Bucky, Bevo, Big Al, and More Go Head-to-Head in the CollegeXpress Best College Mascots March Madness Bracket
For Immediate Release
April 2, 2015, Westford, MA
Based on more research than is probably reasonable for such a fun and fluffy project, CollegeXpress put together the definitive bracket of college mascots, as they go head-to-head for the simple yet oh so powerful title of “best.”
While the rest of the world was not-so-secretly checking their March Madness brackets and live-streaming the games in their offices, the CollegeXpress team was fanatically watching mascot highlight reels to help decide the results of the CollegeXpress Best College Mascots Bracket, scheduled to conclude on April 6 along with the regular NCAA Championship Game.
How did we get here? We started by investigating the 600 or so college mascots out there—going through countless warriors, wolves, bears, and beavers—to determine the top 32, and from there we’ve been bracketing our way down to #1.
The Final Four include:
- Bucky Badger (University of Wisconsin Badgers)
- Sparty (Michigan State University Spartans)
- Brutus Buckeye (Ohio State University Buckeyes)
- Big Al (University of Alabama Crimson Tide)
The championship matchup will be revealed on April 4, and we’ll declare the winner on April 6.
Methodology
We took varied and wide-reaching criteria into account: inventiveness, popularity, costume/appearance, field performances, fan devotion, community involvement, social media presence, and overall, well, badassery. We valued both tradition, like the Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech, and the gutsy choices that students love, like Stanford’s Tree. We also took into consideration many existing rankings of the “best college mascots.” By their nature, mascots at bigger schools had a larger online presence and following, but we also gave credit for originality and fan interactions. The final 32 mascots were seeded based on these criteria too. Mascots then advanced based on our own highly scientific analysis of each matchup.
Note: this bracket concerns college mascots only. It is not linked to actual March Madness teams, their mascots, or their tournament performance.
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