On another note, the unofficial mascot is the bear, but the above illustration captures the spirit of the team just as well. This is also a great way to hear what the public definitely wont hear about injury status, roster changes, and so on. So in 1896, Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College changed its name to the much more concise and poetic Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute. Another team that likes to add purple to its name. I College. If they keep it up, the 2011 NIT champions will have an opportunity to harvest a few wins in the NCAA Tournament this spring. Dartmouth had been the Indians up until the mid-1970s when the college's board of trustees concluded that the Indian symbol was at odds with the school's efforts to advance Native American education. Saint Louis has experienced some. Even the coaches who doubt that there's much impact in using different basketballs admit that the superstitious or psychological, if not performative, effect is real for some players. the best sports handicappers can charge less for their picks than the 117 straight seasons! Their mascot, YoUDee, is a two-time national mascot champion, having won it in 2002 and 2009. During the 2014-15 season, when it still used a Sterling ball, Wisconsin's opponents made 42.4% of their field goal attempts (276 Division I teams exceeded that number overall in the 2018-19 campaign) at the Kohl Center in Madison but made an above-average 38% of their 3-point attempts in the same venue, per ESPN Stats & Info. Gorlock made his official debut in 1988. Play Now. I don't think it gave us much of an advantage. Some schools nickname themselves after socks, others after plants, and one is even named after a doll. The Purdue University website asks the question in many of our minds: What is a Boilermaker? Though the university has received more than enough support to continue use, the NCAA sent a letter last week reiterating its current policies. However, what's most known about this university is not its athletics, but its commitment to service. Coach John Wooden, UCLA, winner of 10 National Championships. Goes both ways.". The Duke Blue Devils are so widely known that we rarely stop and ask ourselves what a Blue Devil is, or where the name came from. Dartmouth is a member of the Ivy League and boasts the lowest acceptance rate of any school on this list. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. College Basketball Lines, College Most people know about its men's basketball team, a perennial Big East contender and has been in either the NCAA Tournament or the NIT since 2005. 'The ball shall be spherical' The NCAA rulebook (Section 16. The NCAA rulebook (Section 16. It probablyhas something to do with the dry heat. Paul acknowledged that opposing defenders and road environments have an impact, too, and it's impossible to pinpoint one variable as the most significant component in the disparity. Interesting trivia: this relatively obscure college mascot came from some fairly accomplished hands. This assumption, though, would be wrong. NCAA College Basketball Teams Show: All America East American Atlantic 10 ACC ASUN Big 12 Big East Big Sky Big South Big Ten Big West CAA CUSA Horizon League Independents Ivy MAAC MAC MEAC MVC Mountain West Northeast Ohio Valley Pac-12 Patriot SEC Southern Southland SWAC Summit Sun Belt WCC WAC There are so many college basketball teams and conferences out there that we can't possibly keep track of them all. "I just remember walking into the store, going from aisle to aisle and hoping to find all the different basketballs," said Smart, now the head coach at Texas. Once upon a time, they were the Zippers, but in 1953, the name got shortened to Zips, and the mascot turned into a kangaroo. Back in 1950 the Beavers were led by head coach Nat Holman who was one of the greatest innovators in the game at the time. Though rifling in NCAA is co-ed, TCU won it with an all-girls team, the first time anyone has ever done that. When your school colors are purple and white and you decide that your Pioneers team name isn't catchy enough, you might just end up with the nickname the Purple Aces. "It's hard to get used to the different sizes of them because they all have different feels, different ripples in the ball. They also boast the best student-athlete graduation rates on a consistent basis, which is definitely something they should be commended for. What better way to intimidate your rivals than to name your team after a small, burrowing rodent. P.S. Well, Gaels, or Goidels, are speakers of the Goidelic Celtic Languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. In 1977, the Keydets went 26-4, and reached the NCAA Tournament again. If you know, for