%20%20--%3E%0A%3Csvg%20version%3D%221.1%22%20id%3D%22Layer_1%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20xmlns%3Axlink%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F1999%2Fxlink%22%20x%3D%220px%22%20y%3D%220px%22%0A%09%20width%3D%2239px%22%20height%3D%2240px%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%2039%2040%22%20enable-background%3D%22new%200%200%2039%2040%22%20xml%3Aspace%3D%22preserve%22%3E%0A%3Cpath%20fill%3D%22%23FFFFFF%22%20d%3D%22M38.5%2C7H28.2v26h10.3V7z%22%2F%3E%0A%3Cpath%20fill-rule%3D%22evenodd%22%20clip-rule%3D%22evenodd%22%20fill%3D%22%23FFFFFF%22%20d%3D%22M26.1%2C25.5c0%2C5.8-4.1%2C7.5-12.9%2C7.5C3.9%2C33%2C0%2C31.2%2C0%2C25.2v-1.1h11.6%0A%09v2.4c0%2C0.7%2C0.1%2C1.4%2C1.2%2C1.4c1%2C0%2C1.2-0.4%2C1.2-1.3v-0.9c0-1.6-0.9-1.6-3.5-2.2C2.2%2C21.7%2C0%2C19.7%2C0%2C15.3v-0.9C0%2C9.3%2C5.5%2C7%2C12.9%2C7%0A%09c10.2%2C0%2C12.8%2C2.6%2C12.8%2C7.4v1.8h-11v-2.9c0-0.6-0.4-1.1-1.2-1.1c-0.6%2C0-1.2%2C0.4-1.2%2C1.1v0.9c0%2C1.5%2C0.9%2C2%2C3.3%2C2.5%0A%09c8%2C1.6%2C10.5%2C3.3%2C10.5%2C7.5V25.5z%22%2F%3E%0A%3C%2Fsvg%3E%0A)
Ranking Every Mascot in the 2026 Men’s March Madness Field
In this story:
The year 2026 has been a great year for those who love mascots. The Winter Olympics gave the world Tina and Milo—two cuddly stoats who saw their plush replicas fly off the shelves in Italy and beyond. The World Baseball Classic gave us a wonderful race between anthropomorphic sushi.
Now, the world’s preeminent mascot summit begins. Over the next month in the men’s NCAA tournament, 68 mascots will descend on 14 sites across the United States. They will dance, mug for television cameras, and maybe even fight. The winner will be the viewing public.
Accordingly, Sports Illustrated has decided to rank the mascots in the field for a third straight year, ranging from the detestable to the wonderful. Here they are, with commentary where deemed necessary.
Teams without mascots
Hawai’i and Illinois, for reasons of cultural sensitivity, do not employ school-sanctioned mascots. Michigan, for reasons of “wolverines are legendarily mean animals,” does not have one either—though that hasn’t stopped the Wolverines from trying in the past.
On to the 65.
Mascots of the 2026 men’s NCAA tournament, ranked
Moving the Tiger off of his longstanding last-place position was considered. It really was! And then—another glimpse into his horrid, yellow eyes (“perceived by some as frightening,” per his Wikipedia page, in the understatement of the century). Out of no personal enmity toward Clemson and considerable personal enmity toward its mascot, he stays.
64. Rodney (VCU)
Overrated last year at No. 61—the Rams’ mascot has unnerving facial architecture, caught somewhere near the intersection of Disney and indie horror.
61. Mr. and Mrs. Wuf (NC State)
They’ve declined in stature since checking in at No. 44 in 2024—creepy teeth!—but it is hilarious that Wake Forest’s Demon Deacon married them in 1981.
60. Thundar (North Dakota State)
Viewed head-on like so, it is not immediately clear that he has eyes.
59. TC and TK Panther (Northern Iowa)
57. T-Roy (Troy)
Two notes on the Quaker: a.) on some level, we all know that Lee Corso dressed as Benjamin Franklin on College GameDay is Penn’s true mascot, and b.) it’s a good thing the Quakers don’t use Franklin as a mascot, because Division III Franklin & Marshall has and it’s horrifying.
Thumbs down to his gas-mask like nose, beak and teeth, and thumbs up to this university professor for suggesting he smile more in 2016.
Upstaged in Google searches by Boo Hoo the Bear, the dapper mascot of Queen’s University up in Kingston, Ontario.
52. Kate and Willie Pride (Hofstra)
“You can have two fully fleshed out lion mascots?” Penn State is asking.
51. Victor the Paladin (Furman)
50. Lance the Lancer (California Baptist)
Tie to the more muscular knight.
49. Cy the Cardinal (Iowa State)
Has the same creepy-teeth affliction as Mr. and Mrs. Wuf, but it works because the rest of him is menacing rather than aspiring to be adorable—consistency is key.
46. Spike the Bulldog (Gonzaga)
45. Bernie (Siena)
UAB won the designation of “Fiercest Puppet Facsimile" in 2024. Omaha took the crown in ’25. In ’26, it passes to the Saints.
