Billikens. Yes, it sounds like a curse word only Nebraska-raised Oregon head coach Dana Altman would make possible. But for all the “fellas,” “gosh darns” and “heckavus” Altman has delivered this year, Billikens will be a buzzword from the Ducks’ head coach before his team takes on Saint Louis on Saturday.

First things first. What is a Billiken? That is the name for the Saint Louis mascot that has represented the university for over a century. The half-elf, half-buddha creation was cultivated by an art teacher at the university and is supposedly a denotation of good fortune and “things as they ought to be.”

The word on Altman is that he prepares his players extremely well for games. What his squads lack against a more talented or experienced team, they make up for in knowledge of their opponents.

Well, Altman must be calling the Ducks’ next opponent merely by the university’s name, Saint Louis, because Oregon players seem to be unprepared in explaining exactly what Saint Louis’ mascot is.

When asked if they knew what a Billiken was, Ducks players had the following to say.

“I have no idea what that is,” Arsalan Kazemi said. “I looked at it and I can’t figure out what that is. I don’t think I’ve seen one before either. I might have some word for it in Farsi but not a word in English that I know of.”

“Isn’t it a bird?” E.J. Singler genuinely asked.

A team trainer told him he was thinking of a pelican, to which Singler exploded with laughter and said “Aw, you’re right, that is a pelican. I have no idea what a Billiken is.”

“It’s a bird isn’t it?” said Ben Carter while Johnathan Loyd simultaneously responded, “It’s an elk isn’t it?”

“It is a bird. I thought it was a bird,” Carter said. “Pelicans or Bellikins?”

Loyd stood by his answer of “elk” until the same trainer who assisted Singler showed Loyd and Carter a picture of the Saint Louis mascot. To which Loyd affirmatively said “It’s a straight-up troll. Total troll.”