example, how well one of their previous opponents plays how they stack up against good teams, their style of play, their betting performance, and so on then by looking at how the obscure NCAAteam performed against them can teach you a lot. "The Nun's Priest's Tale." ThoughtCo. But who really cares who made the change? St. Louis University's nickname was derived from the popular charm dolls created by St. Louis art teacher Florence Pretz in the early 1900s. Virginia Tech's old nickname used to be the "Fighting Gobblers," which is why the turkey-ish maroon bird, HokieBird, is the mascot. What if other schools used a play on words to create their names like St. Bonaventure did? By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. A billiken was a charm doll used in the early 20th century used to give luck to anyone who purchased one. When researching all Division I colleges and universities for other articles using afair, balanced, highly scientific, and entirely empirical system of evaluationstudying their retention rates, graduation rates, selectivity, and financial aidwe came up with an in-depth analysis containing lovely data, but that wasn't useful for this list. The University of Missouri at Kansas City competes in the NCAASummit League. They have one of the most consistent football programs in the FCS. Copyright MadduxSports.com - Premier Sports Picks and Sports Odds Web site, Advice For Betting On The Obscure Added Board Teams, Evaluating Obscure Conference Tournament Winners In the Big Dance, NBA Playoff Betting Advice For Casual Sports Bettors, Increasing Your Bankroll By Spotting Overrated Teams, Handicapper Advice For Games Involving No Hope Teams, How to Pick Games Involving Surprising Teams Off To Fast Starts, Live Also, no disrespect to any Stag students and alumni, but that must be the cuddliest-looking college mascot I've ever seen. Despite the fact that nearby Delaware State has played college football since 1924, these two teams didn't play each other until 2007, in the first round of the Subdivision playoffs. It's just more difficult to play on the road, which is why the NCAA recently created the NET metric for tournament selection; the metric increased the value of road wins compared with their value in the RPI. The teams are the Fighting Camels and the Lady Camels, and the mascot is Gaylord the Camel. Looking at their tempo can tell you how quickly they like to move the ball, and what style of play they prefer. The. College Sports Trios II. It looks like he's ready to swallow a person or something. The Jayhawks play with a Wilson basketball, so opponents headed to Allen Fieldhouse will probably use a Wilson in that week's practices. 20 Strangest Division I Team Names. Theres no better way to get a quick sense of how a basketballteam is playing and what they are capable of than by reading what the people who see them every day have to say. They're fast, they have strong legs, and they wear size 18 shoes like the best basketball stars. Daily NCAAB Free Picks in 2023. Stull won a spirit yell contest with the chant "Hoki" in it. by Noodle33. Two-pointers were more affected than 3-pointers. "20 Strangest Division I Team Names." It was at this time that the Big Green nickname came into use. John Beilein was 161-42 at home and 53-77 on the road when he was at Michigan. That's where the chaos ensues. Ideally, I like to look at a couple of recaps. 2021-22 NFL Playoff Teams Minefield. When we play Fairfield, they can be a tough opponent to beat, even though we are not considered to be rivals (despite the fact that we are in-state here in Connecticut; roughly 45-50 minutes away from each other). Statistics can also be a great way of quickly painting a portrait of a basketball team, though. It's truly an inspiring story. The favored team was a school best known for . Located in Conway, South Carolina, this university is a member of the NCAABig South Conference. During the 2012-13 season, Michigan's opponents made 40.1% of their field goal attempts and only 30.8% of their 3-point attempts with an obscure ball brand called "The Rock" in Ann Arbor's Crisler Arena. 