College football is much more than players on the field trying to win a ball game. Along with the superstars on the field, team mascots have become somewhat of a staple of college football. And over the years, mascots have become much more than just a source of entertainment on the football field. There are distinct traditions and personalities attached to each of them.

Sure, there are many Tigers and Eagles and other standard mascots that pop into your head when you hear the word. But there are also giant red blobs, oranges, rocketeers, and even rifle-toting mountaineers! Some are human, some animal, and some no one can define! Well, with that being said, let’s get to know the mascots of the two teams locking horns in the college football playoff final: Notre Dame and Ohio State.

The Notre Dame’s Leprechaun

First off, we have arguably one of the most iconic college football mascots of all time! The Notre Dame Leprechaun. It keeps up with the Fighting Irish nickname and the Irish Folklore, serving as the most apt mascot for Notre Dame. Moreover, the mascot, in a deeper sense, represents the team’s tenacious spirit and determination, proudly representing their history!

The Notre Dame logo features a side of the figure with his dukes up, ready to fight anything that comes his way, that too with his bare hands. And if you thought that wasn’t enough, every year, there are tryouts on the college’s campus. For What? You might ask. For becoming the live version of the Leprechaun. The winner then gets dressed in a cutaway green suit and an Irish country hat.

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Additionally, the Leprechaun interacts with the crowd, cheers the team and I’m letting in on a secret here, he also supposedly brings good luck to the Notre Dame team. Well, however, the Leprechaun wasn’t always the mascot for Notre Dame. As surprising as it may sound, for years, the team was represented by a series of Irish Terrier dogs.

This started in 1930, when the first dog, named Brick Top Shaun-Rhu, was donated to the Irish head coach at the time, Knute Rockne, prior to that weekend’s Notre Dame- Pennsylvania game by Charles Otis. Following this, several terries assumed the role and took the name, Clashmore Mike. After which, in 1965 the Leprechaun was named as the official mascot of the Fighting Irish!

The Ohio State’s Brutus Buckeye

If you talk about college mascots, it’s hard not to talk about Ohio State’s most loved figure, Brutus Buckeye! Well, the story of Brutus started back in 1965, prior to which Ohio State did not even have something as a mascot. So, naturally, the students took it upon themselves to come up with a solution to this problem.

With this began the lore of Brutus Buckeye. The effort launched by Ohio State students saw two students, Ray Bourhis and Sally Huber, begin to build a papier-mché (bits of paper). Additionally, the construction took place at the Pi Beta Phi sorority house as the Ohio Staters allocated a $50 budget to its cause. 

Soon, it became clear that the papier-mché model wouldn’t last long, given Ohio’s weather conditions. So, another $200 was allocated by the Staters to build a fibreglass structure. Interestingly, the new model could change its expressions based on the result of the game. Such as a smile while winning or a frown when Ohio State was on the wrong end of the results.

In 1967, Brutus was turned over to the Block “O” who looked after Brutus until 1974. After the decision not to take Brutus to the Rose Bowl game was overturned by the athletics department, he became a loving member of the Ohio State family and made some minor tweaks over the years. Including an entry to the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2007! Both Brutus and the Leprechaun will be cheering for their teams as they go head-to-head for the national championship in Atlanta.