Mascots are supposed to bring luck and rouse competitive energy for the team that they represent—usually, they range from ferocious animals to warriors who embody the spirit of the school. How hard can that be? Still, some schools insist on keeping mascots who remain uninspiring, nonsensical and downright insulting. From oranges to blobs to animals who are better suited for a petting zoo, here are the most absurd mascots of the top 68 teams vying for the NCAA Championship this Year.
The 17 Worst Mascots of March Madness
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Pistol Pete of Oklahoma... and New Mexico State
Imagine if Oklahoma and New Mexico were to face each other in a game: what would Pistol Pete do? Point the gun at himself? There's a third Pistol Pete mascot in the NCAA as well, at Wyoming — but they didn't make the tournament this year. And as a historical side note, there was a real "Pistol Pete": Hall of Famer Peter Maravich, who set an NCAA Division I scoring record while at LSU.
