From Gaels to Golden Grizzlies, here's how Shootout teams got their nicknames

Before there was a Wolf Pack, there were Sagebrushers. Before there were Golden Grizzlies, there were Pioneers.

And although the Bulls have been the Bulls since 1931, for a very brief while the University of Buffalo tried out something called the New York Bulls Initiative, a failed rebranding effort that replaced "Buffalo" with "New York."

Nicknames come and go in the world of college sports. Longtime Alaskans will remember that when UAA started its athletic department in the late 1970s, the teams were called the Sourdoughs. Now they're the Seawolves, a name UAA says comes from Native Alaska folklore.

This year's Shootout provided a showcase for Aggies, Bulls, Bulldogs, Gaels, Golden Grizzlies, Seawolves, Wildcats and the Wolf Pack.

What's a Gael? Why do the Aggies have a picture of a horse on their warmups? Is a Golden Grizzly more dangerous than a brown bear or a black bear?

Here's what we learned.

Buffalo Bulls

Buffalo started out as the Bisons (yes, plural) a century ago and switched to the Bulls in 1931. The better story, however, is about the school's recently abandoned rebranding effort.

A few years ago, former athletic director Danny White (now at Central Florida) wanted the school to be identified with New York instead of Buffalo. Something called the New York Bulls Initiative ("NYBI") was born, and for a couple of seasons the basketball teams wore jerseys that said "New York" instead of "Buffalo."

In April, with White at a new school, the school announced it was restoring the name Buffalo and the UB acronym.

UC Davis Aggies

The nickname Aggies is a nod to the California school's agricultural heritage. The horse on the warmups is another matter.

According to the school website, Weber State's mascot is a mustang called Gunrock, a name that "dates to 1921 when the US Army brought a horse named Gun Rock to UC Davis to supply high-quality stock for cavalry horses."

The student body once tried to change the mascot from a mustang to a cow, but alumni opposition reined in that idea.

Drake Bulldogs

The school's teams were known as the Ducklings and Ganders until 1908, when they became the Bulldogs.

The change was inspired by the bulldogs owned by John L. Griffith, who coached every Drake sport in 1908. Griffith often brought his bulldogs to the practice fields.

For the last 37 years, the school has hosted the Beautiful Bulldog Contest prior to the Drake Relays, the school's famous world-class track meet. So many people want to enter their bulldogs in the contest that a lottery is held to determine which 50 dogs will compete.

Iona Gaels

From the school website:

"A Gael is anyone of Irish-Gaelic ancestry, consistent with the Irish tradition of Iona. The College was founded in 1940 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers, commonly known as the Irish Christian Brothers."

Nevada Wolf Pack

The school's original nickname was the Sagebrushers, after the Nevada state flower. According to the school website, in the 1921-22 school year a local sportswriter referred to the Sagebrushers as a pack of wolves, and the name stuck.

Oakland Golden Grizzlies

The Pioneers became the Golden Grizzlies when Oakland, a school in Rochester, Michigan, made the move from Division II to Division I in 1997.

And so a 19-member "Mascot Advisory Committee" was formed, and after months of meetings it offered three candidates — Golden Grizzlies, Saber Cats and Pioneers. Golden Grizzlies quickly became the favorite, according to the school's website.

The Pioneers and mascot Pioneer Pete made the list of finalists even though they didn't meet the committee's criteria that the new mascot should be "animal-based, tough, unique, have regional ties, be collegiate, have graphic potential and be gender- and race-neutral."

Now Oakland has a gender-neutral mascot, but the regional tie isn't clear. Michigan isn't home to any grizzlies, golden or otherwise.

Weber State Wildcats

According to the school's website, one day in the 1920s a football player accused teammate Wally Morris of playing like a pussycat, which prompted another player to say, "He's no pussycat, he's a wildcat!"

"Wildcat" became Morris' nickname, and after a sportswriter described the team as "scrappy as a bunch of wildcats," it became the school's nickname.

For years, a real wildcat attended football games. The website explains why that doesn't happen any more:

"The animal, unhappy at being kept in a cage, ended its career as a mascot when it bit a cheerleader named Judy Freeman on the nose."