There are so many things to get excited about this month—St. Patrick’s Day, the first day of spring, and, of course, the NCAA Basketball Tournament. For avid basketball fans—and even for those who aren’t necessarily fans but just want in on the fun—March Madness is that glorious time of year to throw some cash in a pool, fill out a bracket, and spend endless hours glued to the TV, anxiously awaiting the championship game.
While some fans put forth a painstaking effort to populate their brackets, based on stats or expert predictions, others need some help. So how about abandoning strategy and picking your teams based on popular pet names?
Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. (VPI) recently analyzed its database of more than 485,000 insured pets to find which tournament teams are champions in the name game.
Below is a table listing the most popular pet names based on teams in the 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and VPI’s database of insured pets.
So, come on—get in the game, fill out your bracket, and stay tuned to see who makes it to the final showdown in New Orleans. Go team!
| Popularity Rank |
Pet Name |
NCAA School |
| 1 |
Duke |
Duke |
| 2 |
Bear |
Baylor |
| 3 |
George |
Georgetown |
| 4 |
Tiger |
Missouri, Memphis |
| 5 |
Bonnie |
St. Bonaventure |
| 6 |
Titan |
Detroit |
| 7 |
Louis |
St. Louis |
| 8 |
Murray |
Murray State |
| 9 |
Rebel |
UNLV |
| 10 |
Gator |
Florida |
| 11 |
Bruin |
Belmont |
| 12 |
Lobo |
New Mexico |
| 13 |
Aggie |
New Mexico State |
| 14 |
Buckeye |
Ohio State |
| 15 |
Jay |
Creighton |
| 16 |
Badger |
Wisconsin |
| 17 |
Carolina |
North Carolina, NC State |
| 18 |
Cougar |
BYU |
| 19 |
Sparty or Spartan |
Michigan State, Norfolk State |
| 20 |
Irish |
Notre Dame |
| 21 |
Hoosier |
Indiana |
| 22 |
Bull |
South Florida |
| 23 |
Kansas |
Kansas |
| 24 |
Crimson |
Alabama, Harvard |