The DEFINITIVE Big 12 Mascot Ranking List
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FRISCO, TX – One of the things that I have always loved about sports is mascots. I still get that youthful excitement whenever a person in an oversized head walks around and takes pictures.
This week at Big 12 Media Days I took any opportunity and down time to go goof around and take pictures with mascots from around the conference. After all, why let work get in the way of having a good time?
I then decided to make a little game out of it. Who do I think is the best mascot in the Big 12? Of course I’m biased and always pick Pistol Pete above anything else, so rather than just think about the “cool factor,” I decided to come up with three criteria for ranking mascots. Uniqueness, intimidation (likelihood to scare a small child) and recognizability. I didn’t give exact grades, that’s just what went into may rankings.
As the self-proclaimed “dumb things in athletics” expert, this list should be regarded as the final authority on the matter.
TIER 3 – The Less Than Specials
16. Raider Red – Texas Tech
Part of my reason for putting Tech this low is because I stand by Red Raiders is a worse name than the previous moniker of Matadors and it handcuffs the program. Long story short, he looks like a Yosemite Sam with a fake gun in his boot. He also gets overshadowed by the Masked Rider and that hurts the recognizability score. There are some fun things about Texas Tech but Raider Red is not one
15. Swoop – Utah
I understand that tribal and indigenous mascots are taboo so a team like the Utes have to be creative. The red tailed hawk is an important part of tribal culture in Utah and is a fine mascot on its own. The main problem here is that he was the only mascot I didn’t immediately recognize when I saw him in the Star. It didn’t take me long to deduce who he was since I knew the others quickly, but had he just been in a crowd and someone asked me to pick out the Utah mascot, I don’t know that I would immediately land on Swoop.
14. Chip – Colorado
Mascots are supposed to look intimidating in my opinion. Chip looks adorable. Now there’s nothing inherently wrong with an adorable bison, especially if you have young kids who want stuffed animals and things in that realm. Unfortunately nothing about Chip makes me afraid to take the field and play against Colorado. Chip also has the same problems that Raider Red does. When people think about Colorado football one of the first things to come to mind is Ralphie. Ralphie is an incredibly unique part of Buffaloes football and he overshadows Chip. Hard to overcome that.
13. Willie – Kansas State
I used to make fun of the SEC for having multiple teams in the league with the same team name. In 2026 that argument doesn’t stand because the Big 12 has both a pair of cougars and pair of wildcats. Now later in the list there may be some “grading on a curve” with the wildcats and cougars mascots but the weakest of the bunch is Willie at Kansas State. At the end of the day Willie is just a man in a football jersey wearing a cat head. K-State has some of my favorite traditions and uniforms and my favorite logo in the Big 12, but the mascot leaves a lot to be desired.
TIER 2 – The Interchangeables
12. The Bearcat – Cincinnati
I like Cincinnati. I like the town, I like the school, I like Nippert Stadium. With all that being said, the Bearcat doesn’t even have a name. That’s a big strike against him. UC is made up of great people but give the poor man a name. I think because of the color scheme he also gets lost in the crowd, which is a shame for something as unique as a bearcat. There’s potential, it’s just not there yet.
11. Cy – Iowa State
Cy has one fatal flaw to me, and at the end of the day it isn’t his fault. But he’s a cardinal for a team not called the cardinals. I understand that Iowa State has used a cardinal in its logo for at least as long as I’ve been alive but there’s so much more that can be done with a name like Cyclones. They may use cardinal red as the primary color, that’s all well and good, but if you call yourself Cyclones then I want something tornado related. They’ve done it in logos before, time to figure it out in mascot form
10. Knightro – UCF
I still forget that UCF is a Big 12 member, which is my fault, they’ve definitely been around long enough by this point. Knightro is a mascot I really WANT to like. They wear gold and call themselves Knights, a golden knight makes perfect sense. There’s just something a little off about Knightro to me. Proportionately I just don’t think it makes a ton of sense. Plus up close the sword looks cartoonishly fake. Charge on indeed, but Knightro might need a little bit of a revamp.
9. Shasta/Sasha – Houston
The next two entries best personify the “interchangeable” category, which is how they landed in the 8/9 spots. They’re eerily similar. Both a pair of mascots, one male and one female. Both have names that start with the same letter. The only difference is that one pair are wildcats and the other are cougars … which are basically the same thing.
8. Wilbur/Wilma – Arizona
See everything that I said above. The deciding factor in putting Wilbur and Wilma one spot ahead … Wilbur has a cool hat that he uses as part of the gimmick. I’m a simple man that’s impressed by simple distinctions. “Beardown” doesn’t make sense to me as the battle cry for a team called the Wildcats, but regardless U of A gets the nod.
7. Bruiser – Baylor
Bruiser and I had a really fun exchange when we met at the Ford Center. It’s no secret I like to take the occasional jab at the Bears and he, in his own pantomime way, was able to give it right back to me. Bears are easy to personify and there’s nothing really demonstrative about Bruiser, but he’s a good time. I can’t show Baylor too much love, but Bruiser certainly impressed me.
6. Big Jay - Kansas
Do I have a strange dislike for the KU logo? Yes, and I have never been able to explain why. Does Rock Chalk Jayhawk sound absurd to me? Yes, but this is the same conference with “Riff Ram Bah Zoo” at TCU so there’s at least company there. Big Jay is BIG. Easily the tallest mascot I saw at Media Days. So he lives up to his name. So I put him higher on the list. He’s not elite, but he does his job. He’s definitely the most effective oversized blue bird around college athletics. Just missed the top tier.
TIER 1 – The Elites
5. Superfrog – TCU
A horned frog is easily one of the most unique mascots and team names in sports. So there’s a high level of expectation with coming up with a personification. TCU nailed it. Immediately anyone can tell what he is and who he represents. That’s all anyone asks. The only thing that would be better was if he could shoot blood from his eyes like the animal he represents. If that adjustment ever comes he’s immediately moving up several spots.
4. Sparky – Arizona State
I’ve always had an affinity for Sparky. Growing up watching Pac-10 and Pac-12 games I thought he was one of the most unique and interesting logos in all of college sports. When I got the opportunity to travel to Tempe in 2023 I was incredibly excited because of that nostalgia. Sparky is one of my favorite additions to the conference and is top tier in most categories.
3. The Mountaineer – West Virginia
Simple and straightforward. Call your team a Mountaineer, you need a Mountaineer. The live mascot concept is a rarity and that’s part of what makes WVU’s rifle-wielding mountaineer special. I can’t think of any way to improve the concept and when I was putting together the top three I couldn’t think of any reason not to include him.
2. Cosmo – BYU
I’d heard the lore of Cosmo long before BYU became a part of the conference. I’ve always paid attention to BYU football pretty closely and knew that he was a big part of the experience. Honestly if I didn’t feel an obligation to put Pistol Pete at the top spot it would absolutely be Cosmo. Having now gone to Provo and seen Cosmo in action he was every bit as good as advertised. There are several reasons I’d go back to Lavell Edwards Stadium and Cosmo is incredibly high on the list.
1. Pistol Pete – Oklahoma State
I said at the beginning that I’m biased because of my lifelong tie to Oklahoma State and how long I have loved Pistol Pete. It also stands that I’m writing for an Oklahoma State account but when someone takes into account the history and prestige for Pistol Pete, it’s hard to argue against him for the top spot. Plus the mountaineer has one rifle. Pete has a rifle AND two hand guns. Checkmate.
