NCAA Baseball Regionals - Regional by Regional, Mascot by Mascot

As you know if you read or have read WRT, I love mascots and numbers. For the sake of this post, numbers will be excluded in order to focus on the mascots in the 64-team field. I'mm go team-by-team, sorted alphabetically by regional location.

A turquoise rooster? Go CCU! (photo credit: goccusports)

Baton Rouge, La.
The LSU Tigers--the Bayou Bengals, as they're affectionately known around these parts--look to avoid elimination at the hands of the Jackson State Tigers, who won the SWAC tournament to earn their bid. We'll also have the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns and the Sam Houston State Bearkats squaring off. Not quite sure why they spell it with a 'k' instead of the standard 'c,' but who am I to judge. A little monotonous with two Tigers and a Bearkat, but the Ragin' Cajuns spice it up. Literally.

Blacksburg, Va.
The Virginia Tech Hokies take on the UConn Huskies--I know, very similar while the Oklahoma Sooners will face the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. A hokie isn't a turkey, as their logo might suggest, in fact, it's a spirit yell coined way back in 1896. The Huskies just got a new, meaner looking logo while the Sooners are a staple in college athletics. A chanticleer is in fact a rooster. Weird.

Bloomington, Ind.
The Indiana Hoosiers had a hell of a season (43-14) as did the two-seed Austin Peay Governors (45-13). The same can't be said for the other two schools. The Florida Gators (29-28) got in solely based on their name while the Valparaiso Crusaders (31-26) took the crown in the Horizon League to earn the in-state trip to Bloomington.

Chapel Hill, N.C.
We all know the North Carolina Tar Heels but the other three, not so much. The Florida Atlantic Owls, Towson Tigers and Canisius Golden Griffins, who I highlighted yesterday, are far from household names. It's rare finding an owl as a mascot but it's cool.

Ah to hell with this, I'm gonna go through the remaining 48 teams and pick out the best mascots.

The Corvallis, Ore. site has two of the best in the field--the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos and the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners.

And come to think of it, the Rice Owls also have the nocturnal bird as a representation of who they are.

The South Dakota State Jackrabbits are kinda cool as well though I think they're likely two-and-BBQ.

Time to work. Later all.