8 points. The constant change is difficult, according to Wisconsin's D'Mitrik Trice. "20 Strangest Division I Team Names." Unlike many universities, however, Cornell does know where the unofficial Big Red name comes from. If the ball is ever to be standardized in college, the discussion -- like so many issues in the game -- will have to begin with coaches. "I think there should be some standard. Whatever a Sun Devil is, it belongs on this list. Speaking of which, their mascot isa riverboat gambler; that's pretty awesome. And in 2010, they won an NCAA rifling championship, as well. Elon vs. Drexel, of course. Chaucer, Geoffrey. We've got different balls from different teams we could play.". In Erie, mascot C. Wolf is a gray wolf dressed as a pirate. Drawing by Laura Reyome. Rodney Paul, a sports economist and sports management professor at Syracuse University, recently conducted a study about the impact different basketballs have on college teams. However, don't let it's odd team name fool you; Georgetown has done very well as a member of the Big East Conference. The Ball Art. Beavers call their athletic teams the Engineerssome mascots have just a little too much connotation attached to them. The Orange are a big 8.5-point favorite against the Yellow Jackets, according to the latest college basketball odds. Stony Brook competes in the American East Conference. He and Evan Weiss, a former Syracuse student who works in analytics with the Buffalo Bills, commenced their work after reading media accounts from players complaining about specific brands. In the 1990s, they also had a lot of success in men's and women's swimming and diving. Last year, the NCAA extended its deal with Wilson through 2020-21 to provide basketballs for the Division I, II and III men's and women's postseason tournaments. Campbell University patron Zachary Kivett once said to school founder James Archibald Campbell, "Your name's Campbell; then get a hump on you! If you have ever seen the movie Braveheart, you have seen a true Blue Hose." "But I always said that every goal is 10 feet high. Basketball ATS Standings, College Hickok Sports: Not a fancy site, but one filled with tons of information about every sport imaginable from college to pro. The actual definition of the word is a bit less awe inspiring: one who harvests wheat. Now you may be asking yourself why an article on the most unusual mascots and team names has two schools with kangaroos (remember the Akron Zips?). Basketball Trend Sheet, How College Division: 1949: 1957: Disbanded Gulf Star Conference: Division I: 1984: 1987: Effectively absorbed by the Southland Conference . 85. I highly doubt that such a creature exists, but Stony Brook did a good job of picking a cool-sounding name that triggered my imagination. Georgia Tech went with a Russell Athletic basketball before making the switch to Adidas apparel last year. Anyone who has taken a course on Chaucer will understand why the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers deserve a place on this list of unusual team names, but if you haven't, here's the deal. For resourceful sports handicappers one of the nicer benefits is that it has made virtually every local and campus newspaper in the country readily available. So wait, why don't they just call themselves the Golden Eagles? Their basketball program has enjoyed success over the years, including winning the NIT Championship just last season. They look like elves, with pointed ears, short arms and sat with its legs stretched out in front of it. Bulldogs. hide this ad. As one of the few universities with an equestrian program, they won a women's equestrian championship in 2008. bettors that know the value of their bankroll. The most polarizing views still center on The Rock, a basketball manufactured by a New York company called Anaconda Sports. The Ball Art. Browse Sports Teams. NCAA Division I Basketball Colleges. Who are these obscure teams that play college basketball? During this process, it came to our attention that many schools have strange names, and we set out to choose the strangest. Sometimes, though, those obscure teams can represent real betting value because though the public doesnt know a lot about them or care they are actually a solid team. 1 Les entraneurs de l'OM et du PSG au 21e sicle 2 2022 World Cup Stars 3 NBA Logic Puzzle 2.0 4 NFL 2020 Free Agency Chain Game . What is known is that the Youngstown basketball team was in West Virginia playing a game on a cold and snowy day in January of 1933. But football is not the only thing this university has been successful at. You may not associate Ohio with penguins, but perhaps back when Youngstown State University was founded in 1908, Ohio was much colder. 1) lays it out simply: "The ball shall be spherical. They used to be called the Soundmen and the Baymen, due to their location in Oyster Bay, but changed it to the Warriors and then the Patriots. big name scamdicappers. Originally, this team was called the "Fighting Teachers," as Indiana State was once just called Indiana State Teachers College. 