That’s right, everyone: With the men’s bracket officially revealed, March Madness 2026 is officially HERE.
And we know the next few days until the first round of the 2026 NCAA men’s tournament will be spent with you filling out your bracket, erasing it, filling it out again, tweaking it, tweaking it again and then making last-second changes on Thursday morning before the first games after the First Four tips off.
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If you’re one of those people who is into doing deep bracket research with stats, rankings, and history? Sorry. This isn’t the list for you. This is the tenth (!) annual version of the list to help you pick your bracket based on team nicknames or the school’s mascots.
Here’s a breakdown of my completely non-scientific system: It’s based on a combination of moniker creativity, how threatening the mascot is and, sometimes, the look of the costumed thing.
Away we go:
68. Illinois Fighting Illini
We’ve been here before: If you have no mascot, you get penalized. They got rid of their offensive mascot, but the Kingfisher isn’t official yet.
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C’mon, get a mascot already!
66. Arizona Wildcats
My annual plea to get the number of Wildcats teams down from a billion to, like, one.
65. Villanova Wildcats
64. Kentucky Wildcats
63. Tennessee State Tigers
Also too many Tigers.
62. Clemson Tigers
60. High Point Panthers
Slightly better, but there are too many big cat teams.
59. UNI Panthers
58. Prairie View A&M Panthers
57. Houston Cougars
56. BYU Cougars
55. UConn Huskies
Dogs >>>> cats.
54. Gonzaga Bulldogs
53. Georgia Bulldogs
52. Siena Saints
51. UMBC Retrievers
50. NC State Wolfpack
49. Texas A&M Aggies
Bonus dog ranking: Reveille is a live dog mascot who has the coolest rules:
Company E-2 has the privilege of taking care of Reveille. If she is sleeping on a cadet’s bed, that cadet must sleep on the floor. Cadets address Reveille as “Miss Rev, ma’am.” If she is in class and barks while the professor is teaching, the class is to be immediately dismissed.
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48. Louisville Cardinals
The birds tier.
47. Miami (Ohio) RedHawks
46. Lehigh Mountain Hawks
44. Kennesaw State Owls
43. St. John’s Red Storm
Awesome name, but it’s a bird mascot, Part I.
42. Iowa State Cyclones
Awesome name, but it’s a bird mascot, Part II.
41. Wright State Raiders
Awesome name, but it’s a wolf. Which… isn’t bad actually!
40. UCLA Bruins
Bears are scary!
39. Santa Clara Broncos
Horses are underrated.
38. SMU Mustangs
37. South Florida Bulls
The “they’ve got horns” tier.
36. North Dakota State Bison
35. Howard Bison
34. VCU Rams
32. Arkansas Razorbacks
Tusks > horns.
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I call this the classics tier. Some all-time great mascots who we’ve all loved over the decades.
30. Ohio State Buckeyes
28. Tennessee Volunteers
27. Kansas Jayhawks
26. Virginia Cavaliers
25. Duke Blue Devils
24. Miami Hurricanes
23. Michigan State Spartans
22. North Carolina Tarheels
21. Florida Gators
20. Penn Quakers
I mean, just look at this guy.
19. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
Breaking my own rules here. They don’t currently have a mascot, but Rainbow Warriors as a team name is the coolest.
18. Alabama Crimson Tide
Steely Dan rules.
17. Purdue Boilermakers
Sep 20, 2025; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Purdue mascot Purdue Pete cheers against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first half at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images
Please don’t hurt me, Purdue Pete.
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16. Utah State Aggies
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 14: Big Blue, the Utah State Aggies mascot performs during the first half of a semifinal game between the Utah State Aggies and the Colorado State Rams in the Mountain West men’s basketball tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center on March 14, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
Please don’t hurt me, Big Blue.
15. Queens Royals
A lion is tops, right? Also, this gets Lorde stuck in my head, which is a good thing.
14. Hofstra Pride
TWO lions!
13. Vanderbilt Commodores
Mr. Commodore is cool.
12. McNeese Cowboys
We’ve reached the Stetson hat division, starting with Rowdy.
11. Texas Tech Red Raiders
Texas Tech mascot Raider Red is seen before a Big 12 Conference men’s basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, in United Supermarkets Arena.
10. TCU Horned Frogs
Jan 28, 2026; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; The TCU Horned Frogs mascot poses for a photo during the second half between the TCU Horned Frogs and the Houston Cougars at Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Looks like a made-up creature.
9. Saint Louis Billikens
Mar 9, 2024; Henrico, VA, USA; The Saint Louis Billikens mascot cheers on the court during a stoppage in play in the the first half against the Rhode Island Rams at Henrico Sports & Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports
Is, in fact, a made-up creature.
8. Saint Mary’s Gaels
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 09: The Saint Mary’s Gaels mascot Gideon flexes during player introductions before a semifinal game of the West Coast Conference men’s basketball tournament between the Gaels and the Santa Clara Broncos at the Orleans Arena on March 09, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Broncos defeated the Gaels 76-71. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Gideon is just incredible.
7. LIU Sharks
FINS UP!
6. California Baptist Lancers
I loved all the knights this year, starting with this guy.
5. UCF Knights
Mar 11, 2026; Kansas City, MO, USA; UCF Knights mascot during a break in play during the first half of the game against the Cincinnati Bearcats at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images
His name is Knightro. How good is that?
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4. Furman Paladins
The Furman Paladins mascot walks down the stands Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, during NCAA men’s soccer College Cup semifinals against the Washington Huskies at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.
3. Troy Trojans
Not a knight, but is named T-Roy. LOL!
2. Akron Zips
PORTLAND, OREGON – MARCH 17: The mascots of the UCLA Bruins and the Akron Zips dance during the first round game of the 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Moda Center on March 17, 2022 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
It’s a kangaroo!
1. Idaho Vandals
Aug 30, 2025; Pullman, Washington, USA; Idaho Vandals mascot Joe Vandal looks on against the Washington State Cougars in the second half at Gesa Field at Martin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-Imagn Images
Congratulations to a team with a PERFECT combo of mascot and team name.
Let’s start with the Vandals nickname. From Idaho’s site:
Don’t use your dictionary to find Idaho’s definition of a Vandal. No, Idaho’s student-athletes go by a name earned nearly a century ago by a basketball team coached by Hec Edmundson, whose teams played defense with such intensity and ferocity that sports writers said they “vandalized” their opponents. The mark made by that 1917 team went far deeper than wins and losses on the court. In 1917, Harry Lloyd “Jazz” McCarty – a writer for the student newspaper, the Argonaut – subtly tagged the team with a new nickname in a pregame write-up: “The opening game with Whitman will mark a new epoch in Idaho basketball history, for the present gang of ‘Vandals’ have the best material that has ever carried the ‘I’ into action.”
So good. And the mascot? That’s Joe Vandal, which is fantastic between the name and the look. Amazing work.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: March Madness mascots ranked for all 68 NCAA tournament teams
