Name: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Founded: 1848
Enrollment: 45,540 students, with 31,650 undergraduates this fall.
School Colors: Cardinal and white, officially, but no one is going to yell at you if you say red and white.
Nickname: Badgers
Why “Badgers?” Wisconsin was dubbed the “Badger State” because of the lead miners who first settled there in the 1820s and 1830s. Without shelter in the winter, they had to “live like badgers” in tunnels burrowed into hillsides. It’s just a hop, skip, and a jump from there to naming the sports teams of the flagship university after the state’s nickname.