9. With all the camels living in the United States, it's surprising that Campbell University is the only school in the country to adopt the camel for the branding of its athletic programs. By 1915, it made it onto the seal, but it wasn't until after World War II, when the Texas horned lizard popped up everywhere. For Texas Christian University, the Horned Frog name and mascot date back to the 1800s. With the college basketball world full of basic bulldogs and every kind of wolf, it's refreshing to see a mysterious foreign canine as the mascot of Southern Illinois. At least six members must sponsor five women's sports other than basketball, including two other team sports. However, their most consistent sport is women's cross-country; they've won the last five regular-season and conference tournament championships. While hosiery may seem a rather strange inspiration for a team name, it turns out this it's actually pretty spot on. These are but a few common team names in the world of collegiate sports. Spherical shall be defined as a round body whose surface at all . This is another case of a cool-looking mascot making up for a peculiar nickname. "Golden Tornadoes" might be a more apt name for Tulsa's sports teams, but Golden Hurricane is definitely unique. They also won the NCAA Championship in 1984.. Ryan told Adidas, his school's former sponsor, that he wanted to make his own deal to use a Sterling ball at Wisconsin, and the apparel company gave him the green light. Northern Arizona boasts a huge timber dome, the Walkup Skydomethat's used for football and basketball. Language. In 1917, the fans were complaining about the backboards blocking the view, so Indiana became the first school and facility to use glass backboards. Connecticut Huskies Rhode Island . The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as. At the heart of Dartmouth's picture-perfect New England campus is a big town or village green (see it here). As with many elements of college basketball, the lack of a standard ball for the regular season -- or a coherent rule around it -- is a conversation that begins with coaches and revolves around business. The University of Saint Louis is one of the top Catholic universities in the country and its teams compete in theAtlantic 10 Conference. (8-2, 0-0) 43. A [ edit] AB-AD [ edit] Even some of Beilein's former players didn't care for The Rock, though Michigan evolved into a national title contender that finished in the top 50 in field goal percentage inside the arc in seven of Beilein's last nine years with the program. When Michigan signed a new deal with Nike in 2016, the apparel giant asked the Wolverines to discontinue use of The Rock and placed language in Michigan's contract that compels the school to use a Nike ball at home. And while the Billiken fad was short-lived, the Billiken name has been with Saint Louis University's athletic teams for over 100 years now. The Hoosiers boast an interlocking I and U, and they don't even have a mascot. You see, the university is part of the Diocese of Hartford, and the word "hart" according to Webster's Dictionary, means "a male of the European red deer, stag.". Of course the Saint Louis University Billikens had to make this list of strange team names and mascots. Because Stetsonswere a type of hat that people wore in theOld West, and their name is called the Hatters. Chanticleers are roosters, but as you can see from the logo, a Coastal Carolina Chanticleer is much more than that. One might have pictured the Blue Stockings of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a group of intellectual women whose name most likely referred to the woolen worsted stockings associated with their informal attire. The Shockers are a member of the NCAAAmerican Athletic Conference. Fun fact: Their baseball stadium is named after Stony Brook alumni and current Texas Ranger pitcher Joe Nathan, who donated $500,000 to renovate the field. "The Rock," Baylor's Scott Drew said. The Billiken, according tothe SLU website, was made famous by illustrator Florence Pretz in the first decade of the 20th century. The Stetson cowboy hat was originally manufactured by John B. Stetson, the first benefactor of Stetson University. ASU ranks as one of the top colleges in the mountain states, and the school competes in the NCAAPAC 12 Conference. During the 2011-12 season, Novak made 28.3% of his 3-point attempts at home and 53.7% of his 3-point attempts on the road, per ESPN Stats & Info. "I was lukewarm on The Rock," Novak said. The Wildcats sat at 10-13 on Feb. 4 . Then again, the whole sock theme has worked for Boston and Chicago, so maybe Blue Hose will be a worthwhile nickname. Dartmouth, one of the oldest colleges in the country, has never been able to settle on a mascot and consequently has none. Basketball Injury Report, College 1,208 times. Basketball Notches Men and Women Doubleheader Wins Over Trade Tech. For the naysayers who think that a broccoli mascot lacks the ability to evoke fear in a rival team, you could visit any school and witness how the students avoid