few days before the team left for a game against Texas A&M, Archer asked the squad to vote on the name, and thus “Golden Hurricane” was born.”
posted by Eileen on 3-19-2009 at 2:38 pm
How about the Hokies? Come on. What is a hokie?
posted by Scott on 3-19-2009 at 5:04 pm
I go to a small college in the Southern Appalachians, and our mascot is a tornado. Seriously? In the mountains? We have white squirrels here, not tornadoes!
posted by brittany on 3-19-2009 at 7:43 pm
What about Wichita State…the Shockers?
posted by Josh on 3-20-2009 at 6:42 am
i love how Tulsa is the “Golden Hurricane”…as in only one. That is always a good one to pull out of the hat when challenging someone to name teams nicknames that don’t end in “s”
posted by Andy on 3-20-2009 at 11:18 am
I remember reading that the Illinois State University Redbirds (my alma mater) was originally called the ISU Cardinals (which is Illinois’ state bird). but it was later changed to the Redbirds after a newspaper reported started to use Redbirds as a nickname for the team. i guess the name became so popular that it eventually replaced the cardinal altogether.
posted by andy on 3-20-2009 at 11:57 am
siena used to be called the siena indians, but of course they changed it.
posted by tim on 3-20-2009 at 12:19 pm
This is high school, not college, but Loyola College Prep’s (formerly St. Johns HS and then Jesuit HS before becoming Loyola in 1982 or 83) in Shreveport, LA is nicknamed the Flyers. The mascot is Snoopy (special permission from THE Charles Schultz;only school or institution to have such permission), specifically Snoopy as the Red Baron. Therefore, the nickname the Flyers.
posted by Michael on 3-20-2009 at 12:30 pm
UNC- North Carolina was the last state to secede and had to be “dragged” into the confederacy. They were seen as stubborn by other confederate states, hence the mascot, Ramses (a large Ram). Have you ever tried to drag a ram anywhere? (Side note, though UNC was the last to join the confederacy, they suffered the most casualties of any confederate state).
Tennessee Volunteers- Another Civi-war era nickname. Tennessee was readmitted into the Union under President Johnson (a Tennessee native) before military reconstrucion began, because of the state’s willingness to ratify the 14th amendment.
posted by Pchop316 on 3-20-2009 at 1:22 pm
Josh:
I would assume that Wichita St. is called the Shockers b/c the mascot is a shock of wheat. At least you’re not the Wheaties!
posted by jplanet on 3-20-2009 at 2:25 pm
LSU is another school whose mascot originally derives from the Civil War. This is from The Official Web Site of LSU Tigers Athletics:
“According to Arthur W. Bergeron, Jr., PhD. and the “Guide to Louisiana Confederate Military Units, 1861-1865″ (LSU Press, 1989), the name Louisiana Tigers evolved from a volunteer company nicknamed the Tiger Rifles, which was organized in New Orleans. This company became a part of a battalion commanded by Major Chatham Roberdeau Wheat and was the only company of that battalion to wear the colorful Zouave uniform. In time, Wheat’s entire battalion was called the Tigers.
That nickname in time was applied to all of the Louisiana troops of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. The tiger symbol came from the famous Washington Artillery of New Orleans. A militia unit that traces its history back to the 1830s, the Washington Artillery had a logo that featured a snarling tiger’s head. These two units first gained fame at the Battle of First Manassas on July 21, 1861. Major David French Boyd, first president of LSU after the war, had fought with the Louisiana troops in Virginia and knew the reputation of both the Tiger Rifles and Washington Artillery.
Thus when LSU football teams entered the gridiron battlefields in their fourth year of intercollegiate competition, they tagged themselves as the “Tigers.”"
posted by David on 3-23-2009 at 7:26 am