Worst College Nicknames

In Division One college basketball, team nicknames help shape the identity of the university. While names like bulldogs, eagles, and tigers are popular, each university makes it their own. Other less popular names like the Leopards, Bearcats, and Buccaneers still are intimidating to opposing teams. Then there are the others. Here is a countdown of the 10 worst names in D1 college basketball.  

10. Manhattan Jaspers- Manhattan decided to name their teams after the priest who brought baseball to the college in the 1800’s. While it is great that Manhattan decided to honor a person so important to the college’s history, the name Jasper is really not one of the most intimidating first names out there.

9. UC Irvine Anteaters- When you think of intimidating animals you probably think of animals such as sharks, alligators, lions and tigers; I bet the anteater is not high up on that list. UC Irvine’s students picked this name for the university over 50 years ago, and hey if your team is named the Ants this team is probably scary as hell.  

8. Nebraska Cornhuskers- Two things that the state of Nebraska is known for are having great football (they have won five national titles) and corn. For some reason the University of Nebraska decided to have their teams be named after a person that peels apart corn. So if your team has some unhusked corn, watch out because they are coming for you. 

7. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers- When I searched Chanticleer on Wikipedia, it told me that a Chanticleer was a rooster that appeared in old fables about a fox. If you are going to name your team after a fable about a fox, why don’t you at least name your team the foxes! I’d take a fox over a rooster in any fight any day.

6. Wichita State Shockers- Nothing says intimidating like a bushel of wheat. The name shockers were given to the university because most students used to make money shocking or harvesting wheat back in the early 1900’s. While the name “shockers” isn’t too bad, when you see their wheat mascot running at you, you will probably be more eager to laugh than cry. 

5. St. Louis Billikens- What actually is a Billiken? Well apparently many people said that an old football coach was said to have looked like a Billiken charm doll. The name stuck and the school’s sports teams were named after that Billiken doll. So to make a long story short St. Louis is named after a doll, I’ll just leave it at that.

4. Stetson Hatters- Stetson University was named after the creator of the Stetson hat. The hat is very popular in the southwest, but not very in Florida where this university is located. Just because the university was named after the guy, does your nickname have to be too? I can think of thousands of names that are better than someone who wears hats.

  

3. Austin Peay Governors- If every college basketball game turned into a political debate Austin Peay would be undefeated. Yes Austin Peay was named after the governor of the same name, but why did the nickname have to be about him too? I think it’s good enough that you named a university after the guy without having to waste your nickname on something boring and unintimidating. 

2. Penn Quakers- Anyone who has taken an US history class will know why the University of Pennsylvania has named their team the Quakers, but that doesn’t excuse them from their choice. The Quakers were not an intimidating bunch back in the revolution, so what would make you think they could be intimidating now? Penn is a very smart school, so they should have the brains to think of a better name for their team.  

1. Presbyterian Blue Hose- And topping off the list of worst names is the Presbyterian Blue Hose. When I hear the name Blue Hose the first thing I think of is a garden hose (which I’ve never seen a blue one of), and honestly there is nothing less intimidating than a garden hose. Apparently the name was given to them in the early 1900’s after their football team was always seen wearing blue stockings. I stand corrected; socks are less intimidating than a hose. It really cannot get much worse than this.