Location: Tahle-quah, Okla.
Status: Public.
Enrollment: 9,600.
Nickname: RiverHawks.
Mascot: Rowdy the RiverHawk.
Colors: Green and white. Founded: 1909.
Famous alum: UTSA football Coach Larry Coker.
Cool tradition: Players touch the goal posts at the beginning
and end of every game.
Location: Abilene, Texas.
Status: Private, religious affiliation, Methodist.
Enrollment: 1,500.
Nickname: War Hawks. (Until 2005, McMurry’s athletics teams were known as the Indians.)
Colors: Maroon and white.
Founded: 1923.
Cool tradition: Fans chant “Ala Cumba” (“On to Victory”) at football games. The origin of the phrase is unclear;
some say it comes from an American Indian language.
Location: Cedar City, Utah.
Status: Public.
Enrollment: 8,000.
Nickname: Thunderbirds.
Colors: Red, white and black.
Founded: 1897.
Cool tradition: To become a true Thunderbird, students must kiss their sweethearts near the Old Sorrel statue at midnight on the
night of a full moon or the night before the homecoming football game.
Location: Muskogee, Okla.
Status: Private, religious affiliation, American Baptist Churches USA.
Enrollment: 1,200.
Nickname: Warriors.
Colors: Red, black and white.
Founded: 1880.
Location: Huntsville, Texas.
Status: Public.
Enrollment: 17,000.
Nickname: Bearkats. The nickname, spelled with a K, comes from a popular saying in the 1920s–“tough as a
bearkat.” The animal in question is more myth than real.
Mascot: Sammy Bearkat.
Colors: Orange and white.
Founded: 1879.
Location: Mobile, Ala.
Status: Public.
Enrollment: 15,700.
Nickname: Jaguars.
Mascot: South Paw.
Colors: Red, white and blue.
Founded: 1963.
First year played football: 2009.
Cool tradition: Jag Prowl, lead by the USA marching band and cheerleaders, is the procession of the Jaguars football
team prior to home games. Players walk through the student tailgating section and enter the stadium’s main gates to their locker room.
Location: Davis, Calif.
Status: Public.
Enrollment: 32,000.
Nickname: Aggies.
Colors: Yale blue and gold.
Founded: 1908.
Cool major: Viticulture and Enology (the sciences of cultivating grapes and winemaking).
Cool tradition: The school’s marching band, called Aggie Banduh!, rings the hallowed Tavernetti Bell once for every point scored after home victories.
Location: Atlanta, Ga.
Status: Public.
Enrollment: 31,000.
Nickname: Panthers.
Colors: Blue and white.
Founded: 1913.
First year played college football: 2010.
Cool (and very new) tradition: The school’s new fight song, Fight, Panthers, is played by the new marching band after every score.
Location: Lake Charles, La.
Status: Public.
Enrollment: 9,000.
Nickname: Cowboys.
Colors: Blue and gold.
Founded: 1939.
Cool tradition: Jolie Blon, sometimes called the Cajun national anthem, is the school’s unofficial fight song.
It’s played before each game and after every touchdown as Cowboys fans sway and clap.
Location: Minot, N.D.
Status: Public.
Enrollment: 3,850.
Nickname: Beavers.
Colors: Red, white and green.
Founded: 1913.
