Sports Illustrated is celebrating college football's 150th season by ranking the top 10 all-time greatest mascots, so we wanted to highlight the real-life animals that made the list. Ralphie, the buffalo, is my fave mascot. I'm sorry that I didn't pick one of the dogs on the real-life animal list but watching Ralphie in the stadium must be amazing.
There are four total real-life animals that made the Sports Illustrated list!
University of Georgia's bulldog is in the first place.
1. University of Georgia's: 'Uga' the bulldog ranked #1
Georgia's line of pure white English bulldogs has been a staple of mascot history since 1956. Wow!
2. University of Texas: Bevo the Longhorn ranked #4
The live longhorn bull Bevo first appeared at a homecoming celebration on Thanksgiving Day 1916. Sports Illustrated tells us that Bevo typically hangs out calmly during the game.
3. University of Colorado: Ralphie the Buffalo ranked #6
There is a program of handlers with its own coaching staff to make sure students are safe when handling Ralpie. Ralphie weighs 1,200 pounds!
4. University of Tennessee: Smokey the Coonhound ranked #10
UT students chose a bluetick coonhound named Smokey as UT's mascot during halftime of the Vol football vs. Mississippi State game on Sept. 26, 1953. He's been every Vol's best friend ever since!
Costumed mascots are also included in the SI article and the list of top ten if you want to check it out! University of Oregon's mascot made the list of course. We love those Ducks!
The tree also made the list which is Stanford University's mascot and honestly, it's hilarious.
If you think your college mascot should have made the list of best mascots let us know!
Did your mascot make the list? Please leave a comment below.
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