March Madness sparks unique pet names

Duke tops the list of owners naming pets after teams

From basketball powerhouses to upset-minded newbies, here are the teams to watch in this year's NCAA Tournament according to college basketball analysts with NBC Sports, ESPN and other outlets.

DETROIT – Even our family pets are getting in on March Madness.

Veterinary Pet Insurance Co., the nation's oldest and largest provider of pet health insurance, analyzed its database of more than 485,000 insured pets to find which March Madness teams have the most team-related names.

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Below is a list of the most popular pet names based on the teams in the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament:

•Duke (1,311)
•Bear (1,282) - Baylor
•George (548) - Georgetown
•Tiger (509) – Missouri, Memphis
•Bonnie (339) – St. Bonaventure
•Titan (206) - Detroit
•Louis (190) – St. Louis
•Murray (180) – Murray State
•Rebel (101) - UNLV
•Gator (67) - Florida
•Bruin (59) - Belmont
•Lobo (47) – New Mexico
•Aggie (43) – New Mexico State •Buckeye (38) – Ohio State
•Jay (34) – Creighton
•Badger (31) – Wisconsin
•Carolina (24) – North Carolina, NC State
•Cougar (24) – BYU
•Sparty/Spartan (18) – Mich. St., Norfolk St.
•Irish (18) – Notre Dame
•Hoosier (13) – Indiana
•Bull (12) – South Florida
•Kansas (10)
•Crimson (10) – Alabama, Harvard

There are also two pets named Izzo (Michigan State head coach); one named Dean Smith (former North Carolina head coach); and six each named Hoops and Rebound.


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