broccoli almost religiously. It's a big deal, but at the same time, it is what it is. M ore than 23 years ago, a pair of low-profile junior college basketball teams played a forgotten game on a neutral floor in southeast North Dakota. Pomona is a small private not-for-profit school . A shock is a bundle of grain stacked in a field for drying. Does the brand of basketball really matter? Ah, the Stony Brook Seawolves. But we've got to buy all these balls and buy about six of them. Still, you'll find that your computer puts red squiggles under the word seawolf, and even the teams that have the mascot don't agree on what it is. Since it's founding in 1869, the university has educated students with working-class backgrounds for utilitarian careers, a practice the school continues today with its many strengths in engineering and other professional fields. When Roy Williams goes to Cameron Indoor Stadium, his North Carolina team must use whatever basketballs Mike Krzyzewski has selected for that edition of the UNC-Duke rivalry. Whatever the case, Cornell University has been around for nearly 150 years and still does not have an official mascot or team name. The school is located in Buies Creek, North Carolina, an area that must be overrun with wild camels. And once Minnesota became the Gopher State, it didn't take long for the University of Minnesota athletic teams to become the Gophers. If you think the kangaroo makes for a rather lame mascot, you've obviously never been kicked by one. The college basketball game to watch on Thursday evening? He donated $110 million back in the late 1990s to build an arena for the university, but only on the condition that the name was kept indefinitely. Golden Flashes? Basketball Matchup Stats, College Value. . And if you need a mascot, how about Ace Purple, a riverboat gambler from the turn of the twentieth century? For something that's supposed to be a big stalk of wheat, that's pretty impressive. The consensus: Coaches and players dislike it. Some NCAA conferences are so obscure that the only time we hear about them each year is when the winner of the conference loses to a number one seed by 40. . 1 CCNY Beavers - 1950 The Beavers are so obscure that they aren't even in D1 anymore and instead play at a DII level today. Tigers was the right call for another 46 schools and Bulldogs fit for 40. The Ohio State University's Buckeye moniker is better known than most on this list, but that doesn't mean it isn't strange. Facing Indiana? There's a team's KPI . Look at how they have performed against teams you do know Trying to draw meaning from looking back at a basketball game between two obscure teams is mostly useless because you lack context to make what you learn relevant. Of course the Saint Louis University Billikens had to make this list of strange team names and mascots. 8. Anyway, as for its athletic department, it's been decent over the past decade. What's the reason for it? The "Tar Heel" moniker was derived from the tar and turpentine in North Carolina pine forests that was a major export centuries ago. Photo circa 1972, by Associated Students of UCLA, 1972 Southern Campus (UCLA yearbook), courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. It's certainly an interesting team name to say the least. In spite of those sentiments, don't expect coaches to disregard anything that might give them even a minor advantage over their contemporaries. The Rock, the bulk of people interviewed by ESPN suggested, has a harder exterior than other basketballs, which gives it a different feel than that of the other brands used in the sport. Arizona and Texas aren't the first states that come to mind, when you hear the word "Lumberjacks." Filecoin Network; Filecoin Foundation Wagertalk's expert handicappers offer 100% free college basketball picks - get full game previews and picks to help your college basketball betting stats. It may also have one of the most freaky, yet most intimidating mascots in Division 1, with WuShock. If it's simply someone who makes boilers, well, that's a rather unglamorous team image. The team had no name and the uniforms were red, so in a moment of enlightenment he called it "the big, red team." Men & Women. The Billiken is by far one of the wackiest names and mascots in college basketball. Offensive efficiency tells you if the team is talented and efficient. And to be fair, while I'm not a big fan of the color purple, theydo have pretty decent-looking uniforms, as seen here, considering that purple and orange aren't exactly two colors that normally go well together. Like many universities, Arizona State has no idea who came up with the name of its athletic teams, which is clear evidence that more people need to major in history. Early in the