Overlapping Symbols

In retrospect I liked the metanism. While doing it I felt like this could go anywhere - am I supposed to look for a pair of mascots missing from this list? (The possibility of external info coming in is one of the main reasons I don’t like googlefest puzzles.)

Ultimately I thought the “overlapping” in the title may apply to the grid answers, too. And I wrote down all the letters the pairs had in common, before realizing they were the same length and finding the real answer. It was a nice aha moment. But I was filled with dread the whole time about where this meta could possibly go.

Fun! Thanks, Will!

Could you have gotten the Owls and Tigers in or did they lose in the play-in game?

The name came from a combination of factors: After the Civil War, a troop of colored soldiers were admired by the Native Americans for their fighting spirit and resolve, and tabbed them “Buffalo” after this revered symbol. In addition, Morrison, who had served as a sergeant in the Army, aspired to the symbol. Legend has it that he decided to call the Howard team after the American version: the bison. Thanks!

Good one! I probably need Google more than most, since I knew exactly none of the mascots.

Fortunately I found the website that made the necessary googling relatively painless. Fun one, thanks!

Really, really liked this one. As I looked up the schools’ mascots and got to Gaels, I almost abandoned the search thinking there was no way there’d be two schools in the tourney with that mascot. Glad I kept going!

Good fun, although I wrestled with BOINS for a little longer than I care to admit. Marquette basketball will always be the Warriors to me.

Madness I say! haha Thanks, Will!

Interesting. Got all of the pairs, but couldn't figure out what to do. Then just brute forced it, and backsolved. Very clever mechanism once I saw what was going on.

Great puzzle!

Wow. Great meta. I can't tell you how put out I was when I read the description of this meta. But I am so glad I let Claudia talk me into giving it a try. (I asked her that as a non-sportsing person: 24A Is it worth my time? The answer is a resounding YES. VERY clever and elegant metanism, and no sportsing knowledge required. Well. Not as long as I could google a list of all the March Madness Teams' mascots, heh heh.

Misread the prompt and spent too much time trying to find the right school when I already had the mascot... Still, great puzzle! For a sports-themed one anyway :-)

Nice one. Go Aztecs!

Thanks, Will! Did you mean University of Texas for the other Bull? Texas A&M’s mascot is Reveille the Collie.

When I saw the first couple of letters, I thought maybe it would be Boise State. It was not to be. Maybe if they ever win a tournament game they will be puzzle worthy.

This took massive assistance to solve. I'm not sure that "medium" is the correct rating, at least it wasn't for me. I never thought of lining up the Alums, I was actually trying to line up the mascots (trouble there was that Utah State, although they are the Aggies, have a Bull and A&M has a Dog). But even when corrected I was busy crossing out common letters (GS is common to all) and then crossing out all common letters. Only after many nudges form different sources did I arrive at the answer, I guess I got Bufalloed My sense of awe and wonderment goes to "how did he think of this"!

I made this far more difficult than it actually was. Thank goodness for hints!

I picked up the school mascot pairing early on, but the meta sure got down to the wire before I tried my last idea of comparing the grid name-pairs for a common letter and seeing what they all spelled. It sure was nice to have found a webpage that listed the mascots of all the NCAA teams so that I could see if BISON worked. Clever idea.

Enjoyed this and actually was familiar with most of the celebs. Put I can't get the meta. Can someone explain what I'm missing?