Nicknames of College Teams Trivia Quiz

Answer: Wildcats

The University of Kentucky's teams are called the Kentucky Wildcats, and the name comes from a comment made after a football game in 1909. After a strong performance, the head of a military department, is said to have told the team that they had "fought like wildcats," meaning they played with toughness, energy, and determination.

The name caught on with students and fans, and it eventually became the official nickname for all University of Kentucky sports teams.

Answer: Flyers

The University of Dayton's sports teams are called the Dayton Flyers, a name that reflects both local history and school spirit. The nickname Flyers comes from the Wright brothers, who invented and flew the first successful airplane in nearby Huffman Prairie Flying Field (just ignore those Tar Heels who keep mumbling something about Kitty Hawk). Because of this connection to early aviation history, the name honors the city's role in helping humans achieve flight. Today, the Flyers name represents speed, ambition, and reaching higher in sports and in life.

Answer: Fighting Irish

This nickname almost certainly originated in the 1900s when the largely immigrant student was derided as being "Papists" and "Dirty Irish", even in the press. The image of a drunken brawling immigrant from the Emerald Isle was a common one and so the insult of "Fighting Irish" was hurled at the team. Knute Rockne, the tough as nails Norwegian coach of their football team, put Notre Dame on the map and at the same time had his people embrace the Fighting Irish name.

As many other groups have, before and since - See Tories, Whigs, Yankees, the GOP and the greatest band that has or even could ever exist, Led Zeppelin.

Answer: Thorobreds

The Kentucky State Thorobreds are called the Thorobreds, like the horse, but not quite. It is a stylized spelling of thoroughbreds, which refers to high-quality racehorses, something strongly associated with the state of Kentucky and its famous horse-breeding industry and has been spelled that way since 1929.

The name was chosen to represent speed, strength, and excellence in competition, while also connecting the school to a major part of Kentucky's cultural identity. The KSU website has this, re the nickname -- "Kentucky State's students have always been "THORO" in their commitment to excellence and "BRED" to be agents of change who create solutions together."

Answer: Red Raiders

Texas Tech, the Red Raiders, got their nickname from a mix of football history and local legend. In the late 1920s, the team, who were originally called the Matadors, wore red uniforms and began playing stronger, more aggressive football than expected from a small college in West Texas.

A sportswriter reportedly described them as "red raiders," partly because of their red uniforms and their ability to "raid" opponents on the field. The name stuck, and it became the official nickname for all the Texas Tech sports teams by 1936.

Answer: Jayhawks

Leading the pack for the greatest effin' nickname on this list, the Kansas Jayhawks are named after the Jayhawkers, anti-slavery fighters in the Kansas Territory during the 1850s before the American Civil War. During a violent period known as Bleeding Kansas, Jayhawkers fought against pro-slavery groups along the Kansas-Missouri border. Over time, the name became associated with courage, independence, and resistance to slavery.

The school later combined the blue jay and sparrow hawk into the mythical Jayhawk mascot that represents the university today.

Answer: Hilltoppers

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers are called the Hilltoppers because the university sits on top of a large hill in Bowling Green, KY. In the early days of the school, students and local residents began referring to the athletes as the teams "on the hill." Over time, this became shortened to "Hilltoppers," and the nickname eventually became official.

The name and the hilltop location still stand to this day.

Answer: Bruins

The UCLA Bruins became known as the Bruins in 1926 after the school was forced to give up its earlier nickname, the Grizzlies. The University of Montana claimed rights to the Grizzlies name and threatened legal action because it was already using it. UCLA students suggested more than 100 possible new names, including Buccaneers, Gorillas, and Panthers, while many students argued fiercely to keep Grizzlies.

In the end, student leaders from UC Berkeley offered UCLA the nickname Bruins, which Berkeley had sometimes used as another word for their team, the Golden Bears. UCLA accepted the name, and the Bruins nickname has remained ever since.

Answer: Tar Heels

Another case of a group of people reclaiming slurs is the North Carolina Tar Heels. This nickname, the Tar Heels, comes from North Carolina's early history. In the 1800s, many poor workers in the state made products such as tar, pitch, and turpentine from pine trees.