44. Rocky the Bull (South Florida)
43. Pete and Sasha the Panther (Prairie View A&M)
42. Joe and Josephine Bruin (UCLA)
His mischievous smile and vibe is probably the closest college basketball gets to My Neighbor Totoro.
Strong artistic detail here—the designer clearly gave a hoot.
39. Johnny the Thunderbird (St. John’s)
His aura reeks of Henry VIII, appropriate for a caricature of a Royalist in the English Civil War.
37. Tusk (Arkansas)
His aura just reeks, which gives him a counterintuitive lovability.
35. Rowdy Raider (Wright State)
Please ignore Rowdy for a second and behold this deranged elf/leprechaun/Viking that the Raiders have mercifully sidelined.
Jumped 20 slots year over year—with no warning, his status as a Yosemite Sam quasi-rip-off went from irritating to enduring.
33. Clutch the Mountain Hawk (Lehigh)
Neither the best MAC mascot nor the best Miami mascot, but still a bird John James Audubon could appreciate.
Finley is an impressive mascot for a 2020s debutant—he effectively walks the cuteness/fierceness line, appears carefully designed, and may or may not have some local cache.
30. Shasta (Houston)
29. Mr. Commodore (Vanderbilt)
28. Bucky the Bronco (Santa Clara)
27. Peruna (SMU)
Tie between horses goes to Peruna for being both an anthropomorphic mascot and a live one.
26. True Grit (UMBC)
Every school in Minnesota just kicked itself for not having a mascot that shares a name with a Coen brothers film.
25. Wilbur and Wilma (Arizona)
A frequent presence in the top 30 for his punk-ish look, although he does kind of look like the bull in Guernica from certain angles.
23. Knightro (UCF)
Associated with college football’s nouveau riche to those who grew up in the 2010s—but in basketball we’ll celebrate him for his fearsome look and snazzy cape.
22. Louie the Cardinal (Louisville)
21. SuperFrog (TCU)
His hardened appearance helps him stand out in a crowded amphibian landscape that includes Kermit, Concho, and the TCU-adjacent Hypnotoad.
20. TigerMan (Tennessee State)
19. Truman the Tiger (Missouri)
These, Clemson, are tigers done right.
Fans may not necessarily think of Vandals as an ancient class of people in the vein of Spartans, Trojans and Vikings—but they are! This mascot recognizes that.
15. Big Jay (Kansas)
College basketball’s favorite sheep beats out his anthropomorphic-only counterparts in this battle of three blue bloods.
13. Big Al (Alabama)
In all honesty, the further we get from coach Nick Saban’s reign atop Crimson Tide football, the more sympathetic this pachyderm grows.
11. Brutus Buckeye (Ohio State)
One of college sports’ most iconic mascots returns to the fold after a four-year absence, The anthropomorphic nut has a several strange ancestors and a preposterously entertaining Wikipedia page, which are key ingredients for success in this ranking.
Based on a popular early 20th-century good luck charm (which also names a massive Chicago parade), he’s been streamlined over the years but retains his impish appeal.
What did he do since we last checked in on him? Only pole vault over a flaming bar.
Movie star Uga leads a pack of live dogs that has shrunk considerably year over year. Jonathan leaps into the top 10 on the basis of sheer cuteness, although the Volunteers have a slight edge when factoring in both teams’ anthropomorphic looks.
The highest-ranked human mascot, and indeed the gold standard in that sector.
No mascot in the country has a better origin story. This from Katy Henning of the university website in 2018: “Legend has it, the ibis is the last sign of wildlife to take shelter before a hurricane hits and the first to reappear once the storm has passed.” Let’s not forget he is liable to take up arms to defend his beloved team.
A perennial favorite in this ranking, for her uniqueness—how many other Ohioan kangaroos do you know?—as well as her cuteness and status as a barrier breaker. She could become the third straight mascot from the Buckeye State to top these rankings, surely a sign of that state’s mascot strength and not the author’s heritage. But, as funny as it remains to see her hovering in the background as opponents shoot free throws, she will not reclaim her crown in ’26.
1. Albert and Alberta Alligator (Florida)
Yes, the title of NCAA men’s tournament top banana is heading south this year to the defending national champions.
Albert, as we mentioned in ’24, is the star of possibly the funniest ad in the “This is SportsCenter“ canon. It’s more than that, however. Albert and Alberta embody all that is good about mascots—whimsy, hug-ability, a definite (but not hostile to children) fear factor, an airtight fashion sense built around classic collegiate sweaters, and local ties. Plus, as this February piece by Alabama Weninegar in the Alligator outlines, Albert and Alberta seem to have a healthy platonic friendship in an era of strained gender relations. Clearly, these reptiles are thriving, and for this they deserve our recognition.
More March Madness on Sports Illustrated
Listen to SI’s college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s YouTube channel.
Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .