Ranking Big 12 mascots after college conference expansion with Pac-12 schools

The Big 12 will look very different in 2024 with Texas and Oklahoma leaving for the SEC and Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah joining from the Pac-12 (along with BYU, UCF, Houston and Cincinnati joining in 2023).

With so much change in the conference, there is a lot to familiarize yourself with before the newly constituted Big 12 Conference takes the athletic field for competition.

One such area is team mascots.

Who are the mascots of the Big 12 teams?

Which mascot is the best? Why?

Take a look at the 16 Big 12 college mascots for the conference in 2024, ranked from No. 16 to No. 1.

Yes, these are subjective, but we don't think there should be much debate over who deserves to be in the top spot of these Big 12 mascot rankings.

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16. Willie the Wildcat - Kansas State

One look at this mascot can give you nightmares.

15. Bearcat - Cincinnati

Just Bearcat? Not some alliteration like Benny the Bearcat? We have to knock it for that.

14. Mountaineer - West Virginia

We have to give this school props for having a human mascot and not some cartoonish one. But, "Mountaineer" is so plain.

13. Shasta - Houston

The Cougar mascot just doesn't do much for us, maybe because there are so many cougar mascots out there and this one doesn't have many distinguishing features.

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12. Pistol Pete - Oklahoma State

We have to give the Cowboys credit for being different, and Pistol Pete is definitely different among Big 12 mascots.

11. Bruiser & Marigold - Baylor

In 2017, Baylor introduced Marigold as Bruiser's partner. Two mascots are definitely better than one.

10. Raider Red - Texas Tech

Are we too high on Raider Red? Maybe? But his name seems to go perfectly with his appearance.

9. Wilbur & Wilma Wildcat - Arizona

Like the Baylor mascots, the Wildcats have two mascots, and they have had two for much longer, with Wilma being created in 1986. Bonus points for them even being married.

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8. Cy the Cardinal - Iowa State

Evidently making Cy a Cyclone was just too difficult, so Iowa State made him a Cardinal. Did you know he was the national mascot of the year in 2008?

7. SuperFrog - TCU

If you like unique mascots, you probably like SuperFrog, because he is definitely unique.

6. Chip - Colorado

Chip is no Ralphie, but he's pretty cool in his own right and he really gets the crowd going at Colorado games.

5. Big Jay - Kansas

Big Jay has become synonymous with the Kansas Jayhawks over the years.

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4. Swoop - Utah

Yes, Swoop is a hawk, and there are a lot of hawk mascots, but Swoop has style.

3. Sparky - Arizona State

Sparky the Sun Devil is unique and he is synonymous with Arizona State University. He also stomps on buses, which is pretty cool.

2. Knightro - UCF

Knightro is just a cool name for a Knight mascot. He occasionally uses a go-kart. You can't get much cooler than that.

1. Cosmo the Cougar - BYU

Cosmo may be a cougar, but his athletic feats and dances easily set him above the rest of the mascots in the Big 12, and makes him one of the elite mascots in the country.

What other mascots can do this?

And this?

And this?

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Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Big 12 expansion mascot rankings after Pac-12 additions: Who is No. 1?