Williams Brice Stadium (Columbia, South Carolina)

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The University of South Carolina is the only major college athletic program in the country that uses "Fighting Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. The University's athletic teams have been known as Gamecocks for almost 100 years.

At the turn of the century (1900), after struggling for more than decade under numerous nicknames, the school's football team was first referred to unofficially as "Gamecocks."

In 1903, Columbia's morning newspaper, The State, shortened the name to one word and South Carolina teams have been Gamecocks ever since.

Those early teams must have been a feisty and spirited group. A gamecock, of course, is a fighting rooster known for its spirit and courage. A cock fight, which was a popular sport throughout the United States in the 19th century, would last until the death of one of the combatants. Cock fighting has been outlawed by most states for humanitarian reasons, but it is still held surreptitiously in many areas.

The State of South Carolina has long been closely connected with the breeding and training of fighting gamecocks. General Thomas Sumter, famed guerrilla fighter of the Revolutionary War, was known as "The Fighting Gamecock."

School Colors
Garnet and Black were adopted near the turn of the century as the official colors of the University of South Carolina athletic teams. The colors are the dominant ones on the gamecock, which is the University's official mascot for its athletic teams.

Mascot
Cocky The Gamecock mascot, "Cocky," is a familiar sight at a variety of South Carolina athletic events. He appears at all home and road football and basketball games, and at home baseball games. In addition he can be found frequenting other Olympic sports events on the USC campus.

Cocky was chosen National Mascot of the Year in 1986, 1994, and again in 2004 and is recognized as one of the most colorful mascots in collegiate athletics.