THe TCU Horned Frog Macot--SUPERFROG!! A couple of other "real-life" mascots include the USC Trojan Horse: Traveler and the Texas Aggies - Dog--Reveille!
Clearly the best mascot is SuperFrog...he's jacked and he could totally take that silly bird from UMiami or the Maryland Terp. Only Bucky Badger even comes close to the awesomeness that is SuperFrog :-P
I have to say my favorit mascot is the Oreole as that is the mascot of where I went to high, after that it has to be Bucky Badger. Afterall who else could I choose living in Wisconsin. And Wiconsinites, became known as badgers way back in the 1800's when lead mining here was in full swing. And mines ran round the clock. The miners ate, slept and lived and worked in the miners like badgers and the name stuck.
Well, for starters, a great mascot should have a great "costume." I won't drop any names here, but I went to FSU and was a member of an elite organization that worked hand-and-hand with the athletic dept. As a reward for those members whose dedication went above and beyond the status quo,we'd go on our an "Away-Trip" football game sponsored by the Boosters.
My senior year, we went to one school (so think of ACC teams outside of FL) that was gorgeous, the community was so welcoming and we all had a blast. In Tallahassee, Friday nights (esp. before gamedays) in the downtown area have what's called, "The Downtown Getdown"...basically "family friendly"-pre partying (though most people get wasted) The university we visited had their own version in the immediate town south of the campus. We all were so excited to see our team's announcer, Gene Deckerhoff, and even more excited to see and pose for pics w/the home team's mascot. The mascot's escort told us the history of the mascot as it applies to the school.....and when asked if the person was wearing the GAMEDAY outfit, the escort nodded and said that they only have one per some old tradition.
Without giving too much away, the poor mascot's tail kept falling off until someone safety-pinned it on! So I'd say as long as you don't have to "ghetto-rig" your mascot, it's cute! Julie