<Tr> <Th> Origin of name </Th> <Td> University of Alabama </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> First seen </Th> <Td> 1980 </Td> </Tr> <P> Big Al is the costumed elephant mascot of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, Alabama . </P> <P> The origin of the mascot according to Skip dates back to 1930 . On October 8, 1930, a sportswriter for the Atlanta Journal, Everett Strupper, wrote about the previous weekend's Alabama - Ole Miss football game . He wrote, "That Alabama team of 1930 is a typical (Coach Wallace) Wade machine, powerful, big, tough, fast, aggressive, well - schooled in fundamentals, and the best blocking team for this early in the season that I have ever seen . When those big brutes hit you I mean you go down and stay down, often for an additional two minutes ." </P>

What college football team has an elephant mascot