Unique Mascots by Conference

A lot of times, I ask myself meaningless questions that have meaningless answers. That does not stop me from figuring the answer out and sharing its meaninglessness with you. One such endeavor grabbed hold of me last night, as I was drinking some peyote with a horned frog, a Vandal, and a ragin' Cajun. The horned frog asked, "GMYH, did you see the size of that chicken?" I said something off-color in Aramaic and dug a hole to Atlantis. While there, I asked myself, "When you remove all the FBS teams with the same mascots -- the Wildcats, the Cougars, the Bulldogs, and such -- which conference has the most schools with the mascots that no other FBS team has? And how are you breathing underwater?" After a quick game of pogs with Buster Poindexter and a giant orange ball with limbs, I closed my gills with some This is Spinal Tape, thanked Hess for the link, grabbed a trident, and headed to the computer in my mind. Here's what I found.



The Big Ten, in addition to being the most awesome all-around conference ever, has the highest percentage of unique names. On the other side of the coin, the wiggity wiggity wiggity wiggity WAC is the least unique. Here's how it breaks down, from most unique to least unique:


1. Big Ten – 10 of 12 (.833) unique mascots: Badgers, Boilermakers, Buckeyes, Cornhuskers, Fighting Illini, Golden Gophers, Hawkeyes, Hoosiers, Nittany Lions, Wolverines


2. Sun Belt – 7 of 9 (.778) unique mascots: Blue Raiders, Golden Panthers, Hilltoppers, Mean Green, Ragin' Cajuns, Red Wolves, Warhawks


3 (tie). ACC – 9 of 12 (.750) unique mascots: Blue Devils, Cavaliers, Demon Deacons, Hokies, Hurricanes, Seminoles, Tar Heels, Terrapins, Yellow Jackets


3 (tie). Conference USA – 9 of 12 (.750) unique mascots: Blazers, Golden Eagles, Golden Hurricane, Green Wave, Knights, Miners, Mustangs, Pirates, Thundering Herd


5. Pac-12 – 8 of 12 (.667) unique mascots: Beavers, Bruins, Buffaloes, Cardinal, Ducks, Golden Bears, Sun Devils, Utes


6. Big East – 5 of 8 (.625) unique mascots: Bearcats, Mountaineers, Orange, Panthers, Scarlet Knights


7. Big 12 – 6 of 10 (.600) unique mascots: Bears, Cyclones, Jayhawks, Longhorns, Red Raiders, Sooners


8 (tie). MWC – 4 of 8 (.500) unique mascots: Aztecs, Horned Frogs, Lobos, Rams


8 (tie). SEC – 6 of 12 (.500) unique mascots: Commodores, Crimson Tide, Gamecocks, Gators, Razorbacks, Volunteers


10. MAC – 6 of 13 (.462) unique mascots: Bobcats, Chippewas, Golden Flashes, Redhawks, Rockets, Zips


11. WAC – 2 of 8 (.250) unique mascots: Vandals, Warriors

So, you're never going to get that minute back.