Mike the Tiger is the official mascot of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and serves as the graphic image of LSU sports. By tradition a live Bengal tiger, the last two tigers were of mixed breeds. Mike V was a Bengali-Indochinese mix, while Mike VI is a Bengali-Siberian hybrid.
Since the 1950s, Mike the Tiger has also been portrayed by a costumed student. Costumed Mike appears at most LSU sporting events and also appears at several LSU-related functions. In August of 2007, Costumed Mike was featured on a This Is Sportscenter Commercial with LSU alum Shaquille O'Neal.
LSU's men's and women's sports teams are called the Fighting Tigers and Lady Tigers, respectively, and the university's football team plays its home games in Tiger Stadium. LSU first adopted its "Tigers" nickname in the fall of 1896. The moniker is a reference to the state's Confederate heritage; the Louisiana troops of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia became known as the Tigers during the Civil War in recognition of the bravery of two New Orleans brigades, the Tiger Rifles and the Washington Artillery (whose logo featured a snarling tiger's head).
