Mad for mascots?!

Football season is HERE which means the next few months will be all about supporting YOUR team. And how do you support your team? Well that's up to you. We can all agree that some teams are better than others (some suck, let's just say it now... it's ok). How exactly they're better varies whether it be by playing ability, school colors, uniform designs, coaches, academic ability or (my personal favorite) their mascot. No matter where you went, you can picture your mascot right now. It could've been a live animal, costumed character, or even just a statue on campus. I myself was a mascot in high school so I know all about the trials and tribulations the costumed characters go through... ANYWAYS below is just a list of the BEST mascot in every state.

Alabama

• School: University of Alabama
• Fun Fact: In the 1940s the University kept a live elephant named "Alamite."
• Name: Big Al

Alaska

• School: University of Alaska Fairbanks
• Fun Fact: Nanook is derived from the Inupiaq word for "polar bear."
• Name: Nanook

Arizona

• School: University of Arizona
• Fun Fact: The school's first mascot was a live desert bobcat named "Rufus Arizona."
• Name: Wilbur and Wilma T. Wildcat

Arkansas

• School: University of Arkansas
• Fun Fact: One of the first things that Tusk does each day is to go straight to his mud hole for a mud bath.
• Name: Tusk is the live mascot. Big Red is the name of the costumed mascot.

California

• School: Stanford University
• Fun Fact: The Tree is the Stanford band's mascot and unofficial mascot of Stanford.
• Name: The Tree

Colorado

• School: University of Colorado
• Fun Fact: Despite the name Ralphie, female bison are used because they are smaller and less aggressive.
• Name: Ralphie the Buffalo

Connecticut

• School: Connecticut College
• Fun Fact: The athletes didn't become "Camels" until the college went co-ed in 1969.
• Name: Camels

Delaware

• School: University of Delaware
• Fun Fact: YoUDee is androgynous.
• Name: YoUDee

Florida

• School: University of Florida
• Fun Fact: A live alligator named Albert served as the mascot from 1957-1970 when the costumed version became the mascot.
• Name: Albert and Alberta Gator

Georgia

• School: University of Georgia
• Fun Fact: All Ugas are a descendant of the original Uga from 1956.
• Name: Uga is the live mascot. Hairy Dawg is the costumed mascot and should not be confused with the Ugas.

Hawaii

• School: University of Hawaii
• Fun Fact: There's a tradition that Hawaii can't lose if a rainbow appeared.
• Name: Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wahine

Idaho

• School: University of Idaho
• Fun Fact: They received the name "Vandals' in 1917 when the sports writers said the basketball team played with such intensity and ferocity they "vandalized" their opponents.
• Name: Joe Vandal

Illinois

• School: University of Illinois
• Fun Fact: The earliest reference of the nickname "Fighting Illini" appeared in 1874 when the campus newspaper changed its name from The Student to The Illini.
• Name: Fighting Illini

Indiana

• School: Indiana University Bloomington
• Fun Fact: The school technically doesn't have a mascot but in the 1960s they had a bison mascot named "Hoosier Pride".
• Name: Hoosiers

Iowa

• School: University of Iowa
• Fun Fact: Herky was first drawn as a cartoon in 1948.
• Name: Herky the hawk

Kansas

• School: Pittsburg State University
• Fun Fact: Pitt State is the only college in the nation with a Gorilla as its official mascot for both its men and women's teams.
• Name: Gus The Gorilla

Kentucky

• School: Western Kentucky University
• Fun Fact: Big Red came about because Ralph Carey wanted to create something that stayed as far away from the hillbilly stereotype as possible.
• Name: Big Red

Louisiana

• School: University of Louisiana at Lafayette
• Fun Fact: The original mascot was a bulldog. It wasn't until 1962 that the nickname was changed to Raging Cajuns then shortened to Ragin' Cajuns.
• Name: Cayenne

Maine

• School: University of New England
• Fun Fact: Stormin' Norman was voted Maine's no. 1 mascot in 2015.
• Name: Stormin' Norman

Maryland

• School: University of Maryland
• Fun Fact: Testudo means turtle in latin.
• Name: Testudo

Massachusetts

• School: Boston University
• Fun Fact: The mascot is named Rhett after Rhett Butler from "Gone With the Wind", because "no one loves Scarlet more than Rhett."
• Name: Rhett the Boston Terrier

Michigan

• School: Michigan State University
• Fun Fact: The team name changed from "Aggies" to "Spartans" in 1925.
• Name: Sparty

Minnesota

• School: University of Minnesota
• Fun Fact: Minnesota became known as the "Gopher State" in 1857 due to a political cartoon.
• Name: Goldy Gopher

Mississippi

• School: Delta State University
• Fun Fact: The "Fighting Okra" grew out of joke about the improbability that anyone would find a "Statesman" particularly frightening.
• Name: The Fighting Okra is the unofficial mascot while the Statesmen is the official one.

