Taking A Look At ACC Mascots

The Sporting News has a piece up on the ugliest mascots in college basketball and some are astoundingly ugly (they don't identify every one so you have to kind of put it together...a couple we really couldn't begin to guess).

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The only ACC team to make the list was Wake Forest and the Demon Deacon. We always kind of liked the Deacon, but then again, we're fond of Wake and used to local eccentricities.

It got us thinking though. How would we (or you) rank the ACC's mascots?

1. Duke - What did you expect from a Duke site? The Devil is pretty cool, and the forehead gives a lot of real estate to poke fun at people. That said, there have been many incarnations of the Blue Devil. The stout beer drinking Devil of the 60s (he didn't drink beer but he looked like a beer drinker) was extremely cool and the natural Devil of the late 70's (a guy without a big head, basically) was great. You could see real emotion, which was great.
2. Georgia Tech - Okay, we like the bug. It's a pretty cool mascot. Plus the Yellow Jackets have been getting swatted a lot the last few years, so it's doubly appropriate.
3. Notre Dame - the Fighting Irish? It's cool. The Leprechaun? It's cool. Even the colors are cool. Notre Dame just has swag.
4. Louisville - It's pretty hard to screw a Cardinal up, even for Rick Pitino, who has made a second career out of uniform fashion disasters. A Cardinal sort of implies cockiness, and the ultra-cool St. Louis Cardinals logo doesn't hurt. Louisville has a great mascot.
5. Florida State - Okay, you have to work through the ethics of a Native American mascot for yourself, but fundamentally the horse thing is cool, even if someone has to clean up the field sometimes, and the flaming spear is fun. But up until last year or so, the Chief Osceola on FSU's court had a big slice of bacon on his cheek. Take a look - that's Gwaltney. The old one logo looks like Iron Eyes Cody, who, by the way, was Italian and not Indian at all. His real name was Espera Oscar de Corti. Being a phony, he would've fit right in with Jimbo Fisher and Jameis Winston.
6. Clemson - it's just a tiger. Nothing about it screams Clemson. It could be Tony the Tiger or the Exxon Tiger. Now the paw print...that's a pretty inspired bit of branding. The tiger looks like a pet a kid abused for years and then left under the bed.
7. UNC - The sheep can occasionally look fierce, but in general, we think it lacks class. Get it? Good. Now get ready for an era of UNC jokes. They'll never stop. What's the longest four years of a Tar Heel's life? Second grade.
8. State - if we didn't pull for Duke, we'd probably be masochistic enough to pull for State. But Tuffy? C'mon. That mascot hasn't changed in decades. In fact, it looks like they've used the same costume for decades. Tuffy needs an overhaul, but it's proven hard to do.
9. Wake Forest - We like the Deacon okay and pairing Deacon with Demon is genius. It might be cool if they could make him look like he was about to have an exorcism. Skip Prosser would've.
10. Virginia - A Cavalier should look sharp, tall and refined. Virginia's has a fat head. Like Duke, UVa might be improved by dispensing with the padding and TV doodads and just have a student in a bit of period finery.  The current Cavalier is an upside down triangle. But you know who would make a good Cavalier? Tony Bennett. Think about it.
11. Miami - Sebastian the Ibis - did you know? It's an ugly bird but he has some attitude. Sebastian looks like Donald Duck as drawn by a sixth grader though. Oregon could sue for drunken infringement (it is Miami after all).
12. Virginia Tech - there's no such thing as a Hokie bird. It used to be a gobbler, which is an affectionate name for a turkey. You can't just make up a bird. That's how you end up with crap like a Billiken. And by the way, why is that Seminoles and Redskins are racist but a Billiken is not? It's the very model of a 19th century racist stereotype of another culture. But it's the 21st century now! Hey, hey, ho ho! Billiken has got to go!
13. Pitt - There are 33 teams in college with Panthers for mascots. Pitt's is nothing special. But there are special things about Pittsburgh! It's the home of the pull-tab, and the Pitt Pull-tabs could be cool. They could even have a Pitbull named Tab. Paradoxically, the Steel City is also the TV home of Mr. Rogers. Who could pull against the Freds? You could have the mascot wear his cardigan and loafers and calm down the tussles under the basket. Everybody can share. Sure. Because you're special. You're...Pitt.
14. B.C. - This is kind of a cool logo. But this is kind of a ridiculous mascot. And like the Panthers, how many eagles are there? Well, 76, including the Alice Lloyd Eagles. Go team! But seriously, as the birthplace of Thanksgiving, we suggest BC take the Gobbler from Virginia Tech. It's an upgrade from the Eagles. Or they could ape Wake Forest and be the Berserk Bishops.
15. Syracuse - look, we know the history of the Dutch and the word Orange. Unfortunately, that's not it here. Syracuse was a trailblazer when it came to getting rid of Native American mascots, having dumped theirs in 1978. They tried a Gladiator but the fans refused to accept it (it may have had something to do with the Orange armor). So for 17 years there was no official mascot. Otto the Orange has only been official since 1995. Look, it beats the Gladiator and the Saltine Warrior (seriously). But it's stupid; there's no citrus fruit north of Florida. It's a completely illogical mascot, but then again, a lot of Syracuse fans are illogical too. So maybe it's exactly right.