The Big Lead

NCAA Tournament Team Nicknames Ranked

By Stephen Douglas

None
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There are many scientific ways to determine winners when filling out an NCAA tournament bracket. You can look at records, strength of schedule, RPI, whatever criteria Jim Boeheim thinks should be used, pretty much anything. Or you can pick teams based on how awesome their mascots are.

Teams sharing the same name were immediately dropped to the bottom of the list. Schools that share their nicknames with professional teams were also punished.

68. (tied) Villanova Wildcats (1) Northwestern Wildcats (8) Arizona Wildcats (2) Kansas State Wildcats (11) Kentucky Wildcats (2)

63. (tied)Marquette Golden Eagles (10) Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (14) North Carolina Central Eagles (16), Winthrop Eagles (13)

59. (tied) Princeton Tigers (12) Texas Southern Tigers (16)

57. (tied) VCU Rams (10) Rhode Island Rams (11)

55. (tied) Gonzaga Bulldogs (1) Butler Bulldogs (4)

53. (tied) USC Trojans (11) Troy Trojans (15)

51. (tied) UC Davis Aggies (16) ) New Mexico State Aggies (14)

49. (tied) Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers (16) West Virginia Mountaineers (4)

47. (tied) South Carolina Gamecocks (7) Jacksonville State Gamecocks

45. (tied) Saint Mary’s Gaels (7) Iona Gaels (14)

43. North Dakota Fighting Hawks (15)

42. UNC Wilmington Seahawks (12)

41. Oklahoma State Cowboys (10)

40. Louisville Cardinals (2)

39. Kansas Jayhawks (1)

38. Creighton Bluejays (6)

37. East Tennessee State Buccaneers (13)

36. Baylor Bears (3)

35. Cincinnati Bearcats (6)

34. Florida Gators (4)

33. Virginia Cavaliers (5)

32. UCLA Bruins (3)

 

31. Florida State Seminoles (3)

30. SMU Mustangs (6)

29. Dayton Flyers (7)

28. Vanderbilt Commodores (9)

27. Nevada Wolf Pack (12)

26. Duke Blue Devils (2)

25. Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (12)

24. Providence Friars (11)

23. Xavier Musketeers (11)

22. New Orleans Privateers (16)

21. Virginia Tech Hokies (9)

20. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (11)

19. North Carolina Tar Heels (1)

18. Kent State Golden Flashes (14)

17. Vermont Catamounts (13)

16. Michigan State Spartans (9)

15. Seton Hall Pirates (9)

14. Michigan Wolverines (7)

13. Minnesota Golden Gophers (5)

12. Wisconsin Badgers (8)

11. Maryland Terrapins (6)

10. Bucknell Bison (13)

9. Oregon Ducks (3)

8. Miami Hurricanes (8)

7. Iowa State Cyclones (5)

6. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12)

5. Wichita State Shockers (10)

4. Arkansas Razorbacks (8)

3. Purdue Boilermakers (4)

2. South Dakota State Jackrabbits (16)

1. Northern Kentucky Norse (15)

[all images via Getty, USAT Sports Images]