The Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks mascot, Willy Warhawk, is NCAA Division III pixel art mascot #4 of 449. UW-Whitewater has won six of the last eight NCAA Division III Football Championships (Stagg Bowls) and has appeared in the national championship game in nine of the last 10 years. The Warhawks played the perennially dominant Mount Union Purple Raiders in all nine championships. (View reference images.)
The Mount Union Purple Raiders mascot, MUCaw, is NCAA Division III pixel art mascot #3 of 449. Mount Union has appeared in 10 consecutive NCAA Division III Football Championships (Stagg Bowls), winning four. Since 1993, Mount Union has appeared in the national championship game a record 18 times, winning 11. The football team has won 94 consecutive regular season games and has posted a 204-1 regular season record since 1994. (View reference images.)
The University of California, Santa Cruz Banana Slugs mascot is NCAA Division III pixel art mascot #1 of 449. (View reference images.)
Willamette Bearcat – No. 701
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.