Tag Archives: college basketball

After the phenomenal reaction to my list of The 20 Coolest-Named College Sports Teams You May Never Have Heard Of I’ve put together another Top 20 list. (NOTE: THIS LIST WAS DONE BACK WHEN MY BLOG WAS ONLY COVERING NAIA TEAMS)

To be fair no schools listed in the initial Top 20 list are included, no matter how cool their logo is. Nor are any schools featured if they have been a Cool-Named Sports Team Of The Day. As before this list of 20 is in no particular order and I’ll record votes for the next 20 days for which school has THE coolest logo. You can cast your vote by contacting me at Thtcom15@aol.com .

20. WAYLAND BAPTIST PIONEERS/FLYING QUEENS

Location: Langston, OK

Conference Affiliation: Red River Athletic Conference

Major sports: football, basketball

Site: http://www.luathletics.com/

Comment: I swear to you I have never before seen a lion this angry at the letters “L” and “U”! I thought lions were carnivores, not alphabetivores.

18. SIOUX FALLS COUGARS

Location: Sioux Falls, SD

Conference Affiliation: Great Plains Athletic Conference

Major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer

Site: http://www.usfcougars.com/

Comment: No matter how many times I see it, there’s just something about this logo that reminds me of my local Lincoln Mercury Dealer. You know what I mean?

17.  WESTMINSTER GRIFFINS

Location: Salt Lake City, UT

Conference Affiliation: Frontier Conference

Major sports: basketball, soccer

Site: http://westminstergriffins.com/

Comment: No doubt about it! This Griffin looks like he could tear the more sedate Griffin in the Merv Griffin Productions logo limb from limb!

Location: Parkville, MO

Conference Affiliation: American Midwest Conference

Major sports: basketball, baseball, soccer

Site: http://www.parkathletics.com/

Comment: Now THIS is a swashbuckling logo that puts all other Pirates teams to shame! I always throw in the MO because if you run the words “Park” and “Pirates” together it sounds like they’re people who raid recreational areas. “They’re marauders of the monkey bars…plunderers of the playground…They’re PARK PIRATES, coming this fall on CBS!”   (This is the favorite of my good friend Rachel Laird, a big supporter of Balladeer’s Blog!)

15. CAL BAPTIST LANCERS

Location: Riverside, CA

Conference Affiliation: Golden State Athletic Conference

Major sports: basketball, baseball, soccer

Site: http://www.cbulancers.com/

Comment: I really like this logo. It’s got kind of a Knights Of The Round Table In The 25th Century look. And that gives me a title for my next screenplay!

14. LSU-SHREVEPORT PILOTS

Location: Shreveport, LA

Conference Affiliation: Gulf Coast Athletic Conference

Major sports: basketball, baseball, soccer

Site: http://www.lsus.edu/athletics/

Comment: This institution’s teams are called pilots as in riverboat pilots. I’m sure we all remember a riverboat pilot who went on to become one of the most popular and beloved authors in American history. That author’s name, of course, is Tom Clancy, “and now you know the rest of the story.”

13. WALSH CAVALIERS

Location: North Canton, OH

Conference Affiliation: American Mideast Conference

Major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer

Site: http://www.walsh.edu/athletics

Comment: I don’t care which side of the English Civil War your sympathies are with, the Walsh University Roundheads just wouldn’t have the same pizzaz that Cavaliers does. (And Dan McCallion, Head Track Coach and Cross Country Coach at Walsh has informed me that the Walsh Cavaliers were around long before the Cleveland Cavaliers came along. And let me add that Walsh has never been jilted by a guy who wears short pants for a living.)

12. PERU STATE BOBCATS

Location: Peru, NE

Conference Affiliation: Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference

Major sports: football, basketball, baseball

Site: http://www.peru.edu/athletics/

Comment: The lesser-know Peruvian toothless breed of Bobcat seen in this picture is every bit as deadly as the regular kind!

11. Lindsey Wilson College Blue Raiders

Location: Columbia, KY

Conference Affiliation: Mid-South Conference

Major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer

Site: http://www.lindseyathletics.com/

Comment: Not to be confused with the Orange Ravagers or the Maroon Invaders, this Kentucky school is launching football this fall.

10. VANGUARD LIONS

Location: Costa Mesa, CA

Conference Affiliation: Golden State Athletic Conference

Major sports: basketball, baseball, soccer

Site: http://www.vanguard.edu/Athletics/tabid/564/Default.aspx

Comment: Do the mascots of other schools who use the name Lions for their sports teams ever say to the V.U. mascot, “Get a haircut, ya hippy!”

9. NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA RANGERS

Location: Alva, OK

Conference Affiliation: Sooner Athletic Conference

Major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer, rodeo

Site: http://www.nwosu.edu/athletics

Comment: That’s right, this school is one of the last few who still offer Rodeo as an intercollegiate sport. And that is one butt-kicking, bucking-bronco riding logo!

8. MidAmerica Nazarene Pioneers

Location: Olathe, KS

Conference Affiliation: Heart of America Athletic Conference

Major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer

Site: http://www.mnu.edu/athletics.html

Comment: You have to love how the logo makes their mascot look like a superhero. “It’s Pioneer Man and his sidekick Scout Boy, blazing a trail toward Truth, Justice and The American Way!”

7. SAINT FRANCIS (IN) COUGARS

Location: Fort Wayne, IN

Conference Affiliation: Mid-Central Conference

Major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer

Site: http://www.saintfranciscougars.com/

Comment: I looked it up and Saint Francis is indeed the Patron Saint of cougars. Also of ocelots and jaguars. Who knew?

6. SPRING HILL COLLEGE BADGERS

Location: Mobile, AL

Conference Affiliation: Gulf Coast Athletic Conference

Major sports: basketball, baseball, soccer

Site: http://www.shcbadgers.com/

Comment: This logo manages to be cool and menacing all at the same time. Do the fans of opposing teams hold up signs that say “Badgers? We don’t need no stinking Badgers!”

5. SOUTHERN POLYTECHNIC RUNNING HORNETS

Location: Marietta, GA

Conference Affiliation: Southern States Athletic Conference

Major sports: basketball, baseball, soccer

Site: http://www.spsu.edu/recreation/index.html

Comment: Not only is this logo perfect for any sports team but it would also make a great calling card for the fictional hero The Green Hornet.

4. TABOR COLLEGE BLUEJAYS

Location: Hillsboro, KS

Conference Affiliation: Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference

Major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer

Site: http://www.taborbluejays.com/

Comment: A version of this cool logo used to be on the Tabor College football helmets but recently they’ve changed their helmet decal to a less eye-catching “TC”. Bring back the bird! (I’ve been advised that the Bluejays may indeed return to the previous helmets! And they say you can’t fight city hall!)

3. OKLAHOMA BAPTIST BISON

Location: Shawnee, OK

Conference Affiliation: Sooner Athletic Conference

Major sports: basketball, baseball, soccer

Site: http://www.obubison.com/sport/6/10.php

Comment: Love that logo! And rumor has it this team’s biggest in-state rival is that Oklahoma Presbyterian Pumas team you’ve heard so much about.

2. TEXAS COLLEGE STEERS

Location: Tyler, TX

Conference Affiliation: Red River Athletic Conference

Major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer

Site: http://www.texascollege.edu/athletics/

Comment: T.C. can stand for Top Cat, Tim Cowlishaw, Tin Croissants but especially for Texas College. And that logo kicks tail plus those horns on the “T” would let you know where this school is from even without it being spelled out.

1. WARNER PACIFIC KNIGHTS

Location: Portland, OR

Conference Affiliation: Cascade Collegiate Conference

Major sports: basketball, soccer

Site: http://www.wpcknights.com/

Comment: From Merrye Olde Portlande comes this team of Knights.Given the team’s American Northwest location I’m wondering if their coat of arms has a Starbucks logo and a cloud with rain pouring out of it.

MORE COOL STUFF

 The 20 Coolest-Named USCAA and NCCAA Sports Teams – https://glitternight.com/2010/11/24/the-20-coolest-named-uscaa-and-nccaa-sports-teams/ 

For the 20 Coolest-Named JUCO Sports Teams click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/10/18/the-20-coolest-named-juco-sports-teams/

For more cool named teams that weren’t on the Top 20 List click here: https://glitternight.com/category/cool-names-and-cool-logos/

For my list of cool-named sports teams click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/06/21/the-20-coolest-named-college-sports-teams-you-may-have-never-heard-of-naia-edition/

For the NCAA Division 2 Coolest-Named College Sports Teams click here: https://glitternight.com/d2-20-coolest/

For The 20 Coolest Football Helmets In NCAA Division 3 click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/08/23/the-20-coolest-football-helmets-in-ncaa-division-3/

Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or any member institutions.

© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.