Creepy dolls, astronaut grads and quirks: NCAA teams bring more than Zion to Columbia

March Madness is thrilling for basketball fans because oh, the brackets, the fandom, the excitement. But how much do we really know about the schools behind the athletes?

From Nobel Prize winners to freakish fan traditions and giant student bodies, here are oddball facts about the eight schools competing in the NCAA tournament in Columbia NCAA this weekend.

Duke University

The biggest fan of the Duke Blue Devils is 12 years old, yet she still looks like a baby. Cammy, a baby doll passed down through a dozen generations of line monitors, is all about Duke (in case you couldn’t tell by the blue horns painted on her bald head).

The doll, which is named after the university’s Cameron Indoor Stadium basketball arena, went viral in 2016 when her “mother” at the time used the baby’s head to applaud the team. Doctors advise real parents to not do this to their real babies during March Madness.

Cammy might be having her moment in the spotlight, but she’s just a newborn when compared to Duke’s 113 year basketball history.

Virginia Commonwealth University

The VCU Rams might be impressive in their athleticism and spryness, but the university also boasts two Nobel Prize winners among its community.

Alumnus Baruj Benacerraf won the 1980 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. John Fenn, a professor in the College of Humanities and Sciences, won the prize in 2002 for chemistry.

University of Virginia

Not only does the University of Virginia have a World Heritage Site for a campus, but it also has some standout alumni.

You may have heard of comedian Tina Fey or TV journalist Katie Couric. If not, maybe you’ve read the writings of Edgar Allan Poe or seen the paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe, two other alumni. And if you enjoy the New York Times’ crossword puzzles, you can thank Virginia alumnus Will Shortz, who edits them.

Gardner-Webb University

Gardner-Webb is a Christian school that used to be a high school. The school opened as Boiling Springs High School, with tuition costing about $76 for nine months of classes. It became a senior college in 1971. And in 1982, its School of Business was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Yet despite all that history and pomp and circumstance, Gardner-Webb has made a tradition of playing games (not just of the basketball variety). On the Monday of exams week every semester, Runnin’ Bulldogs eat pancakes and play Bingo in the dining hall. Winners can get big prizes, like cash or an iPad.

University of Mississippi

Ole Miss has been steeped in Southern history for decades, and that continues to this day.

In February, Rebels made history by kneeling during the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner at a men’s basketball game. That same day, Feb. 23, a neo-Confederate group was demonstrating on campus.

Sophomore guard Devontae Shuler started the protest, making the Irmo, S.C., native the first athlete at the school to kneel during the national anthem. Shuler has Ole Miss shoulders to stand on, though: Civil rights leader James Meredith is a University of Mississippi alumnus.

University of Oklahoma

Oklahoma is landlocked, and maybe that’s why graduates of the University of Oklahoma have decided to go in search of water.

Retired astronaut Shannon Lucid was a Sooner before she was a world record holder: the longest duration stay in space by a person from the United States and by a woman.

Another Oklahoma grad is Fred Haise, a lunar module pilot on the Apollo 13 space mission and one of two dozen people to have flown to the moon.

Actor Ed Harris is another space-loving alumnus. He starred in “Apollo 13,” the movie.

North Dakota State University

North Dakota State University has churned out more than an NCAA basketball team.

Walgreens CEO David Bernauer and Minnesota congressperson Ilhan Omar are both alumni. Omar, a freshman lawmaker, was one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress.

The university also helps create new businesses in North Dakota with its research and technology nonprofit.

University of Central Florida

The University of Central Florida only opened its doors in 1968, yet it has grown so fast that it has the biggest on-campus enrollment of any public school in the U.S. UCF had more than 68,000 students in 2018.

And because of its proximity to Orlando, the university offers hospitality internships at Walt Disney World.