state's history, opponents of calling Minnesota the Gopher State argued that gophers were too lowly, insignificant, and destructive to represent the state. The team got its name in 1907 during a game against Auburn played in a sea of mud in which Alabama held its own against Auburn, a team expected to crush themAlabama's school colors, crimson and white, also played a role in the cultivation of the new name. Trying to draw meaning from looking back at a basketball game . During his time at Wisconsin, Bo Ryan amassed a 223-27 record at home and a 91-76 record on the road. Every so often, though, those teams play games against higher profile teams are we have to handicap them. It's not entirely clear whether Stony Brook is worthy of inclusion on this list since the Seawolf really isn't a unique mascot. Northwestern and Maryland use balls provided by Under Armour, their apparel manufacturer. What's important is that the change was made. NCAA School. You can get far more meaning from looking at how the team has performed against teams against which you have at least a passing familiarity of. I get it. Northern Arizona's team name isn't too bizarre, but it is quite uncommon. Chanticleer is a rooster in the Nun's Priest's Tale of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. "It can get weird sometimes, just making the adjustment," Michigan State All-America guard Cassius Winston said before the season. Canisius College's fantasy creature seems like it would be the ultimate predator, but the basketball team hasn't been so threatening; it's 1-15 in the MAAC. Youngstown State does have the honor of being the only Division I team to have the Penguins moniker. "It was a rock.". Pomona College landed the #17 spot on the 2021 Best Colleges for Men's Basketball in California ranking. Team of the Week: Villanova Wildcats It's taken three months longer than expected, but Villanova is rounding into form as it enters the Big East tournament. 2. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Their current mascot is a wolf, but I guess the "St. Bonaventure Wolves" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. federal, or local laws is prohibited. Over the past two decades, the university has done well in both men's and women's lacrosse, ice hockey, rowing, track and field andcross country. 3. First, the mascot came from a 1923 write-up after Wake Forest beat rival school Trinity (now Duke University), when the editor of the paper referred to the football team as the Demon Deacons for their devilish play. On a side note, UC Santa Barbara is the alma mater of former L.A. Laker and three-time NBA champion Brian Shaw. After shutting out rival Wabash College 44-0, the local paper headline the game, "Slaughter of Innocents: Wabash Snowed Completely Under by the Burly Boiler Makers from Purdue.". There are so many college basketball teams and conferences out there that we cant possibly keep track of them all. Its athletic teams compete in theAtlantic Coast Conference. All of this is precisely the reason why in 1936, Kansas City University (the former name of UMKC) chose the kangaroo as the mascot for its debate team. Basketball Spreads, College The athletic teams compete in the NCAABig Ten Conference. As for athletic performances, Iona has been a top men's cross country team in the nation over the last decade. Forums can be frustrating because of the people on them and the crap they like to talk about, but if you can stand to wade through all of that then you can often pick out a few nuggets that can be very helpful. Theyaverage more than 20,000 people at their home games. The school's mascot is called Super Frog, and he's one of the spookiest-looking amphibians I've ever seen. They regularly get blown out by 40, 50+ points. Like me, you're probably wondering what a billiken is? "I understand why it happens with some different sponsorships, but I would like to see a standard ball. "See, I do think it makes a difference," Self said. The Demon Deacon mascot is a distinguished yet peculiar fellow who sports a top hat and a bow tie, which gives him major style points in my book. 16,643: 4.47: Sports: Dec 17, 2019: College Sports Trios I . College Basketball - Today's Free Picks What in the world is a "Gaucho"? If a conference officially sponsors an NCAA "emerging sport" for women (as of 2020, acrobatics . Their men's hockey team makes it to the postseason every four years, with appearances in 2000, 2004 and 2008 (maybe 2012 is their year again?). As a Quinnipiac student and sports journalist, I get to see Fairfield in a variety of sports over the course of the school year. Apparantly, this univesity in Indiana thought that just being called the Aces wasn't enough, they had to incorporate a color with it.