MaxPreps Mascot Mondays: Arkansas high school mascots

Just as important as a school's name and its location is its mascot. Options abound, and some teams go with the commonplace while others go with the truly unique.

In Arkansas, there are 354 schools with mascots listed in the MaxPreps database. Listed below are the Top 15 most popular mascot names in Arkansas, the mascot names that only one school owns and other mascot facts/stats.

IT'S A HIGH SCHOOL, NOT A COLLEGE
If you see the Arkansas Razorbacks on your schedule, don't worry. You won't have to play against the college that competes in the SEC. Arkansas High is located in Texarkana, right on the western border with Texas, and it went with the same school-mascot theme as the biggest and most notable university in the state. They take it pretty serious, too, with the same exact football helmets and very similar uniforms. Oddly, they wear their city name on their football jerseys, not their school name.

NOT LIL JON. LITTLE JOHNS
The crunk-style rapper, who did a season with Donald Trump on the "Celebrity Apprentice" on NBC, is not the mascot for Danville. Nor is the mascot named for a bunch of short guys who just happen to be named John. Instead, the Little Johns are named after the Petit Jean River (a French translation), which flows through the town on the edge of the Ouachita National Forest. This is according to ARpreps.com.

WORTH TWO LAUGHS
Use an animal for the school name, then name the mascot after a prominent part of that animal's body. Do that and you get the Deer Antlers. And fans of classic rock should tip their caps to the Arkansas School for the Deaf (Little Rock), as the school is the Leopards. It's not quite Def Leppard, but the Arkansas School for the Deaf Leopards comes close.



WILD FOR WILDCATS
The most popular mascot in Arkansas is the Wildcat, with 26 different schools. The only other state with the Wildcat in the top spot is West Virginia, with eight.

THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO ... ARKANSAS?
The Natural State offers three devil-themed mascot names that no other state can claim, though not all are demonic in nature. Wonderview (Hattieville) Daredevils and Morrilton Devil Dogs are unique to Arkansas, and so is Gurdon Go-Devils. The Go-Devil has nothing to do with Lucifer, though. Instead it's a one-horse sled that was used for hauling timber in the early 1900s.

TOP 21 MOST POPULAR MASCOT NAMES
# Wildcats 26 (There is 1 Charging Wildcats)
# Bulldogs 21
# Eagles 18 (There are 2 War Eagles, 1 Golden Eagles and 1 Screamin’ Eagles)
# Panthers 18
# Tigers 18
Hornets 14
# Lions 14
Pirates 10
Bears 8
Bobcats 8
# Indians 8
# Mustangs 8
Yellowjackets 8 (There is 1 Yellow Jackets)
# Trojans 6
Cardinals 5
# Cougars 5
Dragons 5
Greyhounds 5
Leopards 5
Rebels 5
Red Devils 5

MASCOT NAMES USED BY ONLY 1 SCHOOL

*Airedales Ambassadors Antlers Apaches *Bearkatz Billies Bison Black Knights Blackhawks Blazers Blue Darters Blue Jays Bluebirds Bombers Bruins Buckaroos Buffaloes

Cavemen *Charging Wildcats Chickasaws Cobras Colts Comets Conquerors *Daredevils *Devil Dogs Elks Flames Gators *Go-Devils *Goblins Golden Arrows Golden Eagles

Grizzlies Hermits Highlanders Hillbillies Hurricane Hustlers Jackrabbits Jaguars Kangaroos *Little Johns Longhorns Lumberjacks Miners Mohawks Mounties Outlaws

Pointers Ramblers Razorbacks Red Hawks *Redbugs Redskins Ricebirds *Sandlizards *Screamin Eagles Seminoles Senators *Southerners Squirrels Wampus Cats Warhawks Wolverines Yellow Jackets

* Denotes that no other school in America has that mascot name

MASCOT STATS:
Most popular mascot name is used by 7.3 percent of schools.
There are 108 different mascot names for 354 schools.
12 schools have mascot names that no other American school has.
Arkansas' Top 21 features 10 of America's Top 15 mascot names.