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Top 10 College Mascots

With non-conference play all but done and conference play starting up, CollegeHoops.net decided to bridge the two with a topic more important than both: mascots!

Mascots were originally used to help bring good luck to a team, and the theme has stayed ever since. This listing gives love to mascots from all over college basketball. Some are household names. Others you may have never heard of until now. Regardless of publicity (but not hilarity), I bring you the top college basketball mascots in the land.

10. Syracuse Orangeman – We'll start with one of the more well-known mascots. What’s a better mascot than a giant orange with a blue hat? Sightings include numerous ESPN commercials and all Syracuse basketball home games. The orange has played a crucial role in Jim Boeheim’s success over the years.

9. UCSC Banana Slug – Arguably the toughest mascot in all of sports. It was once removed as mascot by the dean at the university, but a strong rally by the UCSC faithful made sure the slug returned to its rightful home. Pulp Fiction fans will recognize the banana slug on the t-shirt that John Travolta wears in the movie.

8. WKU Hilltopper (aka big red blob) – This thing is anything but a hilltopper, and has stemmed from former WKU coach E.A. Diddle nervously clutching a red towel during games. Public appearance of hilarity: the commercial in which the blob is sitting in his prom date’s kitchen being grilled by her parents, and the dad looks at it and simply says “I don’t even know what you are.”

7. Stanford Tree – Many fans may be thinking “Why the hell is the Cardinal’s mascot a tree?” It stems from the fact that the tree is a redwood tree, as Palo Alto, CA is not too far from California’s historic redwood forests (having been there, I’d recommend it to those looking to get as far away from every form of human civilization as possible). Nonetheless, the tree is comical-looking, and as ESPN’s Pat Forde can surely tell you, is a lot of fun to dress as.

6. Delaware Fighting Blue Hen (YouDee) – What’s more fierce than a hen? A blue hen!

5. Dartmouth’s Keggy the Keg – This mascot was never approved by Dartmouth, but Keggy sure has brought a lot of excitement to Hanover, NH. This keg was the #1 fan at all things Dartmouth, and proved to be a good luck charm at countless lacrosse matches. Who could say no to a keg that’s grinning from ear to ear? I certainly couldn’t.

4. St. Joe’s Hawk – Students at St. Joe’s have plenty of financial incentive to tryout to be the hawk for basketball ga mes, because doing so waives all tuition fees. The catch? The mascot has to flap its arms for all 40 minutes. Eager students should hit the gym before attempting such a feat.

3. Franklin and Marshall College Diplomats – These mascots made the list because I nearly fell out of my chair laughing after I saw them. What’s better than two of America’s Founding Fathers smiling and giving the thumbs up?

2. UCSB's "Fanton of the Dome" - UCSB's athletics teams are the Gauchos.. which is cool to begin with. Second, they play in the Thunderdome, which not only sounds bad ass, its a good arena too. And finally, add in the "Fantom of the Dome" and you have the ultimate combination. The Fantom doesn't appear at all games anymore, as he's just a random dude who lives in So Cal, but he showed up for the Gauchos big showdown with UNC and will no doubt continue to be a UCSB tradition.

1. Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Nads – First off all, I didn’t even know RISD had a mascot. But if I were to guess what the school’s mascot would be, I certainly wouldn’t have guessed that it’d be a pair of testicles. Scrotie is the number one fanatic for RISD sporting events, and makes the list due to the hilarious amount of shame and disgust it brings to the university.