As the college world series begins to wind down and we have seen eight teams turn into two, I got to thinking about what was really important in college sports. After much thought I came to the conclusion that these final eight college baseball teams needed to be ranked in other important categories besides how good their baseball team is. Things like coolest mascot, easiness of the school, and Famous Alumni all deserved to be ranked. With much careful consideration, I decided that the following factors needed to be weighed when ranking the final eight teams of the college world series:
Category 1: Coolest Mascot
Winner: Florida Gators
– The gators were chosen as my winner of best mascot because of their pure intimidation of a mascot. Not only is the gator a frightening animal, it is also native to the swamplands of Florida.
Loser: North Carolina Tar Heels – The Tar Heels receive the title of worst mascot of the final eight for many reasons. First, their mascot title is the
tar heels, but their mascot is a ram which makes no sense. Second, after trying to trace back to origin of the term “tar heel,” I was unable to find any official reason for the term. Some think it comes from the sap from the trees in North Carolina, others from the Revolutionary War, and even others from the Civil War. The difference in the mascot name and actual mascot along with the confusing origin of the term “tar heel” is why North Carolina brings up the rear in this competition.
How they Stacked up:
1. Florida
2. Texas
3. California
4. Texas A&M
5. Virgina
6. South Carolina
7. Vanderbilt
8. North Carolina
Category 2: Easiness of School – Marcus is going to disagree with me on this one saying it should be something like stressfulness of graduates, but in his heart he knows easiness is what matters most.
Winner: Florida Gators – This CWS was full of schools that are known for their brains. Florida is no dummy school by any means, but they are the lowest ranking school in this category with the minimal ACT score of 19.
Loser: Vanderbilt – Everyone knew this one was coming, although the Dores faced stiffer competition than I expected. With the 75% of the incoming freshman scoring a 30 or above on the ACT Vandy is by far the brains of this field.
How they Stacked up:
1. Florida
2. South Carolina
3. Texas A&M
4. California
5. Texas
6. North Carolina
7. Virgina
8. Vanderbilt
Category Three: Alumni – Just to clear this up this is based solely on athletic alumni.
Winner:
North Carolina – All you would have to say is Michael Jordan and they would be my number one pick, but throw in Mia Hamm and its a lock.
Loser: Texas A&M – When two of your most notiable alumni in the sports world are Gary Kubiac and Gene Stallings your in trouble. Gene was a great coach and Gary in my opinion is an alright coach, the problem is that I am left asking the question, “Where are the Athletes”?
How they stacked up:
1. North Carolina
2. Florida – Steve Supperior and Harry Free, one of the creators of Gatorade.
3. California – Jason Kidd and Helen Wills, winner of 31 grand slams.
4. Virgina – Rick Carlisle and Heath Miller
5. South Carolina – Sterling Sharp and Mike Dunleavy
6. Vanderbilt – David Price and Jay Cutler
7. Texas – Roger Clemons and Earl Campbell. Roger really tanks them.
8. Texas A&M
Final Standings With Average Finish:
Florida – 1.33
California – 3.33
South Carolina – 4.33
Texas – 4.66
North Carolina and Texas A&M- 5
Virgina – 5.33
Vanderbilt – 7
-Mike
Category 1: Coolest Mascot
Winner: Florida Gators
– The gators were chosen as my winner of best mascot because of their pure intimidation of a mascot. Not only is the gator a frightening animal, it is also native to the swamplands of Florida.Loser: North Carolina Tar Heels – The Tar Heels receive the title of worst mascot of the final eight for many reasons. First, their mascot title is the
tar heels, but their mascot is a ram which makes no sense. Second, after trying to trace back to origin of the term “tar heel,” I was unable to find any official reason for the term. Some think it comes from the sap from the trees in North Carolina, others from the Revolutionary War, and even others from the Civil War. The difference in the mascot name and actual mascot along with the confusing origin of the term “tar heel” is why North Carolina brings up the rear in this competition.How they Stacked up:
1. Florida
2. Texas
3. California
4. Texas A&M
5. Virgina
6. South Carolina
7. Vanderbilt
8. North Carolina
Category 2: Easiness of School – Marcus is going to disagree with me on this one saying it should be something like stressfulness of graduates, but in his heart he knows easiness is what matters most.
Winner: Florida Gators – This CWS was full of schools that are known for their brains. Florida is no dummy school by any means, but they are the lowest ranking school in this category with the minimal ACT score of 19.Loser: Vanderbilt – Everyone knew this one was coming, although the Dores faced stiffer competition than I expected. With the 75% of the incoming freshman scoring a 30 or above on the ACT Vandy is by far the brains of this field.
How they Stacked up:
1. Florida
2. South Carolina
3. Texas A&M
4. California
5. Texas
6. North Carolina
7. Virgina
8. Vanderbilt
Category Three: Alumni – Just to clear this up this is based solely on athletic alumni.
Winner:
North Carolina – All you would have to say is Michael Jordan and they would be my number one pick, but throw in Mia Hamm and its a lock.
Loser: Texas A&M – When two of your most notiable alumni in the sports world are Gary Kubiac and Gene Stallings your in trouble. Gene was a great coach and Gary in my opinion is an alright coach, the problem is that I am left asking the question, “Where are the Athletes”?
How they stacked up:
1. North Carolina
2. Florida – Steve Supperior and Harry Free, one of the creators of Gatorade.
3. California – Jason Kidd and Helen Wills, winner of 31 grand slams.
4. Virgina – Rick Carlisle and Heath Miller
5. South Carolina – Sterling Sharp and Mike Dunleavy
6. Vanderbilt – David Price and Jay Cutler
7. Texas – Roger Clemons and Earl Campbell. Roger really tanks them.
8. Texas A&M
Final Standings With Average Finish:
Florida – 1.33
California – 3.33
South Carolina – 4.33
Texas – 4.66
North Carolina and Texas A&M- 5
Virgina – 5.33
Vanderbilt – 7
-Mike