Need a little something to pass the time during the off-season? Try your hand at the college lacrosse team nickname quiz. This is not one fixed quiz, but a script that generates a new quiz with new items (and options for the multiple-choice format) each time. You can set the following parameters:

• Quiz Format: Either multiple-choice (with five options) or fill-in-the-blank formats can be selected. For the latter, which is naturally much more difficult, the default setting allows "bull dogs" and "bulldogs" to match. When the "strict" option is checked, spaces matter, so "bull dogs" and "bulldogs" would not match.



• Number of Items: From 5 to 25 items may be chosen. If the number of teams in the division(s) you select is not large enough to permit all options on a multiple-choice quiz to be unique, the script will automatically lower the number of items.



• Team Type: Select either men's or women's teams. There are more of the latter, which tends to make the quizzes more challenging. For women's teams, Lady is ignored whether you enter it or not and whether it appears in the database or not.



• Division(s): Restrict the quiz to whatever combination of divisions you wish. For now, the choices are the three NCAA divisions plus the MCLA, WDIA, and Juco (NJCAA).

Yes, we know that some teams have more than one nickname, but the basis for the correct answers is what appears in our team database for 2010 (which is still not finalized as of this date). If you spot errors – team nicknames do change sometimes – or have ideas for enhancements to the quiz, please let us know.

To play, visit the Nicknames Quiz Page. You'll also find this link in the right-hand Features section of the home page.

2009-11-07