Who Plays In Ohio? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Buckeyes

Fans of Ohio State University love to call their team, "THE Ohio State University". The Big Ten college has been a powerhouse in Division 1 sports. The school's football team won their ninth national championship in football in 2024 after beating Notre Dame. The school is located in Columbus, Ohio. The name "buckeye" refers to the official state tree of Ohio.

Answer: Guardians

From 1915 to 2021, this Major League Baseball franchise was known as the Cleveland Indians. In 2022, the American League franchise changed their team name to the Cleveland The new name paid homage to the city's massive Art-Deco monuments called the "Guardians Of Travel".

In 2022, their first season as the Guardians, Cleveland won the American League Central Division. The Guardians colors are red, white, and blue.

Answer: Blue Jackets

In 2000, the National Hockey League granted a franchise to the Columbus Blue Jackets. They play in the Eastern Conference and in 2009 made it to the playoffs for the first time. Unfortunately they lost in four games to the Detroit Red Wings. The team's name, Blue Jackets, pays reference to Ohio's role in the American Civil War.

Answer: Bengals

If you wanted to see a Bengal Tiger in Ohio, you'd have to head to the world famous Cincinnati Zoo. That actually inspired the name of the professional football team in Cincinnati. In 1934, the zoo received five Bengal tigers and the local football team adopted the name Cincinnati Bengals.

The NFL franchise played their first season in 1968. The team's colors match those of a Bengal tiger, orange, black, and white.

Answer: Bearcats

The University of Cincinnati is one of the oldest collegiate athletic programs in the United States. The name "bearcats" is surprisingly not about an animal found in Ohio. Back in 1914, the team had a star football player named Leonard K. "Teddy" Baehr.

The college cheerleaders chanted "we have a behr-cat on our side". The nickname caught on in the local press and in 1922 the university adopted the bearcat name.

Answer: Cavaliers

In 1970, Ohio got a professional basketball franchise. The Cleveland Cavaliers play in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the NBA. Their team colors are wine, gold, and black. The team chose the name Cavaliers after a fan contest to name the team.

A cavalier is a mounted knight or soldier. The team thought the name evoked an image of a fearless warrior, a great metaphor for a professional athlete.

Answer: Zips

The University of Akron is located in "the rubber capital of the world". Back in 1926, the university adopted the name Akron Zippers to honor rubber boots made by the Goodyear Company in Akron. The Division I college shortened the name to the Zips in 1950. The school's colors are blue and gold.

Answer: Reds

One of the oldest professional baseball teams, the Cincinnati Red Stockings was established in 1869. The Ohio team joined the National League in 1890 as the Cincinnati Reds. The team won their first World Series in 1919 but the victory was marred by the Black Sox scandal.

After the Communism "red" scare of the 1950s, the team changed their name to the Cincinnati Redlegs, but changed back to the Reds in 1959.

Answer: Crew

In 1996, Columbus, Ohio received one of the ten original Major League Soccer franchises. The Columbus Crew is also known affectionately by their fans as "the black and gold". The name of the Columbus Crew was chosen by a contest for the fans. Crew referred back to the ships of Christopher Columbus, the namesake of the Ohio capital city.

Answer: Flyers

Orville and Wilbur Wright owned a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. It was at this location that they devised the Wright Flyer 1 aircraft using parts in their shop. So when the University of Dayton was looking for a team name, the Dayton Flyers paid homage to their city's famous invention. Dayton participates in Division I athletics and their team colors are red and blue.