64 Mascots ~ College Basketball Mascots

2011 NCAA Final Four Mascots Pictures

Saturday, April 2, 5:09 pm CST

#8 Butler Bulldogs

Costumed Mascot: Hink

Live Mascot: Butler Blue 2 (will attend)

 

#11 Virginia Commonwealth Rams

 Costumed Mascot: Rodney the Ram

Live Mascot: none found

 

 

 

 

Saturday, April 2, 7:49 pm CST

#3 Connecticut Huskies

Costumed Mascot: Jonathan the Husky

Live Mascot: Jonathan the Husky (won't attend)

vs. 

 

 

#4 Kentucky Wildcats

 Costumed Mascot: The Wildcat (not Scratch)

Scratch is the Junior Wildcat Club Mascot 

Live Mascot: Blue, wildcat at Salato Wildlife Center

 

 

 

 

 

 

(The Butler, VCU and UConn pics are affiliate links to Replay Photos.)

Butler Blue 2 - Lift off cleared for Houston

With a win over Florida on Saturday, Butler reserved their spot at the Final Four in Houston. The team will go, but what about Butler Blue 2, their live Bulldog mascot who has not been able to attend the tournament games so far? 

via Twitter, @ButlerBlue2 announced after the game: 

"I am pleased to announce that the NCAA has officially declared me FREE to attend the Final Four in Houston. #freeButlerBlue2 is retired!"

Though he will be there in person,there is also a spiffy Butler Blue 2 mask available to print and wear. (The original Butler Blue 2 masks, sans astronaut helmet, were available in the earlier rounds of the tournament so Butler fans could support their team with Blue's likeness.) 

 

 

Bleacher Report: Power Ranking the Mascots of the 2011 Sweet Sixteen

Vin Getz breaks down the mascots of the 2011 Sweet Sixteen with clever, sometimes informative, write-ups for each one at Bleacher Report.com.

A few tidbits I learned: 

*Disney designed the Hink costume for Butler. Correction: Just found a Butler.edu article that said current Hink cosumes designed by Street Characters. Maybe stolen ones were designed by Disney. 

*The Richmond Spiders got their name from the baseball team's spindly legged pitcher back in 1894. 

Kudos for including the mascot couples: Albert & Alberta Alligator from Florida and Wilbur and Wilma T. Wildcat from Arizona. For whatever reason, the Albert and Wilbur perfrom solo duing basketball games. 

A few oversights: San Diego state recently added a costumed jaguar, Zuma, to add levity to the Aztec Warrior. However, I don't see Zuma on the sidelines during the UCONN game right now. Maybe there's an NCAA rule that allows only one mascot. Goofy NCAA mascot rules. 

Also, from what I understand, Florida State's Chief Osceola only appears at football games. (Can any FSU fans confirm that?) 

 

Student mascots don't fear the cheer - USATODAY.com

WASHINGTON — Mascots can't two-step together at the men's NCAA basketball tournament. So how is it we call this the Big Dance?

via www.usatoday.com

Hink the Bulldog and Roc the Panther were chastised for a mascot dance-off during the Butler v Pittsburg game this past weekend. Not only does Erik Brady's USA Today article recap the rule-breaking, it goes behind the scenes with Hink, Roc and Jonathan the Husky from UConn, giving us a glimpse into mascot life. The reality TV show can't be far behind. 

2011 NCAA Sweet Sixteen Mascots

64mascots.com now has the updated list of pairings for the 2011 Sweet Sixteen Mascots. Here's a quick overview:

One nut

Two wildcats (One team has two cats, so could be three wildcats total.)

Two rams (Though only one team named rams. Hmmm...)

One spider

One Bulldog 

One Husky

Two warriors (One also has a jaguar sidecick.)

One mythical bird (May have a Big and a Baby appear at games.) 

One alligator (They sometimes travel in twos, though.) 

One badger

One eagle

One cougar

One spiritual being

Can you name their respective schools without peeking? 

 

Butler Mascots Video - Hink, Butler Blue 2 with Ron5Robot

Blue2, Hink and Ron5Robot ask, "How ya like me now?" as they prepare to dance.

Who Let the Dogmasks In?

What's up with the Bulldog masks at the Butler vs Old Dominion game? Students of Butler will have these masks supporting Butler Blue 2, their live English Bulldog mascot (not to be confused with Hink, the costumed Bulldog mascot) isn't allowed at the game.

Blue 2 will not be at the game due to an NCAA rule that only allows live mascots at the Final Four, where was he last year when Butler almost beat Duke. Not doubt he will be tweeting  @ButlerBlue2 and posting on his Facebook page during the game. 

 

Butler Blue 2 - Dog Not Gone to the Tournament

Butler's live Bulldog mascot, will not be going to the NCAA Championship tournament 2nd and 3rd round, but that won't stop @ButlerBlue2 from mounting a social media campaigin to #freeButlerBlue2. 

 

UCSB Mascot Ole & His Dancing Shoes

Ole, the UCSB Gaucho mascot didn't waste time utilizing technology to enhance the brand. This short, mildly amusing video was discovered via @UCSBgauchos.  

Between the Gaucho's use of technology and the perceived cool factor of UCSB alum Jim Rome, I can actually think about the Gaucho's without the mental picture of women's pants. Now, that's some marketing. 

From Andy Dolich: Mascots are big business

Dolich: Mascots are big businessMarch 14, 2011DOLICH ARCHIVE

Andy DolichCSNBayArea.com

At the recent National Sports Forum in Louisville, KY, I sat down with David Raymond to talk about the business of Mascots. You may know him from his former day job as the Phillie Phanatic. David came out of his costume a few years ago and moved to the executive suite as head of The Raymond Entertainment Group. His company is one of the leading sports mascot consulting firms in the country. Raymond refers to himself as the “Emperor of Entertainment” and “Mascot Doctor.”

via www.csnbayarea.com

$7,000 - $18,000 for a mascot costume? Wow. They've come a long way since my days of drawing PHS Wildcat whiskers with eyeliner.

This article by Andy Dolich takes a quick look at the business of mascoting, including the best companies that produce mascot costumes and a sidebar with a a few mascot lists.