Meet Wooly Bully: UB’s Throwback Mascot

University Archives' Hope Dunbar and Bill Offhaus with the Wooly Bully Mascot.

University Archivist Hope Dunbar (left) and Reference Archivist Bill Offhaus (right) pose with the Wooly Bully mascot, a 1990s-era relic recently donated by UB Athletics.

by DENISE WOLFE

Published August 18, 2025

Print

Did you recognize this mascot? Recently, UB Athletics donated a vintage mascot to the University Archives, revealing a little-known chapter in Bulls spirit history.

Meet Wooly Bully, who debuted in 1994. True to the name, this version of the mascot was much woolier than its predecessors, sporting shaggy brown fur. Wooly Bully represented the University at Buffalo until 1997, when the current blue mascot, Victor E. Bull, took over.

Old photo of the Wooly Bully mascot.

Though not confirmed, it’s rumored that the 1965 hit song “Wooly Bully” played whenever the Bulls scored. Today, Wooly Bully remains a fun reminder of UB’s evolving mascot tradition.