The 13 Most Unhinged Mascots In College Sports

When it comes to College Sports we love an unhinged mascot. And throughout the NCAA there is no shortage of bizarre and weird mascots to entertain us.

Below, we have the 13 weirdest mascots in college sports. In some cases, it is the current mascot’s predecessor that steals the headline but you get the point.

There are over 350 mascots in College Sports. Among them are some very ordinary and perfectly reasonable mascots, animals in costume, etc. Then there are unhinged mascots that defy explanation.

Today we are checking out the 13 weirdest mascots in College Sports from the Stanford Tree (first up) to Big and Lil’ Red, and every other weirdo mascot in between.

1. The Stanford Tree, Stanford University

Technically, the Stanford Tree is the Stanford Band’s mascot and not the official school mascot but that’s neither here nor there. He is, easily, the most chaotically designed tree in sports. Are there are lot of tree mascots? No. But that’s because the Stanford Tree is so perfect nobody else bothers to compete.

2. Sammy the Slug, UCSC

Sammy the Slug is the mascot for the University of California–Santa Cruz, and is based on the banana slugs found throughout the Redwood forests of Northern California. Sammy is legitimately creepy and for that reason we love him. This slug has more character than 99% of the other college mascots in existence.

3. Lil' Red, University of Nebraska

The University of Nebraska’s iconic Lil’ Red mascot was inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2007. The inflatable suit mascot depicts a boy with a kicked back hat in a style you’d see in 1997. He is said to have been born on January 1, 1994 which was fortuitous because the Cornhuskers went 13-0 in the 1994 season and won the National Championship after beating the Miami Hurricanes 24-17 at the Orange Bowl in what was a virtual home game for Miami. A huge win for Nebraska and this creepy anthropomorphic mascot.

4. Big Red, Western Kentucky University

We couldn’t have Lil’ Red on here without also including Western Kentucky University’s Big Red. BR debuted in October 1979 and has been a fixture on the mascot scene ever since, being inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2007. Big Red is said to be an asexal, non-human, non-animal figure. Essentially, he is a red blob with eyes and we love him.

5. Hoosier the Bison, Indiana University

Hoosier the Bison will make its first appearance on the sidelines since 1969 thanks to a “Bring Back the Bison Act” passed by the student body in December of 2024. The bison, seen on the Indiana state seal, symbolizes the nation’s expansion west. It’s expected to see a modern revamp from its previous look that many found quite disturbing.

READ NEXT: Hoosier the Bison’s Triumphant Return

6. Scratch the Bobcat, University of Kentucky

The University of Kentucky used to keep a live bobcat back in the 1920s and 1930s as the school’s awesome mascot. That live bobcat was aptly named ‘Fuzzy’ and fed on live animals as bobcats are apt to do. They replaced it with Scratch who is a costumed bobcat that lacks the je ne sais quoi of a live animal mascot but the energy Scratch brings is unmatched.

7. Otto the Orange, Syracuse University

Otto the Orange, another Mascot Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2023), has virtually no reason to be in Syracuse other than the athletic department’s nickname of Syracuse Orange. Is it a citrus hot spot? Absolutely not. Did that stop Syracuse from adopting a huge orange with a face across the middle and a Syracuse hat on top as its mascot? It did not. Otto the Orange has been around since 1980 and is one of the original weirdo mascots in college sports and we love him for it.

8. WuShock, Wichita State University

If you saw WuShock on the street it wouldn’t be unreasonable to cross the road, he’s that weird. He is described as a “big, bad, muscle-bound bundle of wheat” which is a perfectly normal thing for a mascot to be, right?? His face, the hair. It all looks like something out of a centuries-old German fairy tale used to scare children.

9. Una and Leo, University of Northern Alabama

Keeping live lions as mascots is quite odd but Una and Leo were legitimate celebrities at the University of Northern Alabama and were treated as such. Sadly, Leo the Third passed away last year and there are currently no live lions at UNA, only the cartoonish costumed version but the school’s history of live lion mascots dates back to April 14, 1973 when Lion I was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and that ushered in a line of live lion mascots up through 2024 when Leo III passed away… The point being, keeping live lion mascots in Alabama, awesome as it is, is certainly unhinged.

10. Scrotie, Rhode Island School of Design

Scrotie resides in Providence, Rhode Island and is an anthropomorphic mascot that debuted in 2001 to hype up RISD’s men’s hockey team which is affectionately known as the Nads. For obvious reasons, Scrotie could not be reached for comment here but rest assured it is as weird of a mascot as exists anywhere in College Sports.

11. Brutus Buckeye, Ohio State University

If someone pulled you off the street and asked you what Brutus Buckeye was, would you know the answer? Most would say that he’s the Ohio State University Buckeyes’ mascot and leave it at that. But Brutus is an actual buckeye nut that walks, talks, and gets the fans hyped on the sidelines for every game. His huge buckeye nut head is adorned with a tiny hat and classic uniform. Some could make the case that he is the most recognizable mascot in all of sports. What do you think?

12. Pistol Pete, Oklahoma State University

Oklahoma State’s Pistol Pete mascot was modeled after Frank B. ‘Pistol Pete’ Eaton who was a U.S. Deputy Marshal famous for defeating cavalry shooters at Fort Gibson, Oklahoma in an incident that earned him that nickname. Pistol Pete, rocks, let’s be clear about that. But the line between real life and cartoonish is too blurred with Pistol Pete and the end result is a mascot that looks like it would be used to scare kids at a mall in the 1980s.

13. Billiken, Saint Louis University (SLU)

In front of the Chaifetz Arena on the Saint Louis University Campus, there sits a bronze statue of Billiken the mascot who gained fame as he’s said to have resembled the school’s coach John R. Bender who coached in the early 1900s. At its core, Billiken is a charm doll. Nuff said? A mascot modeled after a charm doll? Surely that’s creepy enough to warrant a spot on this list.