With the Big Sky Conference mascot challenge coming to an end, it only felt right to rank them before the championship. Joe Vandal, University of Idaho, and Monte, University of Montana, are going head-to-head via Twitter poll to see who the best mascot in the conference is. Although only 10 teams are permanent staples in the Big Sky, 12 participate in football, so UC Davis and Cal Poly will be included in this list.
- Joe Vandal | University of Idaho
Bias may play a part here, but Joe is easily the best mascot in the conference. When “Joe the Vandal” made his first appearance in the late 1950’s, history was made as the University of Idaho became the only college to be known as the Vandals. Despite some inflatable issues in the 2000’s, Joe has continued to be a staple in the world of college sports and could come out as number one in the Big Sky mascot challenge.
- Champ | Montana State University
Although Champ finished slightly behind Monte in the mascot challenge, he pulls ahead in this ranking. Champ is the better-looking mascot, and his name exudes success. Pat McAfee also wore the mascot head during ESPN Game Day’s visit to Big Sky Country.
- Monte | University of Montana
Monte was the first mascot I ever got to meet. He came to Fergus High School in Lewistown, Montana when I was a kid and did some flips. It was cool to see, and although the two-time “Mascot of the Year” might be one of the most athletic in the Big Sky, he doesn’t really give off grizzly bear vibes.
- Swoop | Eastern Washington University
Picking a top three was easy, but four through 10 is much more difficult. Swoop was dominated by Joe Vandal in the semi-finals, but the eagle would be a solid opponent against any other Big Sky mascot. He also looks well put together, something that some of the other mascots can’t say.
- Victor E. Viking | Portland State University
By some miracle, Victor E. Viking lost to Louie in round one of the mascot challenge. There are two Victors shown on Google image search, one with a white beard and one with a brown beard. Although the white beard looks better than the brown one, Victor would land at five even without a super cool beard.
- Herky the Hornet | Sacramento State University
The only reason Herky fell below Victor is because of the first image that shows up when “Sac state mascot name” is entered into Google. There are many other great photos of Herky, but the pose with balloons is off putting. On top of that the first image on the actual image search section is of an old Herky, and that one is terrifying.
- Musty the Mustang | Cal Poly
If other full-time Big Sky mascots looked slightly better, Cal Poly may have fallen. Despite the terrible name, the mustang looks kind of cool. With a slight name change to something less terrible, the Cal Poly mascot could possibly move up a spot.
- Klaws | University of Northern Colorado
Unlike Musty, Klaws falls here because of his looks. He has arguably the coolest name in the Big Sky, but there has to be a better way to make a bear costume. Klaws has a name that says “ROAR,” but sounds like “rawr.”
- Gunrock | UC Davis
The number nine spot was a toss-up between three mascots, but ultimately, the horse from the Denver Airport took it. Gunrock looks like he belongs at Boise State, but alas, he lives in California. There’s also a chance that Gunrock becomes a cow if students get their way (if that happens, and the mascot looks cool, UC Davis could jump up a few spots).
- Waldo the Wildcat | Weber State
Ten and 11 could swap places, but I’m still salty about Idaho State taking King Spud (they also definitely lost the original, so they should be happy that they’re even on the list), so Waldo lands this spot. There isn’t much to say about Waldo, other than the fact that he’s mangy and needs a haircut. At least the current version of Waldo looks better than the previous one.
- Benny the Bengal | Idaho State University
This mascot is a monstrosity. In fact, it’s so bad that Joe Vandal is the fifth photo in the Google image section when searching “Idaho State mascot name.” The tenth photo is of a beaver in a Vandal jersey, which is from an article written in the Boise Times. However, that article calls the Vandals the “Idaho State Vandals,” so it makes a bit more sense.
- Louie the Lumberjack | Northern Arizona University
I hate this mascot. While Louie doesn’t look worse than Benny or Waldo, he looks sadder than EWU fans when Oakland Fort sent the Eagles home from the Big Sky men’s basketball tournament. Also, sorry to any lumberjacks named Louie, but Louie doesn’t strike me as a Lumberjack name. On top of all that, his axe looks blunt, and his crocheted beanie doesn’t fit. If NAU were to go back in time and keep 2004 Louie, or even 2010 Louie, they might have landed further up on the list.
All in all, the enjoyment of mascots is subjective. Louie beat Victor in round one of the Twitter polls and kept it close with Champ in round two. Although I put Joe first and Louie last, other people could switch the two around (I don’t know why they would, but they could). Montana fans would probably always put Monte on top, especially since the two mascots placed above them on this list handed them a couple of embarrassing losses last season. Each of these mascots have their own quirks, but in the end, Joe is always number one.
James Taurman-Aldrich can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @jamesaldrich25