Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

1. There's Only One Big Red! While a number of other schools claim to be the Big Red, there is only one mascot that fits the bill ... our Big Red. He's without a doubt the most famous alumnus of our school. He's been featured in ESPN's "This is SportsCenter" commercials, and some of those silly Capital One Mascot commercials. More important, Big Red recently attempted to start an International dispute with the ItalianTV star, Gabibbo. Gabibbo is Big Red's long lost brother. Rather than nurturing our international brethren, we did what all Americans would do ... we sued him. You heard me, we sued the Italian Big Bird. You should also know that the TV station (along with most) that owns Gabibbo is owned by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. I don't need to tell you how this ended. I'm betting our court-appointed attorneys didn't speak Italian.

2. Why do we need Big Red? Because our nickname is the Hilltoppers. People associated with WKU take great pride in the fact that we have an original nickname. We are the only Hilltoppers in Division I NCAA Athletics. Interestingly, there is nothing remotely intimidating about our nickname or mascot. We're lovers, not fighters! So, what does a Hilltopper look like? Well, we couldn't figure it out, so an ingenious student named Ralph Carey created Big Red in 1979. I guess we could have gone the route of the West Virginia Mountaineer, but we have enough crazy dudes with beards and rifles around these parts. We don't want one representing our school.

3. Let's meet the Toppers. One player stands firmly above the rest ... Courtney Lee. His name might sound feminine, but he's a MANBABY! He's been our all-everything man for a couple of seasons now, currently sitting at No. 2 on the all-time scoring list. He has a real shot at reaching No. 1, especially if we can pull a George Mason (we made the Final Four in 1971). Mr. Lee's backcourt mate Tyrone Brazleton is the catalyst, jump-starting our offense whenever possible. These two will score the majority of our points. Well, they better or we have issues. Let's see; we have a senior-laden team with strong backcourt play ... sounds like a recipe for an upset tome. We relish the underdog role; after all, we did try to sue the former Italian Prime Minister remember. — Drew Hensley