Ben Stryker
Cartoonist
Senior Austin Sandvik said this about his bracket-making tactics: “when the experts aren’t sure who’s going to win, I choose the team with the better mascot.” But what happens when you pick your teams ONLY by mascot. This got me thinking, which NCAA men’s basketball team has the best name?
After quick look, you will see that there are many repeats. There are four ‘wildcats’, four ‘tigers’, two ‘bruins’, two ‘terriers’, two ‘huskies’ and if you count Georgetown, there are five ‘bulldogs.’ Heck, there are two ‘aggies’! I am severely disappointed by the lack of creativity. If you look at my bracket, there are three match-ups I do not have a winner selected for. That’s because I fail to recognize one. If you have a boring mascot, at least name it something cool (i.e. Cosmo the cougar for BYU). The name of the Arizona wildcat? Wilbur. Not very fear-inducing.
But I digress. Let’s focus on the highlights of this tournament, and oh boy are there some doozeys! How about the St. Peter’s Peacocks. They may not be scary, but they certainly make up for it with originality. I kind of want to buy a t-shirt, regardless of their performance on the court.
Moving on, we have the UCSB Gauchos. What’s a gaucho? It’s the South American equivalent of our cowboy. Honestly, I cannot decide what is cooler; Ole’s (that’s his name) belt buckle or his mean mustache. Ultimately, my pick to find the best mascots in the tourney came down to two schools; the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Akron Zips. The name ‘bearcat’ leads me to believe it is a cat with bear-like qualities. Google Images leaves it up do debate. Sometimes he looks like a cat-bear, others a bear-cat. What isn’t debatable is the awesomeness of this mascot. But one team managed to beat it out. I’m talking of course about the Akron Zips. A zip is a type of rubber shoe popular in the 30’s. There mascot, thankfully, is not a rubber shoe. Rather, “Zippy” is a female kangaroo. With a catchphrase: “fear the roo,” it’s hard not to love this team.
However, it seems like these schools spent too much time picking names, and not enough time practicing on the court. It seems the recipe for success is finding a middle ground. Ohio State Buckeyes, Florida Gators, Kansas Jayhawks and San Diego State Aztecs all made it to the Sweet Sixteen. They may not achieve the mascot-success of say the Cincinnati Bearcats or Akron Zips, but at least they made the Sweet Sixteen. And at least they’re not the Tigers, Wildcats or Bulldogs.
Jayhawks is the illest