The 2023 Mascot Challenge is a highly anticipated event for fans of mascots. To keep track of the competition and make predictions, it is useful to have a printable bracket. A printable bracket provides a visual representation of the tournament, allowing fans to follow along and see which mascots advance to the next round. A printable bracket for the 2023 Mascot Challenge can be easily found online. Many sports websites and fan forums offer printable brackets that can be downloaded and printed for free. These brackets typically feature a grid format with spaces for each mascot's name and a designated spot to mark the winner of each match-up.
These brackets typically feature a grid format with spaces for each mascot's name and a designated spot to mark the winner of each match-up. The printable bracket acts as a useful tool for fans to keep track of the tournament and make predictions. As each round progresses, fans can mark their brackets with the winners of each match-up, allowing them to see how well their predictions align with the actual results.
How to pick your NCAA tournament bracket based on team mascots
In an alternate universe, the NCAA tournament is decided trial-by-combat style, with each school's mascot serving as its champion.
Mascot basketball, as we all know, is the sport at its purest form. Exhibit A:
Until that becomes acceptable in this universe, though, we’ll just have to imagine. Or we could take a detailed statistical dive into the NCAA tournament success of each type of mascot and pretend like the fuzzy character cheering teams on from the sideline has a tangible impact on a team's performance in March Madness.
We looked at all 304 schools that have played an NCAA tournament game since 1985 (the start of the tournament's modern format) and separated their mascots into nine categories:
Bears, Birds, Cats, Dogs, Miscellaneous, Mythical, Other Animals, People, Weather/Elemental.
While most mascots easily fit into one of these categories, some were more complicated, so we looked up the history of the mascot’s origin in those cases. For example, while the North Carolina Tar Heels' on-court mascot is a ram, there are two stories for how the Tar Heels got their nickname and both are about humans. So the Tar Heels fall into our People category.
Here’s what we found:
People are the most common mascots. Of the 304 teams that have played in the NCAA tournament since 1985, 92 have had human mascots, from the North Carolina A&T Aggies to the Hawaii Warriors. Up until 2019, the most common mascot name was a tie between Tigers (Jackson State, Tennessee State, Texas Southern, Towson, Pacific, Princeton, Clemson, Auburn, LSU, Missouri and Memphis) and Bulldogs (Drake, North Carolina-Asheville, Samford, South Carolina State, Fresno State, Yale, Louisiana Tech, Georgia, Mississippi State, Butler and Gonzaga) with 11 each. Gardner-Webb made its first tournament appearance in 2019, giving the Bulldogs a dozen representatives.
| Mascot Type | Number of teams | wins | losses | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| People | 92 | 647 | 702 | 48.0 |
| Cats | 48 | 370 | 363 | 50.5 |
| Birds | 47 | 266 | 285 | 48.3 |
| Other Animals | 45 | 298 | 291 | 50.6 |
| Dogs | 30 | 217 | 206 | 51.3 |
| Mythical | 14 | 125 | 90 | 58.1 |
| Bears | 12 | 73 | 84 | 46.5 |
| Weather/Elemental | 9 | 79 | 86 | 47.9 |
| Miscellaneous | 7 | 130 | 96 | 57.5 |
When it comes to winning games, Mythical and Miscellaneous teams come up clutch.
The Mythical category includes the five-time national champion Duke Blue Devils (and the zero-time national champion Central Connecticut Blue Devils). The 14 teams in that category have played 215 games and are 125-90 (58.1 percent) in the tournament since 1985, though that might be (see: definitely is) heavily skewed by Duke's NCAA-leading 97 NCAA tournament wins since 1985. No other Mythical team has even been to a Final Four since 1985, and the next-winningest team in the category would be the DePaul Blue Demons, who are 7-9 in March Madness play.
Miscellaneous teams have a little more parity, with the Ohio State Buckeyes, Stanford Cardinal, Syracuse Orange, and Wichita State Shockers all having double-digit NCAA tournament wins. That category as a whole is 130-96 (57.5 percent) in the tournament.
Miscellaneous teams get even more impressive when you look at how many wins each category has per team.
(11) NC State
It adds an element of excitement and competition to the event, as fans can compare their brackets with friends or participate in bracket challenge contests. Having a printable bracket for the 2023 Mascot Challenge also allows fans to see the overall structure of the tournament. They can visualize how mascots progress through each round and which match-ups may be particularly challenging or exciting. It provides a comprehensive overview of the competition and helps fans stay engaged and invested. In conclusion, a printable bracket for the 2023 Mascot Challenge is a valuable resource for fans of the event. It allows them to track the progress of mascots, make predictions, and stay engaged throughout the tournament. Whether printing a bracket from an online source or creating one manually, having this visual representation enhances the overall experience for fans..
Reviews for "Prepare for the 2023 Mascot Challenge with our Printable Bracket"
- John - 1 star - I was really disappointed with the "Printable bracket for 2023 mascot challenge". The template was poorly designed, the fonts were hard to read, and the overall user experience was frustrating. I was looking forward to using this bracket for my office Mascot Challenge, but it ended up being a waste of time. I ended up creating my own bracket from scratch, which took me a lot more time and effort. I would not recommend this printable bracket to anyone.
- Sarah - 2 stars - I had high hopes for the "Printable bracket for 2023 mascot challenge", but it fell short of my expectations. The layout was confusing and cluttered. It was difficult to follow the progress of my team and the bracket felt cramped. Additionally, the printing quality was poor, with faded colors and blurry graphics. Overall, it was a disappointing experience and I wouldn't use this printable bracket again.
- Mike - 1 star - The "Printable bracket for 2023 mascot challenge" was a complete letdown. The template was outdated and lacked creativity. It looked like something from the early 2000s. The mascot images were pixelated and the overall design was unappealing. I was excited to have a printable bracket for my office competition, but this one was just embarrassing to use. I ended up looking for an alternative online. Don't waste your time with this one.