The Big Ten has some of the best mascots in all of college athletics. There's not another conference that can hold a candle to what the Big Ten is throwing out there. However, when breaking down the conference, things get a bit more dicey. To come up with an accurate breakdown, you need a ranking system that gives weight to specific categories. It can't just be arbitrary. "I like this one because he's cute." Like your little sister picking a fantasy football team.
The mascot rankings below come with a heavily graded system of fierceness (but won't scare a child), name, iconicness, and costume. Each is scaled from 1 (bad) to 10 (great). Then the score will be added up, and the final result will be posted and determine the ranking. Obviously, inside each of the categories, there is some arbitrary thinking, but feel free to argue with the screen while you go through it.
18. Michigan Wolverines
Mascot: None
Score: 0/10
The Wolverines get the lowest ranking, as they don't have an official mascot and yet have an easy mascot to make. It's an animal; what are you doing?! If Ohio State can make a mascot out of a plant, Michigan can definitely make a mascot out of an actual fierce creature.
17. Indiana Hoosiers
Mascot: None
Score: 0/10
The Hoosiers also don't have a mascot but get ranked a little higher than the Wolverines because a Hoosier is a hard mascot to make. It didn't stop Purdue, but still, it's better than Michigan's excuse.
16. Illinois Fighting Illini
Mascot: None
Unofficial Mascot: Kingfisher
Score: 0/10*
The Illini also don't have an official mascot, though; they did at one point. Chief Illiniwek was the mascot until 2007, when, for obvious reasons, it was retired. However, there's been a big movement to bring in a new mascot, and the students have even voted for Kingfisher and "King's Guard"; a registered student organization made a costume, and the mascot has been popping up around campus at events.
There's no official mascot, so there's yet to be an official score, but Illinois gets props for trying and comes in at No. 16.
15. Penn State Nittany Lions
Mascot: Nittany Lion
Fierceness: 3/10
Name: 2/10
Iconic: 6/10
Costume: 1/10
Score: 12/40
The Nittany Lion doesn't have a good name or costume, and it's got a look like a costume you'd find at a 1970's thrift store. The only thing working for it is that it's relatively iconic. This may be more due to the state of the program than anything the mascot has done, though. Overall, it gets a 3.3 out of 10.
14. Northwestern Wildcats
Mascot: Willie the Wildcat
Fierceness: 2/10
Name: 5/10
Iconic: 2/10
Costume: 4/10
Score: 13
Northwestern's mascot isn't fierce-looking, but it is modern-looking and has a fun look to it. The name is also pretty good, as it matches Wildcat well. However, overall, it leaves a lot to be desired.
13. Minnesota Golden Gophers
Mascot: Goldy Gopher
Fierceness: 1/10
Name: 5/10
Iconic: 3/10
Costume: 5/10
Score: 14
Yes, this is a Badger site, so no one will be overly surprised to see this low on the scores. The biggest problem with Goldy is that he looks like a character at a budget theme park more than a college mascot. The name is pretty good; it has a play on the actual mascot name, and the costume is interchangeable with sports, which is important.
12. UCLA Bruins
Mascot: Joe Bruin
Fierceness: 3/10
Name: 4/10
Iconic: 3/10
Costume: 5/10
Score: 15
Joe Bruin is the first of the new Big Ten schools to be included. Respect to the costume designers on this one because it easily could have looked like a giant teddy bear, but it doesn't. The head has some seriousness to it but without scaring children. The name is solid but not amazing.
11. Purdue Boilermakers
Mascot: Purdue Pete
Fierceness: 4/10
Name: 5/10
Iconic: 6/10
Costume: 1/10
Score: 16
Purdue Pete is pretty iconic, especially inside the Big Ten. The hard part with grading Pete is that the costume is literally just a head. And the head itself is a bit creepy with the huge eyes that seem to never blink (because they never do).
10. Washington Huskies
Mascot: Harry the Husky
Fierceness: 4/10
Name: 5/10
Iconic: 4/10
Costume: 5/10
Score: 18
Harry the Husky is an interesting addition to the Big Ten mascot list. He's got a great name for a mascot and has a little bit of iconicness, but not a lot. The costume gets a bonus point because the Husky looks like a Husky and the arms and legs also have fur.
9. USC Trojans
Mascot: Tommy Trojan
Fierceness: 7/10
Name: 2/10
Iconic: 4/10
Costume: 6/10
Score: 19
The costume is outrageous in all the right ways. The name is terrible, though; it's not even a Trojan-sounding name. Rutgers leaned into the mascot name; USC did not.
8. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Mascot: Sir Henry the Scarlet Knight
Fierceness: 7/10
Name: 7/10
Iconic: 2/10
Costume: 4/10
Score: 20
Rutgers did a better job with the name than USC. The Scarlet Knights leaned all the way in to the name. Gave the mascot a sword and really turned up the volume. It’s not a perfect costume, but it gets decent scores.
7. Nebraska Cornhuskers
Mascot: Herbie Husker
Fierceness: 5/10
Name: 7/10
Iconic: 4/10
Costume: 5/10
Score: 21
The fierceness score may seem high until you realize he sometimes has pistols. He also has some muscles thrown into the costume. The name is great, one of the best in all the Big Ten.
5. Iowa Hawkeyes
Mascot: Herky the Hawk
Fierceness: 9/10
Name: 6/10
Iconic: 2/10
Costume: 5/10
Score: 22
Herky scored high overall because he’s one of the fiercest-looking mascots. The name is also pretty great.
4. Oregon Ducks
Mascot: Puddles (The Oregon Duck)
Fierceness: 2/10
Name: 4/10
Iconic: 10/10
Costume: 7/10
Score: 23
The Oregon Duck may be the most iconic mascot in all of college sports. The antics are insane. Not fierce at all, more like goofy, but as far as mascots go, it’s pretty top tier.
3. Ohio State Buckeyes
Mascot: Brutus the Buckeye
Fierceness: 4/10
Name: 6/10
Iconic: 10/10
Costume: 5/10
Score: 25
Somehow Ohio State took a plant and made it a mascot. An iconic mascot. Hats off to that.
2. Wisconsin Badgers
Mascot: Bucky Badger
Fierceness: 5/10
Name: 9/10
Iconic: 8/10
Costume: 6/10
Score: 28
Biased? Yes. But Bucky is in the mascot hall of fame. Iconic, a costume that is versatile across sports, and still has a taste of fierceness to the look. Wisconsin has a good one.
1. Michigan State Spartans
Mascot: Sparty
Fierceness: 9/10
Name: 7/10
Iconic: 9/10
Costume: 8/10
Score: 33
The top mascot costume in the business. Fierce but doesn’t scare the kids, iconic, and the costume goes all out. Compare this costume with either USC or Rutgers, and you see how much more Michigan State put into it. It’s incredible.
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