We’re deep into football season and early in basketball season, so you know this is an important time of year for college sports fans, especially here in the Triangle. And whose job is to make sure those fans get whipped up into a frenzy? The mascots, of course!

If you're a Wolfpack fan, you know North Carolina State’s Mr. and Ms. Wuf, but another NC State mascot has emerged in recent years: a live mascot named Tuffy III. Co-host Leoneda Inge talks with Tuffy III’s owners, Lisa and Joe Downey, about how the dog brings sweet, cuddly vibes to even the fiercest of competitions.

Then, an encore conversation originally aired in November 2023 with two recent graduates who spent much of their college careers dressed as mascots: Cate Schick at Duke University and Daniel Wood of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The former Blue Devil and former Rameses met for the first time with their masks off in our studio. Some good-natured ribbing ensued and so did a great conversation about what life is like in those costumes and what it meant to each of them to represent their schools.