Hoosier The Bison Joins Colorful Group Of Big Ten Mascots

As mentioned, the original bison was used in the late 1960s, inspired by the bison on the state seal. There was also the unofficial live bulldog mascot, Ox, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. There was also the short-lived and unpopular anthropomorphic Mr. Hoosier Pride, adopted in 1979. With a ten-gallon hat and a Sid and Marty Krofft-like sensibility, he was quickly scrapped.

Iowa

Herky The Hawk has been around since 1959 in anthropomorphic form. Herky was originally drawn as a cartoon in 1948.


This in spite of the fact that Iowa’s nickname has nothing to do with hawks. Hawkeyes relates to the Black Hawk War of 1832 and a nickname given to Iowans that had inspired one of the characters from “Last Of The Mohicans.” Given that, Iowa hasn’t always had a hawk as part of its imagery. In the 1900s, Iowa had a bear named Burch that represented the school.

Maryland

Adopted in 1933, Testudo is a diamondback terrapin. A brass statue of Testudo came first and was subject to pranks by Maryland’s rival schools. He was stolen by Johns Hopkins students in 1947 and when Maryland students went to Baltimore to get Testudo back, 200 police were needed to quell the “disturbance.”


Fraternity members dressed as turtles in the 1950s. Testudo 2 was created in 1965 and was a 15-foot tortoise on wheels! The Testudo we know today began its evolution in the 1980s.

Michigan

Michigan has never had an official mascot, at least not in the modern sense. There was a live wolverine named Biff in the 1920s. He was later joined by Bennie. These live wolverines grew beyond the point where they could be corralled at games, and both were eventually sent to zoos.

In the 1960s, the “Wolverbear” logo was created. Depicted with a sailor hat, you still see the imagery today, but he was never converted into a proper mascot. In the late 1980s, Willy The Wolverine was created by students who ran an Ann Arbor apparel store and he seemed on his way to possible official sanctioning, going so far as to be the grand marshall of Michigan’s 1989 Homecoming parade. But in 1992, the university slapped a cease and desist on Willy and Michigan remains mascot-less.

Michigan State

Sparty is Michigan State’s well-known standard-bearer. Originally the Aggies, Michigan State changed to Spartans in 1925 and a papier-mache Sparty first appeared in 1955. For many years, Sparty was just a fiberglass head with the body of the cheerleader portraying him at normal size. In the mid-1980s, a full-sized Sparty was commissioned, and the modern version of Sparty was unveiled in 1989.

Minnesota

Like Iowa, Minnesota is another school that has an animal nickname not related to the animal. Golden Gophers referred to an 1800s political cartoon that earned Minnesota its nickname as the Gopher State.

Goldy The Gopher was created in the 1940s via cartoon, but more closely resembled a chipmunk. A physical embodiment of Goldy was created in 1952, but until the 1980s, he was more cute than fierce. A buff, combative gopher was first designed in 1985, but with a fiercer look than today’s version.

There was sentiment to tone Goldy’s aggressive look down, including a Save Our Wimp campaign. A year after introduction, Goldy’s brow was altered to make him appear friendlier, and Goldy as we know it today was here to stay. One tradition is Goldy spins his head around for the crowd, the origination of which is a subject for argument.

Nebraska

Herbie Husker dates to the mid-1970s and was officially adopted in 1977. Prior to Herbie, Nebraska attempted several mascots that wore an ear of corn on someone’s head. Corncob Man appeared in the 1950s and 1960s. That later morphed into Harry the Husker, a stylized farmer, but much thinner and frail than today’s Herbie.


When Nebraska associate athletic director Don Bryant saw an unflattering portrayal of Harry in a Big Eight-themed series of cartoons, he commissioned the creation of Herbie Husker, a bulked-up farmer with a smile.

Northwestern

Ahead of the curve, Northwestern created Willie The Wildcat in 1933 in collaboration with an advertising firm. A physical mascot was created in the late 1940s by students and was portrayed by two female students, which caused problems in the all-male football sidelines of the time.

Willie was joined by Winnie The Wildcat for a time in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The modern version of Willie was created in 2007.

Ohio State

A buckeye nut on a human head, Brutus the Buckeye was created in 1965. Like many of his contemporaries, Brutus evolved from papier mache to fiberglass to the foam rubber used today.

Brutus is famous as being the first mascot head worn by Lee Corso on ESPN’s College GameDay show. He was also attacked on the football field by Ohio University mascot Rufus the Bobcat in 2010.

Oregon

Started as a live duck named “Puddles,” the anthropomorphic Oregon duck mascot had an obvious inspiration in Disney’s Donald Duck. A handshake deal with Walt Disney took place in the 1940s, but Disney began to question the arrangement in the 1970s.

In 1973, Disney and the university came to an agreement about using the imagery, but Disney had control over public appearances. That arrangement was amended in 2010, and today’s Oregon Duck is a popular figure in national TV ads and a viral presence on social media.

Penn State

Penn State pioneered the concept of a mascot. A Nittany Lion costume appeared as early as 1921 and took on the appearance of an actual lion, complete with mane. That only lasted a few seasons, but the Nittany Lion returned in 1939, taking on the appearance it has today.

Purdue

Nemesis of Indiana University, Purdue Pete was designed by the University Bookstore in 1940. The origin of the Pete name is unknown.

The physical version of Pete debuted in 1956, and from the beginning, he carried a sledgehammer. There were many iterations of Pete, including one with a square gold hat, and a 47-pound fiberglass head that took on a cartoonish look.

By 1983, a construction hard hat became part of the look and Purdue Pete took on the look he has today. An effort to remake him in 2010 was unpopular, and he was returned to his previous look.

Rutgers

Rutgers once used a chanticleer as a mascot, but in 1955, Rutgers students voted to have a knight mascot. Sir Henry has represented Rutgers in various forms ever since, including a period in the 1980s when he attended football games on horseback.

UCLA

After using dogs in its early days, UCLA settled on the Bruins nickname in 1928. Live bears were used off and on into the 1960s as mascots. The costumed Joe Bruin debuted in 1963 and was soon joined by female mascot Josephine in 1967. Today’s design dates to 1996.

USC

Tommy Trojan is one of the most famous mascots in all of college sports. He is based on an on-campus statue at the Los Angeles school. Until 2013, Tommy was a person dressed in ancient Greek garb. The mascot version didn’t debut until 2013.

Little known is that the official USC mascot is Traveler the Horse, whom Tommy rides into the Los Angeles Coliseum for football games.

Washington

Like a handful of other Division I teams, Washington has both a live and an anthropomorphic mascot. Dubs is a live husky. Harry The Husky is the cartoon-live version. He was introduced in 1995.

Wisconsin

Yet another mascot not related to the animal. Early Wisconsin settlers were lead miners who burrowed their homes underground into the southwest Wisconsin hills. The were nicknamed “badgers” and Wisconsin became the Badger State.

A live badger was used in the early 1940s, but Buckingham U. Badger as a mascot came to be in 1948. Bucky’s look changed through the years. Bucky wore boxing gloves in the 1960s and 1970s. Bucky was also nearly replaced by Henrietta the Holstein in the 1970s. Today’s Bucky came to be by the early 1990s when the “flying W” re-brand took place.