Program Profile: Iowa State

Since 1892 (Big Ten)
Colors: Cardinal and Gold
Mascot: Cyclone

A middlin’ Big Twelve team. But its supporters are willing to risk life and limb. The stadium is named after Jack Trice who played his first game in 1923. The opponent was Minnesota, and he suffered a broken collarbone toward the beginning of the game. He continued to play, but another hit killed him. In 2005 a tornado touched down the day of the Buffalo game; the Cyclones appropriately ended up winning that game. Then there was the time in 1959 when the field phones were tested before the Missouri game, and it turned out the teams could hear each other. The problem was fixed before game time, but since then the winner of the game has received the Telephone Trophy. ISU is behind in the Cy-Hawk trophy series against instate rival Iowa. But that’s ok when you’ve got something pretty as the All-American Grove, a walk of three hundred trees honoring past student athletes.

So this is one of those teams that has a double mascot. Visually, they’re represented by Cy, a Cardinal. But their actual mascot is the Cyclone. See, in 1895 there were more cyclones than usual in Iowa. That same year, ISU upset Northwestern, so the next day’s headline was “Struck by a Cyclone.” Cardinal and Gold, however, has no story.