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Below is an interactive word search puzzle featuring some of the best known college nicknames. The clues are the names of the school and the answer words in the grid are the corresponding nickname. For example in the first clue, "Unversity of Alabama", the corresponding words to find in the search grid are "Crimson Tide".
When it comes to nicknames of sports teams at colleges and universities in the United States, there is practically one of everything.
Names with colors in them are highly popular such as the Big Blue at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois; Big Green at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire; and Big Red at Cornell in Ithaca, New York and Denison University in Granville, Ohio. There are Black Bears, (a university in this puzzle), Blackbirds, Black Flies, Black Knights, and Black Squirrels. There are lots of "Blue" schools including just plain Blue at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Plus there are the Blue Angels; Blue Boys; Blue Demons; Blue Devils; Blue Hawks; Blue Hens; Blue Hose; Blue Jays, two words; and Bluejays, one word; Blue Knights; Blue Raiders; Blue Rebels; Blues; Blue Streaks; Blue Tigers; Blue Wave and the Blugolds at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. There are the Crimson Eagles, the Crimson Storm, the Crimson Tide, and the Crimson Wave.
There are lots of "Golden" teams including the Golden Bears; Golden Bobcats; Golden Bulls; Golden Eagles; Golden Falcons; Golden Flashes; Golden Flyers; Golden Gophers; Golden Griffins; Golden Grizzlies; Golden Gusties; Golden Hurricane; Golden Knights; Golden Lions; Golden Panthers; Golden Rams; Golden Seals; Golden Suns; Golden Tigers; Golden Tornado; and finally the Gold Rush at Xavier University of Louisiana.
There are also a sampling of purple teams including the Purple Aces; Purple Eagles; Purple Knights; Purple Pride; Purple Raiders; and the Purple Storm. And there are several red teams, including the Red Devils; Red Dragons; Red Flash; Red Foxes; RedHawks, one word; and Red Hawks, two words; Redmen; Red Raiders; and the Red Storm at St. John's University.
Animals are the most popular mascot category with over twenty schools sporting bears as theirs, including Baylor University in Waco, Texas and Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Thirty plus schools have teams named Cougars and over forty schools use Bulldogs as their nickname, as well as forty plus schools that call themselves Tigers.
There are also Cobbers and Cobras, Colonials and Colonels; and the Claim Jumpers at Columbia College-Hollywood in Los Angeles.
We have Haymakers and Hilltoppers and Horned Frogs and Hurricanes; Jackrabbits, (South Dakota State); Jimmies; Johnnies and Jumbos. There are Kangaroos; Keydets; and lots of Knights; Leathernecks and Leopards and loads of Lions.
We have Mighty Macs and Mighty Oaks, Mountaineers and Musketeers. There are Panthers and Pioneers, Racers, Ragin' Cajuns, and Ramblers. Lots of teams emphasize running, such as the Runnin' Bulldogs; Runnin' Rebels; Runnin' Utes; Runnin' Wolves; Running Eagles; and Running Rifles, (University of South Carolina-Spartanburg).
There are Senators; Shockers; Sooners; and Spiders; Tar Heels; Terrapins; Threshers; and the Thundering Herd at Marshall; in addition to Vikings and Warriors and over thirty schools with Wildcats.
Teams that are named for people, other than those already mentioned above, include the Flying Queens, the women's basketball team at Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas and the Gentlemen, (men's teams) at Centenary College of Louisiana at Shreveport; the Women of Troy, USC's women's team; and the Wonder Boys, Arkansas Tech's men's team.
We also have Zias and Zips and dozens of schools with no nickname at all.
And the most popular college nickname in the US? Eagles, with approximately sixty colleges and universities borrowing our national emblem for their team mascot.