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
comments (26) write a comment »
write a new comment
3 months ago
cool article.
from 3 months ago
Thanks for reading.
3 months ago
Great concept but it's team nickname you're using the mascot is brutus the buckeye, sebastian the ibis, etc..
from 3 months ago
Good call, after I expanded the article I changed it to better fit your comment.
Thanks
3 months ago
Hey James,
Cool idea.
What about Cougars?
BYU 11-2
Houston 8-5
Washington State 5-7
Overall 24-12 for .667
Lew
from 3 months ago
Lew,
Just fixed the article to correct that mistake. Good catch, and thanks for reading!
3 months ago
Thanks for an interesting and fresh article. I say 5 stars.
3 months ago
Real nice article, man.
3 months ago
Cool article..But I disagree, if your the only school with that mascot nickname it makes you more unique in my opinion.
from 3 months ago
Ha, yeah I agree with you on that. But it wouldn't be as fun if I included nicknames that apply to only one school, would it?
3 months ago
I liked it. It's a good article that took some time to produce. And, it's been way too long since you wrote your last article. You have the knack to tie together ordinary information like statistics with interesting comments. There are other people that use a lot of statistics but, you are the one with the special skill to make it reach readers. I'm not being polite about your work, if you wrote more you'd be one of the Top 2 or 3 writers. No doubt about it. I know that's probably not your intention in life since you're going to school but we're very pleased to have your work when you have time to produce it. Thanks !
from 3 months ago
Wow, thanks BT. I really appreciate supportive comments like this one. If I had a little more free time outside of school I'd love to write more on here. Maybe this fall semester will give me more opportunities. Anyway, thanks a lot for the positive comment, that made my day!
3 months ago
Well, being a WVU fan I can pass on mentioning the MOUNTAINEERS. Both WVU and Appalachian State use the name, and it is cool because it actually describes the people of that region of the country. People who were adventurous enough to farm, build, fight, and live high up in the hills.
from 3 months ago
Oh I forgot something. I have to add the caveat that Appy State isn't an FBS team. But hey these two Mountaineer Squads are 71-11 over the last three years. None too shabby.
from 3 months ago
Yeah I really wanted to include the Mountaineers, but I knew if I included App State that I'd have to include every other FCS school and things would get a little out of hand. That's a lot of school to worry about.
3 months ago
What? How is Tigers not number one? Auburn. Clemson, and LSU? USC and Troy don't overtake that.
Good list though.
3 months ago
You didn't add the Tigers up right...49 wins.
from 3 months ago
Thanks... Looks like I missed Mizzou's cell in my Excel formula.
Should be fixed now. Luckily it didn't change the rankings.
3 months ago
I guess you were just doing football because there are a lot more Bulldog schools (Gonzaga, Drake, Butler etc.) but I guess they don't play football.
from 3 months ago
They don't play football in the FBS. There are lots of teams that are in the FCS and lower divisions of college football that I didn't include on the list. There are just too many teams to cover them all. Thanks for reading, though.
3 months ago
Isn't Utah State also the Aggies or I am I hallucinating again?
from 3 months ago
Indeed they are. Good catch, I just fixed it. Thanks for reading and giving the feedback.
3 months ago
Have you tried a List by Colors?
from 3 months ago
That would be a good idea, but also really hard to research. Maybe in a future article... thanks for reading!
3 months ago
Would the Blue Devils and the Sun Devils qualify?
from 3 months ago
Yeah, they probably should have been included. I guess I didn't draw that connection. Bravo, I'll have to look it up and edit it when I get a chance.
write a new comment