List of college sports teams in the United States with different nicknames for men's and women's teams

Last updated August 25, 2021

The following is a list of college athletics programs in the United States that have different nicknames for their men's and women's teams.

Different nicknames

School	Men's teams	Women's teams	Notes
Arkansas–Monticello	Boll Weevils	Cotton Blossoms
Arkansas Tech	Wonder Boys	Golden Suns
California Lutheran	Kingsmen	Regals
Centenary College	Gentlemen	Ladies
Central Arkansas	Bears	Sugar Bears
Central Missouri	Mules	Jennies
Claremont–Mudd–Scripps	Stags	Athenas	The combined athletic program of three of the five undergraduate Claremont Colleges.
Hawaiʻi	Rainbow Warriors	Rainbow Wahine	In women's beach volleyball, the official nickname is still Rainbow Wahine, but the team has largely deprecated it in favor of SandBows.
Hobart and William Smith	Statesmen	Herons	Originally separate single-sex institutions, the two schools joined together institutionally but retained separate nicknames for their teams.
Kentucky State	Thorobreds	Thorobrettes
Kenyon	Lords	Ladies
Louisiana Tech	Bulldogs	Lady Techsters
UMass	Minutemen	Minutewomen
McNeese State	Cowboys	Cowgirls
Mississippi Valley State	Delta Devils	Devilettes
New Mexico Highlands	Cowboys	Cowgirls
Northland (WI)	LumberJacks	LumberJills
Oklahoma State	Cowboys	Cowgirls
St. Peter's	Peacocks	Peahens
St. Ambrose	Fighting Bees	Queen Bees
Stephen F. Austin State	Lumberjacks	Ladyjacks
Southern California	Trojans	Trojans/Women of Troy	Women's team names are used interchangeably.
Utah	Utes	Utes	All teams use "Utes" except women's gymnastics, which instead uses Red Rocks.
Western Kentucky	Hilltoppers	Lady Toppers
Wyoming	Cowboys	Cowgirls
Xavier (LA)	Gold Rush	Gold Nuggets

Schools that use the prefix "Lady"

School	Men's teams	Women's teams	Notes
Alabama A&M	Bulldogs	Bulldogs
Alabama State	Hornets	Lady Hornets
Alcorn State	Braves	Lady Braves
Baylor	Bears	Lady Bears	Some women's teams are the Lady Bears, while some are Bears.
Campbell	Fighting Camels	Lady Camels	Only the women's basketball team is known as the Lady Camels; all others for both sexes are known as the Fighting Camels.
Cal State–Northridge	Matadors	Lady Matadors
Carthage	Red Men	Lady Reds
Delta State	Statesmen	Lady Statesmen
Eastern Kentucky	Colonels	Lady Colonels
Emporia State	Hornets	Lady Hornets
Florida A&M	Rattlers	Lady Rattlers
Georgia	Bulldogs	Lady Bulldogs	Women's basketball only; the women's gymnastics team is called the Georgia Gym Dogs.
Hampton	Pirates	Lady Pirates
Howard	Bison	Lady Bison
Jackson State	Tigers	Lady Tigers
Lamar	Cardinals	Lady Cardinals
Liberty	Flames	Lady Flames
Lindenwood	Lions	Lady Lions
Louisiana State	Tigers	Lady Tigers	Usage of "Lady Tigers" is dependent on whether the specific sport is sponsored for both men and women.^[1]
Manhattan	Jaspers	Lady Jaspers
Montana	Grizzlies	Lady Griz	Women's basketball only.
Missouri State	Bears	Lady Bears
Morgan State	Bears	Lady Bears
Nevada-Las Vegas	Rebels	Lady Rebels	Women's basketball only; men's basketball team are known as the Runnin' Rebels.
North Carolina Central	Eagles	Lady Eagles
Northwestern State	Demons	Lady Demons
Old Dominion	Monarchs	Lady Monarchs	Except for field hockey and lacrosse.
Penn State	Nittany Lions	Lady Lions	Women's basketball only.
Prairie View A&M	Panthers	Lady Panthers
Savannah State	Tigers	Lady Tigers
South Carolina State	Bulldogs	Lady Bulldogs
Southeastern Louisiana	Lions	Lady Lions
Southern	Jaguars	Lady Jaguars
Southern Mississippi	Golden Eagles	Lady Eagles
Tennessee	Volunteers	Lady Volunteers	Usage of "Lady Volunteers" is dependent on whether the specific sport is sponsored for both men and women (since 2017).
Tennessee State	Tigers	Lady Tigers	Except the women's track team, which are known as the Tigerbelles.^[2]
Texas A&M–Kingsville	Javelinas	Lady Javelinas	Not uniformly used.
Texas Southern	Tigers	Lady Tigers
Red Raiders	Red Raiders	Lady Raiders	Women's basketball only.
Wilkes	Colonels	Lady Colonels
Yeshiva	Maccabees	Lady Macs

