Striking fear in the hearts of opponents, it’s a green Viking!
One of the things I enjoy about the NCAA basketball tournament is the nicknames and mascots. With over 300 teams in Division 1 men's basketball, there is sure to be some cross-over as well as some great unique names we don't hear every day (or every year).
There are several nicknames that made it into the tournament more than once. There are four Tigers (LSU, Clemson, Missouri and Memphis); four Eagles (Morehead State, Boston College, Marquette and American); three Bulldogs (Mississippi State, Butler and Gonzaga – no, Gonzaga is not officially "the 'Zags"); two Panthers (Pitt and Northern Iowa); two Wildcats (Arizona and Villanova); two Huskies (Connecticut and Washington); two Aggies (Utah State and Texas A&M); and there are even two Vikings (Cleveland State's green fellow above, and Portland State).
Striking fear in the hearts of opponents, it’s a green Viking!
One of the things I enjoy about the NCAA basketball tournament is the nicknames and mascots. With over 300 teams in Division 1 men's basketball, there is sure to be some cross-over as well as some great unique names we don't hear every day (or every year).
There are several nicknames that made it into the tournament more than once. There are four Tigers (LSU, Clemson, Missouri and Memphis); four Eagles (Morehead State, Boston College, Marquette and American); three Bulldogs (Mississippi State, Butler and Gonzaga – no, Gonzaga is not officially "the 'Zags"); two Panthers (Pitt and Northern Iowa); two Wildcats (Arizona and Villanova); two Huskies (Connecticut and Washington); two Aggies (Utah State and Texas A&M); and there are even two Vikings (Cleveland State's green fellow above, and Portland State).
So that’s what a matador looks like.
There are also some wonderfully unique nicknames. Siena is the Saints, but of the "Bernard" kind, not of the "go marching in" kind. Robert Morris University is the Colonials, so named because Morris helped finance the American Revolutionary War and signed the Declaration of Independence. The Lumberjacks hail from Stephen F. Austin, even though Austin seems to have had nothing to do with lumber. Cal State Northridge (C-SUN for us Angelenos) is the Matadors; Akron is the Zips (their mascot is a kangaroo); Western Kentucky is the Hilltoppers; and the Ivy League entrant, Cornell, is the Big Red. And isn't it fitting that the first team from North Dakota to ever make the tournament would be nicknamed the Bison.
In the second round, the selection committee's sense of history kicked in, with the potential refighting of the Trojan War: the USC Trojans against the Michigan State Spartans.
