The Wildcats?!? Great Name! They’ll Win!

NCAA Tournament office pools are in full gear around the country. I've always wondered how casual fans picks their teams. Maybe it's team colors. Maybe it's location. Or maybe it's the mascot. Let's take a look at the field and see what we can find. Let's start near the top of the food chain. I give you Kentucky, Kansas State, Arizona, AND Villanova Wildcats. Wow! I never realized teams with Wildcats as mascots could have their own tournament. Prefer another breed? We're loaded up on Tigers. They're comin' from everywhere: Princeton, Clemson, Missouri, and Memphis. And last but not least, the Penn State Nittany Lions, Pittsburgh Panthers, and BYU Cougars.

But we're not out of the woods yet. Not with Northern Colorado Bears, UCLA AND Belmont Bruins, and Oakland Grizzlies stalking the bracket. And I haven't even mentioned the Florida Gators. If mascot toughness is your game, one of those teams is your team. Maybe you're a dog lover. I've got just the thing: Huskies from both coasts--Washington and Connecticut; Terriers from Boston and Wofford; Bulldogs from all over--Georgia, Butler, UNC Asheville, and Gonzaga. And of course, Georgetown, with its bulldog NAMED "Hoya." But that's only part of the Bracket Zoo. Take a region-by-region stroll and encounter Michigan Wolverines, Cincinnati Bearcats (they're not really cats), Akron Zips (the mascot's a kangaroo--I don't get it either but kangaroos are cool), and Wisconsin Badgers. In the bird sanctuary look up and see those Kansas Jayhawks, Eagles from Morehead State and Marquette (except Marquette's are Golden), the Long Island Blackbirds, Temple Owls, Louisville Cardinals, St. Peter's Peacocks, and UT San Antonio Roadrunners (but look fast). Or maybe you're just lookin' for a nice meal or maybe some good stew meat. The Tourney's serving up Bison (Bucknell), Longhorns (Texas), and Rams (VCU)   And believe it or not, plant life is not left out of the equation. The Ohio State Buckeyes are a tourney favorite. The Indiana State Sycamores gave us Larry Byrd. Maybe they'll give us a first-round upset.

Then there are teams whose mascots are, well, people. People who help people like Volunteers (Tennessee) and Patriots (George Mason). You have people who lead other people like Monarchs (Old Dominion) and Commodores (Vanderbilt). There are hard-working people like Boilermakers (Purdue). We have Native American people--Seminoles (Florida State)--and people native to other lands--Aztecs (San Diego State) and Gauchos (UC Santa Barbara). We have busy people: Fighting Illini (Illinois), Fighting Irish (Notre Dame), and Runnin' Rebels (UNLV). There are people who are no longer seen by other people--Spartans (Michigan State)--and people who rhyme with other people--Mountaineers (West Virginia) and Musketeers (Xavier). And there are bad people--sorry Hampton, you have the only Pirates in the bunch.

If Halloween's your thing, how about Blue Devils (Duke) or Spiders (Richmond). If you want color, you have two choices: Orange (Syracuse) or Red Storm (St. John's)--sounds like a car color. I have no idea what a Tarheel (North Carolina) is. And I can't help you with Aggies--although I'm sure someone at Texas A & M or Utah State could. Maybe I've helped you out. You only have 64 choices. Here we go.