Schools that once used different nicknames for women's teams, but no longer do

Anderson University (Indiana): Historically, men's teams had been known as Ravens and women's teams as Lady Ravens, but the school has now dropped the "Lady" prefix.
Arkansas, University of. Women's teams were known as Lady Razorbacks or Lady'Backs, but the university now refers to them simply as the Razorbacks or Razorback women.
Austin Peay State University. Men's teams: Governors. Women's teams: Lady Govs. However the school has discontinued this distinction.
Buffalo. From the late-1970s until the mid-1990s, the women's teams were known as the Royals, while the men's teams were the Bulls. Now all teams are known as the Bulls.
Chattanooga, University of Tennessee at. Men's teams: Chattanooga Mocs. Women's teams: Chattanooga Lady Mocs. Chattanooga dropped the Lady prefix during the 2013-14 school year.
Colorado Boulder, University of (Colorado): When the school began sponsoring women's sports in the 1970s, those teams were known as "Lady Buffs". Since 1993, women's sports have used the men's nickname of Buffaloes.
Eastern New Mexico University. Men's teams: Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds. Women's teams: Eastern New Mexico Zias. ENMU dropped Zias before the 2015–16 academic year.
Johnson University: Men's teams were known as Preachers and women's teams as Lady Evangels before the 2013–14 school year, when all teams adopted Royals.
Kentucky, University of. Women's teams were known as Lady Kats, but adopted the men's nickname of Wildcats starting with the 1995–96 academic year. The women's gymnastics team retained its historic nickname of GymKats for several years before abandoning it in favor of Wildcats.
Lincoln Christian University. Once known as Preachers (men) and Angels (women); all teams are now Red Lions.
Louisiana at Lafayette, University of (Louisiana). The women's teams were referred to as the "Lady Cajuns" until the 2006–07 academic year, but they now use the same "Ragin' Cajuns" nickname as the men's teams.
Middle Tennessee State University. The women's teams were referred to as the Lady Raiders until the 2007-08 academic year, but they now use the same Blue Raiders nickname as the men's teams.
Mississippi State University. Men's teams: Mississippi State Bulldogs. Women's teams: Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs. Mississippi State dropped the Lady prefix in the fall of 2012.
New Mexico State University. Unlike most schools that had separate nicknames for the two sexes, New Mexico State did not have a distinctly feminine women's nickname. Before 2000, women's teams were known as Roadrunners. During the 1999–2000 school year, NMSU female athletes voted to adopt the men's nickname of Aggies, with the change taking effect in the next school year.
North Georgia College & State University: The first intercollegiate athletic teams were men's teams known as Cadets, from the school's history as a senior military college. When women's basketball was added as the school's first women's sport, that team was known as Golddiggers (referencing the school's location in the old gold-mining town of Dahlonega). In the 1970s, the men's and women's teams became Saints and Lady Saints. When NGCSU was merged into the current University of North Georgia in 2013, the merged school adopted the nickname of Nighthawks for all teams.
Oral Roberts University. When ORU began intercollegiate athletics in 1965, its teams were Titans; when women's sports were added, those teams became Lady Titans. Just before the end of the 1992–93 academic year, the school adopted its current nickname of Golden Eagles for all teams, with the change taking effect with the start of the new school year.
South Alabama, University of. Historically, men's teams were Jaguars and women's teams were Lady Jaguars. By the 2012–13 school year, all women's teams except for basketball had dropped the "Lady" prefix, and the women's basketball team followed suit in 2013–14.
South Florida, University of. Men's teams were called the Golden Brahmans until 1981 when they became the Bulls. USF's women's teams were called the Lady Brahmans and didn't adopt the Bulls nickname until 1987.
Stony Brook University. From 1966 to 1994, men's and women's teams were respectively Patriots and Lady Patriots. Since 1994–95, all teams for both sexes use Seawolves.
Syracuse University. Before the 2004–05 academic year, men's and women's teams were Orangemen and Orangewomen. All teams for both sexes are now known as Orange.
Tarleton State University — In the late 1960s, the school adopted "TexAnns", a variation of the men's nickname of Texans, for women's teams when female athletes desired a distinctive nickname. TSU changed to "Texans" for all teams in 2019–20, following a campaign launched by two players and a student manager on the TSU women's basketball team.^[3]
Texas at El Paso, University of (UTEP). Historically, men's teams were Miners and women's teams were Lady Miners. Over time, women's teams began dropping the "Lady" prefix, and by 2014–15 all women's teams had done so.
Texas Christian University. Men's teams: TCU Horned Frogs. Women's teams: TCU Lady Frogs. TCU dropped the Lady Frogs in 2010.
Washburn University. Before the 2013–14 school year, men's teams were Ichabods and women's teams were Lady Blues. In May 2013, the school announced that women's teams would adopt the Ichabods nickname effective with the new school year.
Western Illinois University. Before the 2009–10 academic year, women's teams were known as the Westerwinds. They now use the men's nickname of Leathernecks.

