APSU’s Governor mascot has been declared the least intimidating in Division I sports.
“A cross between KFC’s Colonel Sanders and the Planter’s peanut man, the APSU mascot is by far one of the least intimidating. It isn’t likely that the monocle and mustache will instill terror in any of their rivals,” according to the Odyssey.
However, The Gov is in no way the least intimidating mascot in Division I sports.
From the Odyssey’s list alone, the Wisconsin Cornhuskers, the Golden Gophers of the University of Minnesota, the Pepperdine University Waves and the Youngstown State University Penguins are all much less intimidating than The Gov.
Other mascots that didn’t make it include the Syracuse University Orange, the Tulane University Green Wave, Brutus the Buckeye of Ohio State University, Western Kentucky’s Big Red and Stanford University’s Cardinal.
One little-known fact is, country-star Brad Paisley’s music video for the song “Country Nation” displayed several of the most popular mascots in Division I sports.
Some of the mascots included Brutus the Buckeye of OSU, Smokey of the University of Tennessee, the Mountaineer of West Virginia University and even the number five on the Odyssey’s list, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln’s Cornhusker.
Along with these mascots, a familiar face runs across the screen about three minutes into the video, being none other than The Gov.
At least Paisley thinks The Gov is worthy enough for his video.
APSU is named after a former governor of Tennessee, Austin Peay. Peay established APSU as a “normal” school in 1927.
This was only one of a number of things he did for the state of Tennessee during his time in office. APSU athletics also holds the greatest rivalry in the Ohio Valley Conference with Murray State University.
In 2012, ESPN published an article about 10 Division I collegiate rivalries that don’t get as much attention as they should including the APSU-Murray rivalry.
Five months later, ESPN published an article about more rivalries that go unmentioned. “Forget Duke-UNC, the real rivalry is APSU-Murray State,” said ESPN writer Ron Beaten.
So according to the Odyssey, APSU has the least intimidating mascot.
But we can thank Peay, the original Gov, the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT), the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Reelfoot Lake State Park and creating the school with a top nursing program and the best rivalry in the OVC.
I can live with that.