As they were poor, many couldn't afford shoes and so got the products of their labour on their feet. People from other states sometimes mockingly called North Carolinians "Tar Heels." During the American Civil War, North Carolina soldiers reportedly embraced the nickname as a symbol of toughness and loyalty, saying they had "tar on their heels" because they stood their ground in battle instead of running away. Over time, the name became a proud symbol of the state and the university.

Answer: 49ers

The Charlotte 49ers are called the 49ers because of the important role the year 1949 played in the school's survival. The university began in 1946 as a small center created to educate veterans returning from World War II. In 1949, the state planned to close the school, but a teacher and leader named Bonnie Cone, known as "Miss Bonnie," fought to keep it open with the help of local supporters.

Their efforts succeeded, and the school became Charlotte College. Years later, students adopted the nickname 49ers to honor the determination and community spirit that saved the institution.

The name also fits because the campus is located near Highway 49, and in 1965 the state legislature voted 49-0 to make the school part of the University of North Carolina system.

Answer: Badgers

In yet another turnaround of an insult, the Wisconsin Badgers are called the Badgers, not because of the local fauna, but because of a nickname given to people in Wisconsin during the early 1800s. Many lead miners in the state dug tunnels into hillsides to live and work during the winter because they were too poor to afford houses, this reminded people of badgers living in underground burrows. Because of this, Wisconsin became known as the Badger State, and the university later adopted the badger as its mascot.

Answer: Cavaliers

The Virginia Cavaliers are called the Cavaliers because of Virginia's connection to the English Cavaliers who supported King Charles I during the English Civil War in the 1600s. Virginia was known as a royalist colony loyal to the king, and the Cavaliers are said to have fled to Virginia after...you know, Cromwell did his thing.

In the 1800s and early 1900s, Virginia writers and schools often used the name to celebrate the state's history and southern identity. The University of Virginia later adopted Cavaliers as the nickname for its athletic teams, and students often shorten it to Cavs. That said, this writer does know that y'all are actually the Wahoos, but no need to let the Yankees in on that secret.

Answer: Buffaloes

The University of Colorado Boulder - confusingly called CU Boulder - Buffaloes are called the Buffaloes because the American bison, often called buffalo, is strongly connected to the history and culture of the western United States and the Great Plains, including Colorado.

In the 1930s, students officially chose the buffalo as the university mascot because it represented strength, power, and the spirit of the American West. The school later introduced a live buffalo mascot named Ralphie, who became one of the most famous live animal mascots in college sports.

Answer: Beavers

In the early 1900s, students chose the beaver as the school's cognomen...kind of... because it is known as a hardworking, resilient builder of dams, which fit the university's engineering and agricultural roots. The name was officially adopted in 1916, but the beaver mascot itself wasn't official until 1952. In the early days, OSU had a HUMAN as its mascot, Dr. John Bell, a Corvallis pastor and former regent of Corvallis College.

He attended so many games that the team adopted him as the mascot! Just think, we could have had the Fighting Bells as the team name. Luckily, the team dropped him some years later...I guess it was just time for a Bell end.

Answer: Racers

Purdue's Boilermakers are called the Boilermakers because of the school's strong early connection to engineering, railroads, and heavy industry in Indiana. The nickname AGAIN began as a kind of insult from rival schools, suggesting Purdue football players were rough, working-class laborers like boilermakers, rather than traditional college athletes. Instead of rejecting it, Purdue embraced the name as a symbol of toughness, skill, and hard work. Local rivalry stories also added to the legend, saying Purdue players were actually workers from nearby railroad yards, especially the Monon Railroad shops in Lafayette, and that the team "recruited" strength from the region's industrial workforce rather than playing actual students.

Purdue's identity also grew with its famous mascot, the steam locomotive known as the Boilermaker Special, which reflects the university's engineering roots (Notice though, that this is NOT Purdue Pete, who has NEVER been the school's official mascot!!). Over time, the nickname turned from a jab into a point of pride.