Funniest College Mascots in the USA

College mascots serve an important function in representing the school and giving the students and alumni a symbol to remind them of their loyalty to their fine educational institution.

However, not all college mascots are brave warriors, fighting Irish or keen-eyed hawks. Some of them are just completely bizarre.

The Stanford Tree
While he’s not completely official, the Stanford Tree is a fixture amongst Stanford student life. The bright green tree costume is made anew each year, but features a scary wide smile and enthusiastic dance moves. The tree is also somewhat of a renegade, frequently arrested for drunken behavior and public disorder.

Sammy the Banana Slug of UC Santa Cruz

When you think of sporting prowess and athletic skill, you probably don’t think of a fat yellow slug, but that’s the mascot of UC Santa Cruz. The students started using the slug as a satirical commentary on the overemphasis that many schools place on athletics, but Sammy soon won their hearts and minds, with students ignoring a university sponsored ‘sea-lion’ impostor in the eighties and continuing to proudly call themselves the slugs.


Scrotie of the Rhode Island School of Design
Scrotie is, as his name suggests, a human wearing a costume that depicts a scrotum and penis. College students are known for their juvenile sense of humor, and Scrotie has them rolling in the aisles at every sporting event. Representing the ‘Nads’ hockey team and the ‘Balls’ basketball team Scrotie is not officially recognized, but is well-known to students, who cheer him on as he supports their teams. It’s probably not a good idea to bring children to the games, as awkward questions could lead to some embarrassment!

The Boll Weevil of UA Monticello
Don’t mock the Boll Weevil – sure, he’s less than 6 millimeters in length, but this tiny pest packs a serious punch. The boll weevil is in fact the most dangerous pest in the USA (if you are a cotton plant). If you are not a cotton plant or a cotton farmer you probably don’t have much to worry about.

The Fighting Pickle of North Carolina School of the Arts

If there’s a lesson to be learned at NC School of the Arts it is “never let students pick anything.” This lesson was learned in the seventies when students voted for a new official mascot. The joke entry of a large anthropomorphic pickle, representing teams to be known as ‘Fighting Pickles’ won. Whoever organized that contest must have felt pretty foolish.

If the prospect of being represented by these crazy mascots on your campus freaks you out, you might want to consider an online college degree – no need to worry about pep rallies or weird mascots!

Your next step should probably be learning more about an online college degree, now that you know about college mascots. Post written by guest blogger James Tennant.