What’s in a name?

The SEC has some of the most unique names in all of college sports — and several others shared by schools around the country. Let’s delve into those mascots and nicknames and see where they come from.

Alabama Crimson Tide

Mascot: Big Al
Origin date: 1930

Alabama has long been referred to by its jersey color, a crimson hue of red, but the team’s mascot is another story. On October 8, 1930, the Atlanta Journal published a story by Everett Strupper in which the writer said the crowd yelled, “Hold your horses, the elephants are coming,” as Alabama’s team stormed onto the field for a game against Ole Miss. Writers continued to use the name “Red Elephants” for the team for the rest of that season. Alabama officially adopted the mascot, known as “Big Al,” in 1979.

Arkansas Razorbacks

Mascot: Tusk
Origin date: 1909

Arkansas was known as the Cardinals until 1909, a reference to the cardinal red the school’s teams wear. However, after a win over LSU in 1909, Arkansas coach Hugo Bezdek said his team played “like a wild band of Razorback hogs.” The following year, the student body voted to adopt the nickname permanently. The school’s live mascot, “Tusk,” made its debut in the 1960s, and the current mascot is Tusk IV, a Russian boar.

Auburn Tigers

Mascot: Aubie
Origin date: 1892

Auburn has been known as the Tigers ever since its first football game in 1892. The nickname is believed to derive from a poem by Oliver Goldsmith, written in 1770, entitled “The Deserted Village.” The school’s student paper, the Auburn Plainsman, may also have gotten its name from the poem. “Aubie,” the costumed mascot, just finished his 34th season on the field.

Auburn is very adamant that the tiger is the school’s only mascot and nickname, differentiating it from the War Eagle battle cry tradition at the school that dates back to either the 1890s or 1910s, depending on the story.

Florida Gators

Mascot: Al
Origin date: 1908

A law student, Austin Miller, went to order some pennants for his dorm room, and realized then that the university did not have a mascot. Miller picked the alligator for his pennants, since he couldn’t think of another school that had the animal as its mascot. The school brought on its first live alligator, “Al,” in 1957, and in 1970 introduced its first costumed mascot. There is also a female version of the costumed Gator, “Alberta.”

Georgia Bulldogs

Mascot: Uga
Origin date: 1894

Georgia’s first mascot was — believe it or not — a goat, and was used for Georgia’s first game in 1892. In 1894, a student brought his female white bull terrier, Trilby (named for a novel by George Du Maurier), to the sidelines for a game, and it served as a campus and fraternity mascot after that. The school didn’t have an official mascot for more than 50 years after that, and according to the university there would often be multiple bulldogs brought by fans at any given game. In 1956, the school officially adopted “Uga,” who is the head of a line of all the white English bulldogs that patrol the sidelines in Athens to this day.

Kentucky Wildcats

Mascot: Scratch
Origin date: 1909

Like Arkansas, Kentucky got its nickname after its football team was described as having “fought like Wildcats” after a 6-2 victory over Illinois on the road. The name picked up popularity and was officially adopted shortly after. UK introduced a costumed mascot in 1976-77; “Scratch” has become one of the most popular costumed mascots in the country.

LSU Tigers

Mascot: Mike
Origin date: 1896

Charles E. Coates, Jr., a dean at LSU and the school’s first football coach, noticed in the late 1800s that his school, unlike many others at the time, did not have a ferocious animal as its mascot, as he said in a letter written in 1937. He thought that LSU’s colors, purple and gold, resembled a tiger closely enough to go with the animal as the mascot, and it was a reference to the name given to all Louisiana troops during the Civil War. In 1936, the university adopted its first live mascot, a bengal tiger adopted from the Little Rock Zoo. The school is now on its sixth iteration of the mascot.

Mississippi State Bulldogs

Mascot: Bully
Origin date: 1935

Up until 1961, Mississippi State was known as the Maroons, a reference to the school’s color. However, Bulldogs had been used as a nickname unofficially for much of the school’s history, used interchangeably with Maroons and Aggies (when the school was known as Mississippi A&M). Bulldogs was officially adopted when Mississippi State was granted university status. In 1935, the Bulldogs brought out their first live mascot, named Ptolemy, and the team beat Alabama shortly after bringing the dog to campus.

Missouri Tigers

Mascot: Truman
Origin date: 1894

Shortly after forming its first football team in 1890, Missouri adopted the tiger as its mascot. The name is a reference to a group of civilians in Columbia, Mo. during the Civil War who, when they were alerted of a potential attack led by a group of guerilla soldiers, fortified the town hall and called themselves the Missouri Tigers, scaring off the would-be attackers. In 1986, the student body voted on the name for the mascot, settling on “Truman” as a reference to Missouri-born United States president Harry S. Truman. The costumed mascot officially made its debut in 1986.

Ole Miss Rebels

Mascot: Rebel Black Bear
Origin date: 2010

For years, Colonel Reb represented Ole Miss. In 2003, the mascot was removed from the sidelines due the racial implications, as either a plantation owner or a Confederate soldier. The school attempted to replace the mascot quickly, but didn’t get much response from students. In 2010, Ole Miss held an election for a new mascot — leaving out the possibility of reinstating Colonel Reb, despite support for that option — with 11 different candidates, including Star Wars character Admiral Ackbar. After an eight-month process, the school selected Rebel Black Bear to represent the university and start a new chapter.

South Carolina Gamecocks

Mascot: Cocky, Sir Big Spur
Origin date: 1900

For its first decade as a football program, South Carolina used a variety of nicknames, but mostly struggled on the field. “Fighting Gamecocks” was first used in 1900, a reference to Revolutionary War hero General Thomas Sumter, a South Carolina native who was called “The Fighting Gamecock.” Big Spur was the first mascot to appear at a game, in 1978, and that bird was succeeded by Cocky at homecoming in 1980. South Carolina also has a live rooster at games named “Sir Big Spur,” originally referred to as “Cocky Doodle Lou.”

Tennessee Volunteers

Mascot: Smokey
Origin date: 1953

The Volunteers, named for the state’s moniker, “the Volunteer State,” have had a live coonhound as a mascot since a poll in 1953 selected the dog to represent the school. The breed was chosen because it is native to Tennessee, and a local reverend’s blue tick coon hound won a competition held by the school’s Pep Club for the first live mascot . The original dog, named “Blue Smokey,” howled loudly when introduced at the selection competition, earning him the win. UT also has male and female costumed versions of Smokey.

Texas A&M Aggies

Mascot: Reveille
Origin date: 1931

The name “Aggies” refers to the “A” in A&M, which stands for “Agricultural and Mechanical.” The Aggies adopted their first live mascot in 1931 through some odd circumstances. A group of cadets traveling back to campus hit a small black and white dog, bringing her back to campus so they could care for her. The dog was named “Reveille” because she would bark every morning when a bugler on campus would play the song. Since 1966, the mascot has been a full-blooded Collie. The dog is the highest-ranking member of the school’s Corps of Cadets, often referred to as “Miss Rev.”

Vanderbilt Commodores

Mascot: Mr. C
Origin date: 1873

Vanderbilt’s sports teams have always been known as the Commodores, a nod to Cornelius Vanderbilt. The shipping and railroad magnate was never a member of the Navy (where the title comes from), but he did donate his largest steamship to the Union troops during the Civil War. The Commodores have a costumed mascot, Mr. C, who is portrayed as a 19th century naval officer.