Let’s start this off with the ones at the bottom of the list

Need Some Work

20. Lakehead Thunderwolves: N/A

Kicking things off in the last place is the Lakehead Thunderwolves for seemingly not operating with a hashtag. If anyone knows of Lakehead’s hashtag, I couldn’t find it anywhere.

19. Laurentian Voyageurs: #FearTheNoise

We are now getting into the actual hashtags. This hashtag does not make a lot of sense. What noise are we supposed to be fearing? The noise of wherever they are supposed to be voyaging to? Granted, a team named the Voyageurs will have difficulty coming up with a strong hashtag, but this misses the mark.

18. Trent Excalibur: #1Excalibur

If you know the backstory that this hashtag means athletes are part of One Excalibur as a big family type of thing, it improves this hashtag. The big problem is writing 1 instead of the word one. That makes this hashtag lose a lot of marks.

17. Windsor Lancers: #LancerFamily

Windsor’s is another hashtag that doesn’t make a ton of sense. It doesn’t serve as a rallying cry like other hashtags or stand out that well. This is a problem that the “We Are” hashtags deal with a lot better and sound a lot nicer.

16. Waterloo Warriors: #GoBlackGoGold

This hashtag is not good enough to justify its length. The Warriors have kept this one for a few years now, but it is awkward to say and could serve to be shortened.

Getting Better

15. Algoma Thunderbirds: #autbirds

The Thunderbirds come in with a decent entry but one that reads out weirdly. At first read, this looked like they were calling themselves the AUT BIRDS, and that knocks this hashtag down some slots.

14. Guelph Gryphons: #GryphonPride

Pride hashtags are always strange because they don’t read out like proper phrases. The Gryphons are the lowest of the three because, with a name like the Gryphons, it feels like they could have better options here.

13. Ontario Tech Ridgebacks: #RidgebackPride

This year, Ontario Tech rebranded from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology but kept #RidegebackPride as a holdover from previous years. It fairs a little better, mainly due to OTU not having as many options as Guelph and phonetically Ridgeback Pride sounding nicer than Gryphon Pride.

12. York Lions: #LionPride

The Lions get the highest marks out of these three because at the very least a group of Lions is a Pride so it works as a double entendre.

11. Laurier Golden Hawks: #SoarAbove

The GoldenHawks took #WeareHAWKS and turned it into a jokey hashtag in 2019-2020. #SoarAbove is a pretty good play on the fact they are Hawks; it just feels underwhelming.

The Pretty Good

10. McMaster Maraduers: #GoMacGo

Simple, but effective, it reminds me of the San Antonio Spurs #GoSpursGo. Only downside is not using the Marauders more which is one of the cooler names in the OUA.

9. Brock Badgers: #WeAreBadgers

8. Toronto Varsity Blues: #WeAreTO

The Varsity Blues do this a little better than Brock by trying to encompass Toronto. The other hashtag Toronto uses, #BleedBlue is another very solid entry.

7. Ryerson Rams:   #WeRrams

The Rams get top spot out of these three because of the way this hashtag gets written. Turning what would be the word “are” into R to play on being the Ryerson Rams is really clever.

6. RMC Paladins: #RedNation

RMC exists as one of the smallest schools to have athletes compete in the OUA, a hashtag that brings that smaller group together is a good hashtag.

The Best of the Best

5. Ottawa Gee Gees: #GGNation

Another excellent example of a hashtag meant to bring the student body together. Especially for a school that shares a city with another school, creating a Nation style fan base is wise to build a connection with students. Extra marks for using just GG and making this hashtag succinct.

4. Western Mustangs: #RunWithUs

They are horses, and they run, so run with them. It’s a simple classic hashtag, and it works well. I also loved #PurpleReign, but the Mustangs have a solid entry.

3. Nipissing Lakers: #northerNUprising

This hashtag is just so smooth. The Lakers calling themselves the Northern Uprising is a brilliant choice considering their North Bay location, and then actually being written out with the capital NU is just so clean.

2. Carleton Ravens #FearTheConspiracy

There is just something super intense about this hashtag. Maybe it’s the years of National titles, but Carleton feels like the only school that could make conspiracy sound so intimidating.

1. Queen’s Gaels: #ChaGheill

This hashtag is pronounced Kay-Yi-Al and is a Gaelic war cry that means “no surrender.” That is epic. No other OUA school can come close to a real war cry, which means Queen’s easily deserves the top spot.

That is all we have for the OUA, but please check back soon for the other conference’s hashtag rankings as we continue our search for the best tag in all of U Sports.