We start with the Salukis of Southern Illinois, who trace the story of their mascot all the way back to Biblical times.

The southern region of Illinois is referred to as Egypt, Why? Well, according to the SIU website, "There was a drought in the northern counties (of Illinois) in the early 1800's...the wheat fields dried up, the streams died in their beds. But in southern Illinois rain fell and there were good crops, and from the north came people seeking corn and wheat as to Egypt of old. Thus, the name "Egypt." A similar situation had occurred in Egypt (Genesis 41:57, 42:1-3). "

In Egypt, at that time, the Saluki, a swift hunting dog, was considered the finest animal a family could own. So, for the piece of Illinois referred to as Egypt, the school chose Egypt's top dog as its mascot.

So that's how SIU became the Salukis. Now, for Wichita State.

No, Shockers have nothing to do with electricity. Where Nebraska Huskers harvest corn, Wichita Shockers harvest wheat, as the term for harvesting wheat is known as "shocking". Early students of WSU shocked wheat as a way to make money, and the heritage of students shocking wheat led to Wichita State nicknaming their teams "Wheatshockers", which was shortened to its current name.

WuShock, shown in the image above, was a creation of Wilbur Elsea, the winner of a fraternity competition to create a mascot image for the Shockers. In 1948, the student newspaper ran a competition to name the Shocker mascot, and freshman student Jack Kersting suggested the winning name of WuShock.

So that's a little Mascot 101 for you, as it continues to rain in Springfield.