Though we can't lay claim to the state's most distinctive higher ed icon, the Banana Slugs of UC Santa Cruz, Southern California boasts its share of offbeat mascots. Pomona-Pitzer College's Cecil the Sage Hen, for example, whips fans into a chirping frenzy, and J.P., the Whittier College Poet, wriggles like a caterpillar after touchdowns. Other standouts:
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School: Pepperdine University Waves
Mascot nickname: King Neptune
The scoop: Even in their first home at Vermont and 79th, Pepperdine students called themselves the Waves. A scary papier-mache head named Roland gave way to Willie the Wave, described as a cross between a Smurf and a banana. Willie morphed into a giant head, a la Bob's Big Boy. Three years ago, King Neptune took over.
Who's inside: Cassandra Perez, a junior sports medicine major.
Close call: Trying to maneuver off the court after a bandanna slipped over her eyes.
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School: Caltech Beavers
Mascot nickname: All those Nobel Prizes and still no nickname!
