The oldest Big Ten mascot, the Nittany Lion, belongs to Pennsylvania State University. The mountain lion mascot was first introduced in 1906 and called the Nittany lion because of Penn State's location in the Nittany Valley.

Our own mascot, Buckingham U. Badger, was first drawn by Art Evans in 1940 and came to life through the magic of papier-mâché in 1949. Although today's Bucky has not been around long, in the beginning of the 1890s, the football team began using an unnamed badger as a mascot. The live badger was not as nice as Bucky and after snapping at fans and being cited for delay of the game, he retired.

While we are on the topic of mascot records, Purdue University claims to have the world's largest mascot with its Boilermaker Special. The vehicle, designed to look like an old-fashioned locomotive, weighs 10,800 pounds and is 24 feet long.