Mascot Power Rankings: Rebel Black Bear is hungry to get started

In which we rank the current top 10 mascots in sports, in terms of newsworthiness, disabled and general awesomeness. This week's selections, as determined by reader email and notes tied to bricks found in the lobby:

1. REBEL BLACK BEAR, UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI. (LAST WEEK: UNRANKED).

No, this isn't the actual mascot; here he is, in an artist's rendering. In voting by the student body, faculty and administration last week, Rebel Black Bear finished comfortably ahead of the other two finalists, Rebel Land Shark and Hotty Toddy, to replace Colonel Reb as the university's on-field sports mascot. This continues a trend of eliminating confederate sports stereotypes at Ole Miss; the rebel battle flag and the song had previously been banned from football games. The black bear was a curious choice for some; there are only about 14 bears in all of Mississippi, practically none of them wearing slacks. But this mascot is an homage to Mississippi-born William Faulkner, whose novel, The Bear, is considered one of the great works of the 20th century.

2. PAYDIRT PETE, UTEP. (LAST WEEK: UNRANKED)

The surprise leader in the Capital One Mascot Bowl standings this week, Paydirt Pete has an impressive 20,804 votes, just ahead of Old Dominion's Big Blue at 20,628. For the season, Pete is 7-0 in head-to-head competition. For some reason, Paydirt Pete's Facebook page lists one of his interests as the Oregon State University Marching Band. This needs to be investigated. Also one of the most accomplished dancers in Conference USA, Paydirt Pete knows how to Crank That.

3. PHILLIE PHANATIC, PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES. (LAST WEEK: UNRANKED)

If only Driving Miss Daisy had been based on this, I would have watched it. Ryan Howard spent Sunday afternoon at the Falcons-Eagles game, then hitched a ride across the street to Citizen's Bank Park with the Phanatic for Game 2 of the NLCS. No helmet? Check. Limited peripheral vision? Check. Slightest bump in the road placing Phillies' playoff hopes in serious jeopardy? Yep. Step on it, batting practice starts in three minutes!

4. JAXSON DE VILLE, JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS. (LAST WEEK: UNRANKED).

I had no idea that the Jacksonville Jaguars had a kick-ass, death-defying mascot until readers brought this to my attention. Debuting at No. 4 and sure to climb higher, here is one of Jaxson's signature stunts, complete with sparklers no less. Here's another view. Let's see Tom Brady do that! And ... dance-off with Paydirt Pete? Other facts from Jaxson's home page: He's been the Jaguars' mascot for 12 years, he once consumed 56 pizzas during a single game, and that rappel off the scoreboard was from a height of 175 feet. He was also the first mascot to travel overseas to visit our troops.

5. UGA, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA. (LAST WEEK: UNRANKED).

A nation mourned when Uga VII, Georgia's bulldog mascot, died of heart-related problems in Nov. of last year. The Uga line is a proud one at the university Uga V famously graced the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1997, and appeared in the film Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. And last week, Uga VIII made his debut, to the delight of thousands. Uga VIII is the great-great-great-great-great-grandson of the original Uga, who reigned from 1956-66, and is the grandson of Uga VI. He was born Sept. 12, 2009, and is 55 pounds.

6. RUFUS THE BOBCAT, UNIVERSITY OF OHIO. (LAST WEEK: NO. 1).

His vicious-but-clean tackle of Brutus Buckeye on Sept. 18 is already the stuff of legend ... or at least T-shirts. Although now in exile, banned for life by Ohio University (which he didn't even attend), Rufus has time to ponder: was it all worth it? Heck yes. In an interview following his dismissal, Rufus revealed that it had been his plan to tackle Brutus all along; plotting the attack as far back as mascot tryouts last year.

7. BUCKY BADGER, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN. (LAST WEEK: UNRANKED).

Last week we asked readers to vote between two videos; one featuring the Oregon Duck and one featuring Wisconsin's Bucky Badger. Reader response was so overwhelmingly in Bucky's favor that he was awarded a spot in this week's power rankings. Now everyone can learn how to Bucky.

8. THE FAMOUS CHICKEN, FREELANCER. (LAST WEEK: NO. 5)

Although he's 56 years old and no longer affiliated with the San Diego Padres, the Chicken had a 78.7 awareness score in a recent Forbes magazine poll, making him the nation's most-liked mascot. The forebear to the Phillie Phanatic is considered the father of the modern sports mascot, and is now in semi-retirement so that he can (pictured). Any mascot who takes the time to try and teach Barney how to dance properly is tops with me.

9. ARTIE THE ARTICHOKE, SCOTTSDALE COMMUNITY COLLEGE. (LAST WEEK: UNRANKED).

Featured recently on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumble, Artie the Artichoke was voted in as Scottsdale Community College's official mascot in 1973, beating out and in a student election. Proud students then claimed that the fierce thistle-vegetable is the only mascot that can double on game day as a party dip. Bonus: The football team is known as the Chokes, and has that nickname written on their helmets.

10. COCKY, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA. (LAST WEEK: NO. 9)

Cocky's 30th birthday was celebrated this year with a delicious cake, presented by none other than head coach Steve Spurrier. Cocky returned the favor by leading the Gamecocks to a big home upset of then-No.1 Alabama, 35-21. Cocky also received the most comments in last week's rankings.

* Think that your mascot deserves to be ranked? Mascot Power Rankings depends greatly on your submissions. Send tales of mascot shenanigans, links and photos to Rickchand[@]gmail.com.