ESPN ranks top mascots in college football

College football is a game of tradition. For years, beloved mascots have roamed the sidelines and stadiums of their respective schools, pumping up fans and celebrating their teams’ success. On Thursday, ESPN’s Ryan McGee provided his definitive rankings of the best mascots in the sport.

Of course, it’s not easy to compare a live tiger to a sweaty college student dressed in a leprechaun outfit. Thus, McGee split his rankings into categories, listing a Top 5 for each group.

Even with the distinction, McGee had no choice but to exclude some of college football’s most iconic characters. Look below to see if your school’s mascot made the cut.

Costume Division

5. Keggy the Keg, Dartmouth
4. The Stanford Tree, Stanford
3. Big Red, Western Kentucky
2. Brutus, Ohio State
1. The Duck, Oregon

McGee left no stone unturned in his costume division. While Keggy the Keg might not be as well-known as some of the other mascots who didn’t make the Top 5, he’s one of the most hilarious mascots in the sport. Unless you’re a Dartmouth administrator, it’s hard not to love the larger-than-life beer keg with legs.

Unlike Keggy the Keg, the Oregon Duck was a lock on McGee’s list. The Duck never fails to entertain fans, whether that’s at Oregon’s games or on a random weekday. Last year, The Duck traveled to every opposing Big Ten stadium to celebrate Oregon joining the storied conference.

Mechanized Divison

5. Cocky in the Cockaboose, South Carolina
4. Monte on a Harley, Montana
3. Demon Deacon on a chopper, Wake Forest
2. Buzz in the Ramblin’ Wreck, Georgia Tech
1. Sooner Schooner, Oklahoma

A mascot running across the field with their team is entertaining. A mascot cruising on a motorcycle across the gridiron is downright fantastic. McGee included several of the latter in this category, but ultimately rewarded the Oklahoma Sooners, who kick off their home games with a more traditional mode of transportation.

Since 1964, Oklahoma has had a miniature Studebaker Conestoga wagon ride across the field before its football games. The wagon is pulled by two ponies, appropriately named Boomer and Sooner. The members of Oklahoma’s all-male spirit organization who drive the wagon aren’t on a joy ride, either. The wagon rips across the field at dangerous speeds, with the Sooner Schooner even tipping over on multiple occasions.

Human Division

5. Vili the Warrior, Hawai’i
4. Chief Osceola, Florida State
3. Masked Rider, Texas Tech
2. (Tie) The Mountaineer, West Virginia | Davy Crockett, Tennessee
1. The Notre Dame Leprechaun, Notre Dame

McGee couldn’t choose between the West Virginia Mountaineer and Tennessee’s Davy Crockett. In fairness, it’s not easy to place one wild-eyed frontier man in front of another. They’re armed for goodness’ sake.

McGee won’t have to worry about taking a rifle shot from the Notre Dame Leprechaun, but he better have on his dancing shoes. Notre Dame’s cherished live mascot will Irish jig on the sidelines, only to crank out celebratory pushups moments later. His endless reserves of energy have made him one of the most iconic mascots in college football.

Live Animal Division

5. War Eagle, Auburn
4. Mike the Tiger, LSU
3. Bevo, Texas
2. Ralphie, Colorado
1. Uga, Georgia

Is there anything that embodies the insanity of college football quite like live mascots? Whether it’s Bevo or Ralphie, university handlers risk life and limb on a weekly basis running these enormous animals onto the field at speeds exceeding 25 miles per hour.

Alas, size isn’t the only deciding factor on McGee’s list. Georgia’s Uga is college football royalty, with one continuous bloodline dating back to the 1950s. Uga is treated with nothing short of the utmost respect. He stays in the presidential suite in the on-campus hotel and comfortably sits in a temperature-controlled dog house while Georgia rolls over its competition on the field.