The Portland State Vikings mascot, Victor E. Viking, is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #94 of 351. (View reference images.)
P.S. Happy Labor Day! The Portland State Vikings lost 14-29 to the Oregon State Beavers on Saturday in Corvallis in their first football game of the season.
The Pittsburg State Gorillas mascot, Gus Gorilla, is NCAA Division II pixel art mascot #2 of 320. Pittsburg State University is located in Kansas, not Pennsylvania. (View reference images.)
The West Liberty Hilltoppers mascot, Topper the Bear, is NCAA Division II pixel art mascot #1 of 320. (View reference images.)
West Liberty University, in Wheeling, West Virginia, is where my parents met in the late 1970s. Wheeling is on the West Virginia-Ohio border in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The Wheeling Suspension Bridge spans the main channel of the Ohio River and was once the largest suspension bridge in the world. The road and sidewalk are constructed from open steel grating, which makes it an interesting bridge to cross, especially for those with a fear of heights. As for Topper the Bear, all I can think about is Topper from Dilbert, and I imagine this black bear has the same social deficiency of obsessive one-upmanship.
The Davidson Wildcats mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #93 of 352. The 2008 Davidson Wildcats men’s basketball team, starring Stephen Curry, is one of the greatest Cinderella stories in NCAA history. (View reference images.)
The George Mason Patriots mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #92 of 352. The 2006 George Mason Patriots men’s basketball team is one of the greatest Cinderella stories in NCAA history. (View reference images.)
The Loyola Marymount Lions mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #91 of 352. The 1990 Loyola Marymount Lions men’s basketball team is one of the greatest Cinderella stories in NCAA history, and they had the whole nation rooting for them after the tragic death of superstar Hank Gathers. (View reference images.)
The Villanova Wildcats mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #90 of 352. The 1985 Villanova Wildcats men’s basketball team is the greatest of all Cinderella stories, becoming the lowest-seeded national champion in NCAA history. (View reference images.)
The Xavier Musketeers mascot, the Blue Blob, is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #89 of 352. There is a second official Musketeers mascot, D’Artagnan, but I prefer the furry creature. (View reference images.)
The Yale Bulldogs mascot, Boola the Bulldog, is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #88 of 352. (View reference images.)
The Harvard Crimson mascot, a hideous distortion of John Harvard (who was a puritan clergyman from England), is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #87 of 352. (View reference images.)
The Princeton Tigers mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #86 of 352. This costumed tiger has terrifying bared teeth and gums, which look even more terrifying when it holds a seven-month-old baby. (View reference images.)
The Memphis Tigers mascot, Pouncer, is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #85 of 352. In addition to having a costumed mascot, Memphis is also one of only two universities in America with a live tiger mascot, TOM III. (View reference images.)
The William Penn Statesmen mascot, Willy P., is NAIA pixel art mascot #2. William Penn University, located in Oskaloosa, Iowa, used Statesmen as both the nickname and mascot for its athletic teams from 1959-2000. In 2000, then-University President Thomas Boyd (1998-2003) donated a 400-pound bronze eagle sculpture and mandated a controversial transition to an eagle as the school’s mascot. Curiously, the Statesmen nickname was retained despite the eagle mascot. In 2011, eight years after Boyd’s departure, Elvis the eagle mascot was retired and a more traditional statesman mascot was reintroduced. (View reference images.)
My mom and stepdad have worked for William Penn University for many years. Being from Pennsylvania, I always found it strange that my mom managed to find the one school in Iowa that was named after the same wealthy Quaker guy who founded Pennsylvania. I took art classes at William Penn during high school and later remotely served as their webmaster from 2000-2003 (partly while attending Penn State University, oddly enough). So many Penns!
The Evergreen State Geoducks mascot, Speedy, is NAIA pixel art mascot #1. I couldn’t resist this one any longer. In real life, a geoduck is a large, edible, saltwater clam from the Puget Sound that resembles a penis. But the Evergreen State mascot is basically a googly-eyed pickle wrapped in a gilded silver taco. The motto of Evergreen State, located in Olympia, Washington, is the tongue-in-cheek phrase “Omnia Extares,” which means “Let it all hang out.” By the way, real-life geoducks have an average lifespan of 147 years. (View reference images.)
The Willamette Bearcats mascot, Blitz, is NCAA Division III pixel art mascot #2 of 449. If you’re wondering, a bearcat is neither cat nor bear. Bearcats, also known as binturongs, are arboreal mammals with prehensile tails native to South and Southeast Asia forests. I’m really not sure how so many American college teams ended up with bearcat mascots. Maybe because bear + cat sounds extra ferocious? (View reference images.)
I miss Salem, Oregon, home of Willamette University. I lived there for four years, from 2001 through 2005, and I still visit when I can. I particularly enjoy the area around Willamette University, the capitol building grounds and Bush’s Pasture Park. Kurt Vonnegut called Willamette University’s campus “heaven on Earth.” I used to play tennis on the Willamette courts. The lovely Mill Race runs the full length of campus. In 2004, I almost got a web developer/designer job at Willamette University but ended up accepting a similar position at Oregon State University (where I still work). This ultimately meant I had to move south, because the 45-minute commute to Corvallis got old after nine months.
The Cincinnati Bearcats mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #84 of 352. (View reference images.)
The Northern Illinois Huskies mascot, Victor E. Huskie, is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #83 of 352. The 2013 Northern Illinois football team (12-1) nearly qualified for a BCS bowl game again. The 2012 team (12-2) lost to Florida State in the 2013 Orange Bowl on New Year’s Day. (View reference images.)
The UCF Knights mascot, Knightro, is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #82 of 352. The 2013 UCF football team (11-1) just qualified for their first BCS bowl game, the 2014 Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day. (View reference images.)
The Marshall Thundering Herd mascot, Marco, is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #81 of 352. Earlier this month, the newly redesigned Marco won the Conference USA Mascot Challenge. (View reference images.)
Note: It was 33 years ago today that Southern Airways Flight 932 crashed, killing all 75 people on board, including 37 Thundering Herd football team players and five coaches. The accident is widely considered to be the deadliest sports-related tragedy in U.S. history. The 2006 movie We Are Marshall depicts the aftermath of the plane crash. This 8-bit pixel art character is for my cousin Adam, a Marshall alum.
Carson-Newman Eagle – No. 744
The Carson-Newman Eagles mascot, Talon, is NCAA Division II pixel art mascot #3 of 320. This is also college mascot pixel art #100. (View reference images.)
Carson-Newman University, in Jefferson City, Tennessee, is where my cousin Adam Cavalier works as Director of Athletic Communications/Voice of the Eagles. He is getting married today in West Virginia. I will be attending Adam’s wedding with my wife Heidi and daughter, my dad and stepmom, my sister and her family, and almost all of my dad’s side of the family. I’ve been looking forward to this reunion for months. The following mascot matchup is for Adam, who is a Marshall alum: Marshall Thundering Herd vs. Carson-Newman Eagle.