Related Research Articles

The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ten states, three additional public land-grant universities, and one private research university. The conference is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. The SEC participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I in sports competitions; for football, it is part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A.

The Gulf South Conference (GSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II level which operates in the Southeastern United States.

The University of Arkansas is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in Arkansas. Founded as Arkansas Industrial University in 1871, classes were first held on January 22, 1872, with its present name adopted in 1899. It is noted for its strong programs in architecture, agriculture, communication disorders, creative writing, history, law, and Middle Eastern studies, as well as for its business school, of which the supply chain management program was ranked the best in North America by Gartner in July 2020.

The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville. The University of Arkansas student body voted to change the name of the school mascot in 1910 to the Arkansas Razorbacks after a hard-fought battle against LSU in which they were said to play like a "wild band of Razorback hogs" by former coach Hugo Bezdek. The Arkansas Razorbacks are the only major sports team in the U.S. with a porcine nickname, though the Texas A&M–Kingsville Javelinas play in Division II.

Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private Christian university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College.

The Missouri Valley Conference is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Currently, its members are located in the midwestern United States.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is a public university in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is one of four universities and two other affiliated institutions in the University of Tennessee System.

The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma and Arkansas.

The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competing mostly in the Big 12 Conference. The school was a founding member of the Southwest Conference and was a member of the Western Athletic Conference, Conference USA, and the Mountain West Conference before joining the Big 12. Two TCU teams participate outside the Big 12 in sports not sponsored by that conference. The rifle team competes in the Patriot Rifle Conference, and the beach volleyball team plays in the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association.

The 2018–19 Arkansas Razorbacks women's basketball team represented the University of Arkansas in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. They were led by second-year head coach Mike Neighbors and played their home games at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

References

↑ Megargee, Steve (June 26, 2015). "Tennessee set to make move to a lone 'Lady Vols' team". Yahoo! Sports. Associated Press . Retrieved June 26, 2015.
↑ Organ, Mike (June 28, 2015). "Drop history-rich Tigerbelles name? No way, TSU says". The Tennessean . USA Today Network . Retrieved March 22, 2019.
↑ Javad, Jonah (January 24, 2019). "Tarleton State drops 'TexAnns' name for female athletes". WFAA . Retrieved September 2, 2019.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Megargee, Steve (June 26, 2015). "Tennessee set to make move to a lone 'Lady Vols' team". Yahoo! Sports. Associated Press . Retrieved June 26, 2015.

[2] Organ, Mike (June 28, 2015). "Drop history-rich Tigerbelles name? No way, TSU says". The Tennessean . USA Today Network . Retrieved March 22, 2019.

[3] Javad, Jonah (January 24, 2019). "Tarleton State drops 'TexAnns' name for female athletes". WFAA . Retrieved September 2, 2019.

[1]

[2]

[3]