ASU's Sparky the Sun Devil among creepiest, most-offensive college mascots in America

Arizona State University mascot Sparky the Sun Devil is among the "most offensive" and "creepiest" college mascots in America, according to a survey.

The survey was conducted by Quality Logo Products, an Illinois company that prints logos on T-shirts, water bottles and other items.

It identified 128 Division I football team mascots and asked people to score them based on different categories, ranging from best and worst mascots to creepiest and most offensive.

Sparky came in eighth on the "most offensive" list. Florida State's Osceola and Renegade was No. 1 on that list, followed by San Diego State's Aztec Warriors and Hawaii's Vili the Warrior. Notre Dame's Leprechaun was fourth and Pistol Pete from Oklahoma State rounded out the Top 5.

Related story:Notre Dame defends leprechaun mascot, ranked college football's 4th-most offensive in survey

Sparky was No. 7 on the "creepiest" list, coming in behind Purdue Pete (Purdue), Cayenne (Louisiana-Lafayette), Pistol Pete (Oklahoma State), Stanford Tree (Stanford), Demon Deacon (Wake Forest) and Nittany Lion (Penn State).

Tony the Landshark (Mississippi), Hey Reb! (UNLV) and Boko the Bobcat (Texas State) rounded out the Top 10.

The survey recognized Willie The Wildcat from Northwestern as the best college mascot in America, while Pistol Pete from Oklahoma State was the worst.

Willie The Wildcat also topped the list of the "sexiest" college mascots, with Wilbur and Wilma Wildcat from the University of Arizona No. 8 on that list.

The "unsexiest" mascot went to Oski from California-Berkeley.

Quality Logo Products explained its methodology for the survey: "The study was conducted online with a total of 1,266 participants. All were encouraged to set aside any personal feelings they may have about the teams represented and focus solely on the mascots. There were 128 mascots in the survey — representing all colleges and universities with NCAA Division 1 football teams that have costumed characters. Not all survey participants viewed every mascot. The 128 mascots were divided among 16 survey questions, each with eight randomized variations.

Every survey taker evaluated at least 16 mascots. Each mascot was scored at least 150 times. Questions included multiple-choice rating scales and open-ended comment boxes. The study participants were 55.4% male, 43.6% female, and 1% non-binary. They ranged in age from 18 to 79, with a median age of 36. In terms of sexual orientation, 85.1% identified as heterosexual, 2.8% as gay or lesbian, 10.9% as bisexual, and the remaining 1.1% preferred not to say. Geographically, using the four regions defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, survey participation was as follows: South, 474; West, 275; Midwest, 270; Northeast, 247.

Follow Jeremy Cluff on Twitter: @Jeremy_Cluff.