There's only one Green Wave out there in the land of college football and only one Crimson Tide, but watch out for all the Eagles, Bulldogs, Cougars, and Bears. Those fierce competitors are in no short supply.
While searching a good current source of data on this topic, I ran into a Wikipedia site that claims to have been updated yesterday, 1/04/12. It runs about as deep as this subject deserves so I heartily now recommend it to you for a little amusement and fun.
What’s in a college team nickname these days? Well, they still range from the most unique to the most common, but the big change in this topic in recent years, of course, has been the effect of political correctness. Those powers have been strong enough to change the Stanford Indians into a singular Stanford Cardinal and the Miami (O) Indians into the Miami (0) Red Hawks. – Are they sure that (0) that follows Miami doesn’t stand for “Osage?” The big censors may need to go back and scope it out too.
Longhorns remains one of the few unique names, as does Horned Frogs. The Wikipedia site gives the UT Medical Branch in Galveston as a second university site with the nickname “Longhorns” and to which we native Texans can only smile and say, “C’mon. Get real.”
Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana is the only place that claims “Hustlin’ Quakers” as a nickname, but Notre Dame has been reduced to a simple reference as the only school calling themselves the “Irish.” What happened to the “Fightin’ Irish” description? Did the bellicosity of it all cause the fighting reference to hit the cutting floor due to the PCs? – I’ll bet there is more “fight” in the Irish than there is hustle in the Quakers. What are thee Quakers going to hustle? It certainly will not be thine electronic Apps.
If LSU takes the BCS football championship from Alabama next week it will not be due to the uniqueness of their Tiger mascot. Forty schools beyond LSU also use that Bengal name for their athletic teams. So, to all you new schools out there who may be looking for a mascot name, we strongly urge you to “hold that tiger.” It’s been done; it’s been done a whole lot.
Head for ceiling cover on game days too. 62 schools out there fly as “Eagles” into battle – with another 15 taking to the skies as “Golden Eagles.”
Georgia heads up the list as the most famous among the 39 “Bulldogs” schools and the University of Houston gets lost among the 32 schools who call themselves the “Cougars.” By the way, UH supposedly got the Cougar nickname from one of the first faculty member coaches (It’s in the Pat Nicholson book, “In Time,” but now the man’s name escapes me.) who had graduated from Washington State and thought that “Cougars” would also be good enough for Houston too.
Baylor rests among the 25 schools who hibernate as “Bears” until some guy named “RG3” comes along like Mighty Mouse to wake them up. Say, how about that idea for a change? Does the Baylor Mighty Mice streaking out of the sky to save the day do anything for you, Baylor fans?
Four schools still call themselves “Indians” and the Illinois Illini and Florida State Seminoles show no signs of caving in their identities in favor of some pleasant tree, bird, or mineral name. How about the Illinois Igneous Rocks? But would that be geologically correct for the midwest?
It’a light night In January that feels more like spring and closer to baseball spring training than it really is. Pitchers and catchers are weeks away from checking into camp. We’ve still got time to endure the LSU-Alabama college football championship next Monday, the lesser crown game involving Sam Houston State this coming Saturday, and the Houston Texans’ first march into the NFL playoffs that also starts this weekend.
Just one more closing note on Sam Houston State. There are a ton of schools who call themselves “Bearcats,” but SHSU is the only school that spells “Bearkats” with a “K.”
Have fun with the list everybody.
Tags: college team nicknames
The Pecan Park Eagle 
January 6, 2012 at 1:05 am |
As a native Illinoisian it pains me that the NCAA browbeat the UofI into dropping Chief Illiniwek. He only appeared at halftime of home football and basketball games but he was loved by the students, alumni and fans. They also were able to keep the word “Fighting” Illini in honor of the WWI UofI servicemen known as such.
The video below is from the last time the Chief was permitted to perform at a halftime. He had never returned to the court before but want to give thanks to all directions and then give a defiant stomp to the NCAA. I still get chills viewing it. Be patient as the first minute is just a prelude to Chief’s fancy dance.
http://www.fightingillini.com/genrel/022107aaa.html
I also attached a version from Illini football – which a little better.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-204210174943906715&q=illini&hl=en#
January 6, 2012 at 3:22 am |
Bill:
The Miami University teams were called the “Redskins” ever since I can remember, not the Indians. We alumni had no say in the change. I have a fraternity brother who still attends all Miami home hockey games and as the referee drops the first puck he yells “Go Redskins”. He has become quite famous on campus for his cheer, The team and the attendees like it but not so much the administration. As of this year the school will no longer authorize anything to be made or sold using the former nickname or logo. What a shame. Maybe I’ll wear my “illegal” shirt to the SABR meeting this week. .
January 6, 2012 at 3:30 am |
Bob:
Wear the illegal shirt.
My apologies for forgetting that your alma mater used to be called the Miami (O) Redskins and not Indians. I knew better – once upon a time.
Bill