The Cutest Live College MascotsAnimals have long been a part of college sports. And it's no surprise that the most enduring – and adorable – of these fan-friendly, fun-loving furballs are dogs

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Handsome Dan XVII, Yale's bulldog

This dapper fellow is certainly Ivy League material; he follows in the paw prints of the oldest official line of college mascots – the Dan Dynasty, which dates all the way back to 1889. His weary, patrician bearing is suitably Yalie, and he has lunched with the likes of former President George Bush (Yale, '48) and Sir Paul McCartney. But Dan is no mere aristocratic alpha dog. In fact, this 3-year-old pooch has plenty of new tricks: he can stand on his hind legs, jump through a Hula Hoop, stare down a (stuffed) Princeton tiger, and, when asked if he would rather go to archrival Harvard or die, he drops to the ground, rolls over and plays dead.