The year 2020 will be the year of plenty of Top Twenty lists here at Balladeer’s Blog. Here is yet another one:
CAL MARITIME KEELHAULERS
Location: Vallejo, CA
Comment: The name Keelhaulers may sound like a bar (“It’s Ladies’ Night at Keelhaulers!”) but that’s no problem since their mascot looks like he can definitely handle himself in rough company.
TRINITY CHRISTIAN COLLEGE TROLLS
Location: Palos Heights, IL
Comment: No, their mascot isn’t a message board jerk provoking flame wars, it’s an old-school Troll like you’d find in fairy tales and myths.
COLUMBIA COLLEGE FIGHTING KOALAS
Location: Columbia, SC
Comment: Okay, koalas would be scary enough, but FIGHTING Koalas? Those babies will mess you up badly! And you can add your own Koalas in the Rain joke here.
INDIANA UNIVERSITY SOUTHEAST GRENADIERS
Location: New Albany, IN
Comment: Grenadiers originated in the 17th century as soldiers who specialized in throwing grenades and in assault operations. The name alone must make IU-Southeast’s opponents want to offer their immediate and unconditional surrender.
BREWTON-PARKER COLLEGE BARONS
Location: Mount Vernon, GA
Comment: With apologies to Von Richthofen and Davis I prefer my Barons in the mold of the one on the Brewton-Parker logo – pugnacious and wielding two swords at once.
UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN OHIO RACERS
Location: Lima, OH
Comment: Plenty of people love the NASCAR feel of the Racers’ logo! UNOH – as it’s known – is famous for student-athletes who give their all in the classroom and on the field of play!
AVE MARIA UNIVERSITY GYRENES
Location: Ave Maria, FL
Comment: A Gyrene is a nickname for a type of specialized Marine, so semper fi, Gyrenes!
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT BEAUFORT SAND SHARKS
Location: Beaufort, SC
Comment: If you want to play college ball, how can you NOT want to play for a team called the Sand Sharks? And is it just me or would Sand Sharks make a great name for a Surf Rock band?
BETHANY COLLEGE SWEDES
Location: Lindsborg, KS
Comment: They used to be called the Terrible Swedes (or as Charles Barclay would say “Turrbel Swedes”) but since that doesn’t have the same ring as, say, Fighting Irish, it’s just as well that they’re now called by this shorter, cooler nickname.
UNIVERSITY OF JAMESTOWN JIMMIES
Location: Jamestown, ND
Comment: Since you couldn’t exactly fit photos of Misters Smits, Page and Cagney on a football helmet the Jimmies went with this much more eye-catching logo for their sports programs.
OREGON TECH HUSTLIN’ OWLS
Location: Klamath Falls, OR
Comment: Hustlin’ Owls? I didn’t even know Owls played pool. Does Fast Eddie Felson know about this?
UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & ARTS OF OKLAHOMA DROVERS
Location: Chickasha, OK
Comment: Drovers are people who move herds of animals in large numbers so basically it’s a variation on the word Cowboy but with more of an attitude.
LOURDES UNIVERSITY GRAY WOLVES
Location: Sylvania, OH
Comment: How cool is this name and logo? Not only would it appeal to animal lovers but it’s also butt-kickingly impressive in its own right! The nickname Gray Wolves ties in to the tale of St Francis of Assisi and the Wolf of Gubbio.
MONTANA TECH OREDIGGERS
Location: Butte, MT
Comment: They’re called the Diggers for short (insert your own Digger Phelps joke here) and their mascot has that certain Marvin the Martian kind of cool.
SAINT AMBROSE UNIVERSITY FIGHTING BEES
Location: Davenport, IA
Comment: I imagine the good folks at St Ambrose first considered names like Heavyweight Hornets and Pugilistically Inclined Yellowjackets before deciding on Fighting Bees.
SAINT LOUIS COLLEGE OF PHARMACY EUTECTICS
Location: Saint Louis, MO
Comment: Eutectics involve the process of combining two solids to make a liquid so that gives this school’s teams a fashionably obscure nickname that still manages to sound cool as hell.
BETHEL UNIVERSITY (IN) PILOTS
Location: Mishawaka, IN
Comment: Pilots is short for Riverboat Pilots, and makes for one terrific logo as well as a team nickname.
SOUTHWESTERN COLLEGE MOUNDBUILDERS
Location: Winfield, KS
Comment: Preachers was also a nickname considered for this fine institution’s teams. Originally they were Moundbuilders in name only but have long since incorporated an actual moundbuilding ceremony on their campus. On the first Thursday of each school year students take rocks that they have personally decorated the previous evening and add them to a growing mound of rocks begun by earlier students at the college.
MIDAMERICA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY EVANGELS
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Comment: MACU is well-known for its academic excellence and for the uniqueness and esoteric appeal of its teams’ nicknames.
ARIZONA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY FIRESTORM
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Comment: Absolutely one of the coolest and most intimidating nicknames that sports teams could have! Firestorm has it all!
FOR MORE COOL NAMES AND COOL LOGOS CLICK HERE: https://glitternight.com/category/cool-names-and-cool-logos/
Balladeer's Blog 
The Keelhaulers is pretty cool and that logo is pretty slick.
I agree!
Fighting koalas? Nooooo!
Jamestown Jimmies’ logo is awesome. But shouldn’t it be Jamestown Jousters?
Anyway what do I know!
I bet a team with a belly dancer as a mascot would do good. If they can have koalas surely they can have belly dancers.
I like the idea of the Jamestown Jousters! Or naming another team the Jousters! A belly dancer might be a great mascot for a sports team!
The Gray Wolves are really awesome!
I agree.
Koalas are so cute!
I see.
I love those Gray Wolves!
They are pretty cool!
The Racers are totally awesome!
I agree.
These names are so fantastic! loved them!
That is good to hear!
I hate sports but I like these blog posts about cool teams.
Thank you!