Over forty NCAA schools boast a bulldog as their mascot. That’s before you count high schools, community colleges, and all other bulldog-fashioning institutions around the world. By any reasonable metric, the bulldog finds itself in the highest league of mascots, positioned as one of the top three most popular in American college athletics, right behind the eagle and the tiger.
This naturally begs the question: why (whhhyyyyyy)? Bulldogs do not famously represent American freedom and independence, nor ferocity and [another tiger adjective]. They most famously slobber and snore. Yet, they show up. A lot.
The bulldog problem (and why every school has one)
In the late 19th century, the bulldog was already the unofficial symbol of British grit. The breed had been associated with English national identity for centuries - stubborn, low-slung, refuses to back down. When American universities started picking athletic mascots in the 1880s and 1890s, they wanted something that signalled toughness without being aggressive about it. The bulldog was the obvious answer.
Yale was first, in 1889. Handsome Dan was bought from a New Haven blacksmith for $5 and is now widely accepted as the first live mascot in American college sports. From there it spread. Georgia adopted Uga in 1956. Mississippi State, Drake, Butler, Fresno State, The Citadel, Louisiana Tech, Gonzaga, Bryant, Samford - all bulldogs. Some adopted English bulldogs specifically. Some went with a generic cartoon dog. A few have a unique sub-breed, like Bryant’s American bulldog and strangely, the variety is greater than people realise.
The ones you’ve actually heard of
Yale Bulldogs
Handsome Dan is the original. Currently on his nineteenth iteration. The Yale bulldog is the most quietly iconic mascot in the Ivy League - present on the rowing tanks, the hockey jerseys, the crewnecks, the gear, the flag they raise on Old Campus during commencement. Yale doesn’t shout about him. He doesn’t need to be shouted about.
Georgia Bulldogs
Uga is probably the most famous bulldog mascot in the country. White English bulldog, red sweater, custom doghouses on the Sanford Stadium sideline. Each Uga has a numbered name - Uga I through X - and the lineage has been maintained by the same Athens family since 1956. He’s been on the cover of Sports Illustrated, featured in films, and is a specific cultural shorthand for SEC football.
Mississippi State Bulldogs
Bully is Mississippi State’s mascot, and unlike most of the others, he’s an English bulldog who actually wears a maroon and white striped jersey. Mississippi State has been doing this since 1935. The current Bully is XXIII. He’s been kicked out of more than one football game for being too fired up, which is not something most mascots have on their resume.
Drake Bulldogs
Drake’s Spike is a slightly different vibe - a more modern, cartoonish bulldog used heavily in their basketball branding. Drake also hosts the annual Drake Relays Bulldog Beauty Contest, which is exactly what it sounds like and is also legitimately one of the best small-school traditions in college sports.
Gonzaga Bulldogs
Spike the Bulldog has been Gonzaga’s mascot since 1921, and he’s done a lot of heavy lifting in the post-2010 basketball era. Gonzaga’s rise on the national stage essentially gave Spike a second career. He shows up on March Madness coverage, he shows up on every piece of Zags gear, and he is - for a small Jesuit school in Spokane - punching well above his weight.
Butler Bulldogs
Butler Blue. Currently Butler Blue IV. A live English bulldog who has his own Twitter account, his own student handler, and a frankly enormous social media following. Butler is one of the smaller schools on this list and has one of the better-marketed mascots in the entire country. The bar for ‘small school punching above its weight’ in mascot branding was set by Butler.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
Tech XXIII is the current live bulldog at Louisiana Tech. Their tradition goes back to 1899, which makes them one of the older bulldog programs in the country. They’ve been doing this longer than most fans of any other team have been alive.
The Citadel Bulldogs
General is The Citadel’s mascot, an English bulldog who lives on campus and is - in keeping with the school’s military character - handled with a level of formality not typical of other mascots. He has a uniform. He has rank. He has, on occasion, attended formal military events.
Why the bulldog won
Our honest opinion is that the bulldog photographs well. It looks distinct in any colourway, it’s instantly recognisable in silhouette, and it lends itself to caricature in a way that almost no other animal does. Tigers all look like tigers. Eagles all look like eagles. Bulldogs can be drawn dozens of different ways and still read as a bulldog - which is exactly why every school that has one ends up with a slightly different version.
The Yale bulldog is heritage and restraint. The Georgia bulldog is loud, proud, SEC. The Butler bulldog is internet-famous. They’re all the same dog, drawn forty different ways.
The full list (NCAA, abbreviated)
Schools with a bulldog mascot in NCAA Division I, II, or III include: Yale, Georgia, Mississippi State, Drake, Butler, Gonzaga, Fresno State, Louisiana Tech, The Citadel, Samford, Bryant, Truman State, Concord, North Carolina A&T (Aggies, but historically a bulldog), Adrian, Alabama A&M, Ferris State, Minnesota Duluth, Union, Wingate, and a long tail of smaller programs in DII and DIII.
Where Crew Dog comes in
We started with one bulldog. Handsome Dan, redrawn in April 2023 for the Yale lightweight crew team, holding an oar. The team loved it. Other teams asked for their own. Two years later we’re licensed at 90+ universities, and we have hand-drawn original mascot artwork for nearly every bulldog school on the list above.
Every design is its own thing. The Yale bulldog doesn’t look like the Georgia bulldog doesn’t look like the Butler bulldog. That’s the entire idea. Generic mascot art is what most college brands do already, and we’re not interested in adding to it.
If your school has a bulldog and you’re tired of the version they’re selling at the bookstore, that’s the lane we’re in. Welcome to the Crew.