Although it may seem unbelievable at first, two bears grace the center of Baylor’s Waco, Texas, campus. While most schools around the country have students dress up in an animal costume to get the crowd pumped up, some schools still have the real thing.

Baylor first made the bear part of its campus in 1917, when Ted made an appearance at a Baylor-Texas A&M game. The school voted in 1974 to name all future bears Judge, after the schools founder, Judge R.E.B. Baylor.

Other schools, particularly those in the South, continue to use animal mascots as well. One of the best known is the University of Texas’s steer, Bevo. It has been around since 1916. A group of students known as the Silver Spurs are responsible for Bevo.

‘He’s one of the biggest traditions on our campus,’ Silver Spurs Vice President Jeff Shelton said. ‘People are always trying to get around him.’

While at Baylor, the bears are not allowed to leave their cage. Bevo makes his rounds all over campus. The 13th Bevo in the storied history is owned by Austin rancher John T. Baker, but the Silver Spurs transport him to and from his various appearances. These include all Longhorn home football games, in-state road games and, of course, the heated annual contest with Oklahoma in Dallas.

Like most other schools, Texas does have a student, known as Hook’em, who dresses up as a cow and moves throughout the crowd. But Bevo is still the fan favorite, Shelton says.

‘We’re one of the last schools to keep an actual animal,’ Shelton said. ‘He’s huge in all of Austin. He’s such a well-known figure.’

Another southern school where an animal dominates campus is Louisiana State. But instead of a domesticated cow, LSU’s campus houses an actual tiger. In fact, Mike is the only tiger to be housed on a college campus in the United States. His brother, Tom II, is owned by the Memphis Tigers but is kept off-campus.

Mike is the fifth tiger for LSU in a tradition that began in 1936, according to his veterinarian, Dr. David Baker of LSU’s veterinary school. He said Mike goes to all home football games – provided it isn’t raining – and one basketball game per year.

‘He’s very popular with everyone here,’ Baker said. ‘About 100,000 people per year come to view him.’

Baker and his team have to be extra careful with Mike because federal laws state that wild animals need to be caged at all times. Mike is even fenced in for the few seconds it takes to transport him from his enclosure to a trailer to be taken across the street to the football stadium.

Several other schools, including Georgia, Texas A&M and Texas Tech, also use animal mascots. Many of these schools have drawn criticism from animal rights groups, but all say that their animal mascots are given first-rate care.

‘The complaints aren’t legitimate,’ Baker said. ‘Wild areas in the world are disappearing, and there’s no other place to have them. As long as they’re well-cared for and healthy, there’s no reason not to keep them.’

Shelton said that his group has received a few complaints. But they are still cautious to provide for Bevo’s well-being.

‘The treatment that Bevo gets is second to none,’ Shelton said. ‘He just got a new trailer. He’s actually pretty spoiled.’

Toledo at Syracuse (-3.5)

6:30 P.M.

After an impressive win over Central Florida, the Orangemen face a much more difficult task in the Rockets. With back-to-back wins, over Mid-American Conference defending champion Marshall and Big East power Pittsburgh, Toledo proved it can play with big-time programs.

This one could be high scoring as both teams have shown in the last few weeks they can put up points. Rockets sophomore quarterback Bruce Gradkowski could prove dangerous after engineering last week’s comeback win over Pitt.

Mascot Advantage: Syracuse (An orange blob isn’t great, but it’s more original than a rocket)

Pick: Toledo 35, Syracuse 24

Tulane at Texas (-29.5)

7 P.M.

The Longhorns might as well leave Bevo at his ranch for this one – they won’t need any additional help. Actually, Bevo and 10 of his bovine friends could probably win over a Tulane team that nearly abolished its football team after last season.

Texas leads the all-time series, 16-1-1, and hasn’t given up a point to Tulane since 1962, including last season’s 49-0 victory. Tulane does come in with hot quarterback J.P. Losman, who has thrown for 300 yards in all four of the Green Wave’s games.

Mascot Advantage: Texas (What exactly does Green Wave mean?)

Pick: Texas 42, Tulane 10

LSU (-13.5) at Mississippi State

9 P.M., ESPN2

Since Mike doesn’t travel to road games, the Bulldogs won’t have to worry about him escaping. But LSU will given MSU plenty of other reasons to worry. The Tigers are riding last week’s huge 17-10 victory over Georgia.

MSU hasn’t won a game yet, and LSU doesn’t plan on letting that change. The Bulldogs have lost eight in a row dating back to last season and are off to their worst start since 1968.

Mascot Advantage: LSU (Nothing like a meat-eating wild animal gracing the center of campus)

Pick: LSU 30, MSU 10

Texas Tech at Mississippi (-2)

7 P.M.

The Red Raiders feature a Midnight Matador, who rides into the stadium on a horse. The knight in shining armor hopes to provide Texas Tech with its first legitimate win of the season, after last week’s 49-21 loss to North Carolina State.

Eli Manning has played well for the Rebels, throwing for eight touchdowns in Mississippi’s first three games.

Mascot Advantage: Mississippi (The guy in the rebel suit looks pretty cool in that cowboy hat)

Pick: Mississippi 31, Texas Tech 24

No. 17 Pittsburgh (-1) at Texas A&M

In the world of mascots, the Aggies perhaps claim the worst, an American Collie. If Pittsburgh had an actual panther, it would probably tear the collie to pieces. Even without the panther, Pitt will likely do the same to the Texas A&M football team Saturday.

Both teams come off disappointing road losses – Pitt lost to Toledo, 35-31, and Texas A&M lost to Virginia Tech, 35-19. The Panthers defense fell apart late, allowing a Toledo comeback. The Aggies just never stood a chance, falling pray to the Hokies and Hurricane Isabel. Now it’s time to see which team can bounce back.

Mascot Advantage: Panther (Who likes dogs, anyway?)

Pick: Pitt 27, Texas A&M 13

Published on September 25, 2003 at 12:00 pm