The battle between college mascots is always raging.
Every fan has their own way of ranking them, and every ranking system inherently has some sort of bias. No one can pretend to be totally impartial in such a subjective ranking, so how can we come up with a fair list of the top 21 nicknames?
Win-loss records, of course.
That's right: Using the most comprehensive list I could find, I compiled a list of every mascot that represents more than one FBS college football team. If there's only one team with the nickname, then it's clearly not cool enough to make this list.
I have compiled the win-loss records of each mascot's teams (using this invaluable resource) and used them to rank the top 21 multi-school college football nicknames. Why 21? Because that's how many there are.
Some mascots had many more schools than others, but I've eliminated any of that bias by ranking based on win percentage.
Also, in grouping nicknames I was fairly lenient. In some cases there were slight spelling or coloration differences, but I let those slide.
Without further ado, here's the countdown.
21. Rebels: .208 (5-19)
Ole Miss Rebels: 3-9
UNLV Rebels: 2-10
Apparently the teams from Mississippi and UNLV are rebelling against winning records.
20. Aggies: .342 (13-25)
New Mexico State Aggies: 4-9
Texas A&M Aggies: 7-6
Utah State Aggies: 2-10
I don't think I'd necessarily recognize an Aggie if I saw one in real life, but apparently one of their traits is being mediocre at football.
19. Huskies: .396 (15-23)
Connecticut Huskies: 9-4
Northern Illinois Huskies: 2-10
Washington Huskies: 4-9
While UConn has been stepping their game up lately, Northern Illinois and Washington have devolved enough that the collective Huskies are still bottom-feeders.
18. Bears: .400 (10-15)
Baylor Bears: 3-9
California Golden Bears: 7-6
It's too bad that Cal will forever be tied to dead-weight Baylor—no matter how good the gilded subspecies gets, the Texas variety will bring down the whole family.
17. Owls: .405 (15-22)
Rice Owls: 3-9
Florida Atlantic Owls: 8-5
Temple Owls: 4-8
A year or two ago, these teams were about as scary as their namesakes. Now that FAU has turned around and Temple is on their way up, the Owls are looking a little wiser.
16. Wolfpack: .440 (11-14)
Nevada Wolf Pack: 6-7
NC State Wolfpack: 5-7
With matching seven-loss seasons, apparently these Wolves were staying packed together in '08.
14. (tie) Spartans: .480 (12-13)
San Jose State Spartans: 5-7
Michigan State Spartans: 7-6
Unlike in ancient Mediterranea, the Spartans aren't exactly terrifying warriors on the gridiron.
14. (tie) Cowboys .480 (12-13)
Oklahoma State Cowboys: 7-6
Wyoming Cowboys: 5-7
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