Missouri

• School: University of Central Missouri
• Fun Fact: The Central athletic teams were originally known as "Normals" and "Teachers".
• Name: Mo the Mule

Montana

• School: University of Montana
• Fun Fact: The auditioning process to become Monte is called Monte Idol.
• Name: Monte

Nebraska

• School: University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Fun Fact: Lil' Red was inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2007.
• Name: Lil' Red and Herbie Husker

Nevada

• School: University of Nevada, Reno
• Fun Fact: Nevada is one of the few universities that have more than one mascot.
• Name: Alphie, Luna, and Wolfie Jr.

New Hampshire

• School: Southern New Hampshire University
• Fun Fact: The team nickname is an homage to the university's history as an accounting school.
• Name: Petey Penmen

New Jersey

• School: New Jersey Institute of Technology
• Fun Fact: NJIT is located in an area formerly known as the Newark Highlands.
• Name: The Highlander

New Mexico

• School: University of New Mexico
• Fun Fact: The chant "Everyone's a Lobo, Woof Woof Woof!" started in the 1980s.
• Name: Lobo Louie and Lobo Lucy

New York

• School: Syracuse University
• Fun Fact: The original Syracuse mascot was a Native American character named "The Saltine Warrior" and for 40 years Lambda Chi brothers would serve as SU's mascot.
• Name: Otto the Orange

North Carolina

• School: Wake Forest University
• Fun Fact: The actual mascot didn't make its first appearance until 1941.
• Name: The Demon Deacon

North Dakota

• School: Bismarck State College
• Fun Fact: The Mystic mascot was derived from a 1940s cartoon.
• Name: Mystics

Ohio

• School: Xavier University
• Fun Fact: The Blue Blob came about in the 80s when the spirit squad coordinators realized they needed a more audience-friendly mascot.
• Name: The Blue Blob and D'Artagnan

Oklahoma

• School: University of Oklahoma
• Fun Fact: Until the late 1980s, it was customary for the schooner's driver to stand up while driving the ponies onto the field after scores, and duck down only an instant before reaching the stadium tunnel parking spot, barely clearing the tunnel ceiling.
• Name: Sooner Schooner, Boomer and Sooner

Oregon

• School: University of Oregon
• Fun Fact: The Oregon Duck is based on Donald Duck through a special license agreement.
• Name: The Oregon Duck

Pennsylvania

• School: Drexel University
• Fun Fact: Mario is named after Mario V. Mascioli, a fan who didn't miss a Drexel game for more than 20 years.
• Name: Mario the Magnificent

Rhode Island

• School: Rhode Island School of Design
• Fun Fact: Although considered the unofficial mascot, Scrotie is featured prominently on the school's official website.
• Name: Scrotie

South Carolina

• School: University of South Carolina
• Fun Fact: There was no official mascot until 1971.
• Name: Cocky

South Dakota

• School: South Dakota State University
• Fun Fact: After being nameless for 105 years, the name of Jack was revealed on Nov. 12, 2010 during a birthday celebration for the mascot.
• Name: Jack Rabbit

Tennessee

• School: University of Tennessee
• Fun Fact: The "Vols" use both a live and costumed version of Smokey.
• Name: Smokey

Texas

• School: University of Texas at Austin
• Fun Fact: The original mascot was an American Pit Bull Terrier named "Pig."
• Name: Bevo is the live mascot. Hook 'em is the costumed version.

Utah

• School: University of Utah
• Fun Fact: During the 1980s, the Crimson Warrior (a Caucasian horseman dressed in a Native American costume) would ride onto the field before home football games and plant a lance into a bale of hay.
• Name: Swoop

Vermont

• School: University of Vermont
• Fun Fact: Only male students were allowed to vote on the name of the mascot when the school newspaper, the UVM Cynic, held a poll.
• Name: Rally

Virginia

• School: Virginia Tech
• Fun Fact: No one is supposed to know who the HokieBirds are until graduation day. At graduation, students who portrayed the HokieBird are allowed to wear the giant bird feet.
• Name: HokieBird

Washington

• School: University of Washington
• Fun Fact: Harry has a brother named Hendrix the Husky that lives at UW Tacoma.
• Name: Harry the Husky

West Virginia

• School: West Virginia University
• Fun Fact: The first female Mountaineer was Natalie Tennant in 1990.
• Name: The West Virginia Mountaineer

Wisconsin

• School: University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Fun Fact: The assistant attorney general Howard Koop suggested Bucky be replaced by a lovable cow named Henrietta Holstein.
• Name: Bucky Badger

Wyoming

• School: University of Wyoming
• Fun Fact: Pistol Pete first appeared in 1917 and was redesigned in 2002.
• Name: Pistol Pete

Did your school mascot make the list? Do you agree with our list? Let us know!

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