University of Kentucky Wildcats

About the Wildcats: The "Wildcats" nickname became synonymous with UK shortly after a 6-2 football victory over Illinois on Oct. 9, 1909. Commandant Carbusier, then head of the military department at old State University, told a group of students in a chapel service following the game that the Kentucky football team had "fought like Wildcats." The Wildcat mascot originated during the 1976-77 academic year, and blue and white became the official colors in 1892.