30 Best College Football Mascots of All-Time

17. West Virginia Mountaineers – Mountaineer

West Virginia’s Mountaineer mascot first appeared in 1934 and has been a staple at sporting events ever since. Dressed in frontier garb with a coonskin cap on his head and a rifle in his hand, the Mountaineer mascot is one of the more unique in college athletics.

A new mascot is chosen each year by the Mountain Honorary, members of West Virginia’s senior class, and while it’s not part of the requirement, many of the men picked grow a beard to really get in the feel of a Mountaineer.

Of course, some can’t grow beards to such a magnitude as West Virginia does sometimes allow the right candidate to become the Mountaineer if they don’t have one. But there are fables told that the beard does in fact help West Virginia win more football games.