Every year, hundreds of college students around the country climb into ridiculous costumes to help motivate fans, cheer on players and help bring luck to their teams. Just like student athletes, mascots have to be in tip-top physical shape and make it through demanding tryouts. They must be able to handle an intense workouts in a cumbersome, sauna-like costumes, not to mention handle being groped in weird places by weird people. Tennessee Volunteer head coach Bruce Pearl knows first hand what it takes to be a mascot. During his time as an administrative assistant at Boston College, Pearl helped the Eagles make it to the NCAA tournament in 1981. On the team's trip, the mascot got sick. Pearl was the low man on the totem pole, so natu...

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