North Carolina College Nicknames Quiz

Answer: Blue Devils

Duke University is located in the city of Durham. The Blue Devils nickname has been around since the early 1920s when a local newspaper began using that name. Duke are members of the NCAA Division I Atlantic Coast Conference and have one of the most successful men's basketball programs in the nation - they won the national championship five times between 1991 and 2015.

Answer: Bears

Lenoir-Rhyne University is located in Hickory, Catawba County. The Bears are members of the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Conference. In 2023, their gridiron squad reached the final of the Division II national championship, where they lost to Northwest Missouri State.

Answer: Pirates

East Carolina University is loacted in Greenville, Pitt County. The Pirates nickname refers to the history of piracy along the North Carolina coast. ECU has had a number of conference affiliations through the years, and joined the NCAA Division I American Athletic Conference in 2014.

Answer: 49ers

UNC Charlotte was founded in 1946 in the largest city in North Carolina. The 49ers nickname has nothing to do with gold miners in California, but is due to the school being saved from closure in 1949 - their mascot, Norm the Miner, IS a gold miner however.

The school has had a number of conference affiliations through the years, including the Sun Belt and Conference USA. In 2023, they joined the NCAA Division I American Athletic Conference.

Answer: Wolfpack

North Carolina State University (normally referred to as NC State) is based in the state capital of Raleigh, Wake County. The Wolfpack nickname was adopted in 1921 following an anonymous letter sent to the school newspaper. The school is a member of the NCAA Division I Atlantic Coast Conference and has achieved its greatest triumphs on the basketball court - the men's squads won national championships in 1974 and 1983.

Answer: Phoenix

Elon University was founded in 1889 in Elon, Alamance County. The school's sports team were nicknamed Fightin' Christians until 2000, when Phoenix was adopted as its new nickname. This name refers to a 1923 fire which almost destroyed the college. Elon joined the NCAA Division I Southern Conference in 2003.

Answer: Demon Deacons

Wake Forest University was originally founded in Wake Forest, Wake County, in 1834. In 1956, the school moved to Winston-Salem, Forsyth County but kept its original name. The Demon Deacons nickname was adopted in 1923 after a suggestion by a local newspaper reporter.

They are members of the NCAA Division I Atlantic Coast Conference and have won a number of national titles in women's field hockey and men's golf.

Answer: Mountaineers

Appalachian State University is located in Boone, Watauga County. The Mountaineers nickname refers to the school's location in the Blue Ridge Mountains. ASU was a member of the NCAA Division I-AA (FCS) Southern conference for many years and its gridiron squad won three Division I-AA national titles between 2005-07.

In 2014, the school moved up a level to Division i-A (FBS) and joined the Sun Belt Conference.

Answer: Tar Heels

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) is the flagship campus of the University of North Carolina system. Founded in 1789 in Orange County, the school's nickname of Tar Heels is the same as that of the state itself and comes from workers who went barefoot while distilling turpentine from pine trees. UNC are members of the NCAA Division I Atlantic Coast Conference and has won multiple national titles in various sports, most notably by the women's soccer team who won their 22nd crown in 2024, and men's basketball whose 6th title came in 2017.

Answer: Blue Bears

Livingstone College is located in Salisbury, Rowan County, and is named after the Scottish explorer David Livingstone. The blue part of the nickname refers to the school's colours of Columbia blue and black. The school is a member of the NCAA Division II CIAA (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association).