Western Michigan or Western Kentucky: Who Was the Original Hilltopper?

Which came first: The Western Michigan Hilltopper or the Western Kentucky one?

Before you come to correct me, yes I know that Western Michigan is now nicknamed the Broncos, but before that they shared a nickname with a team that they frequently played. So, which team had it first even though they don't share it today?

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While I now call West Michigan my home, before then, I went to college at Western Kentucky. And, as a proud WKU alum, I’ve always loved being a Hilltopper. If you’ve ever hiked up to Cherry Hall on a hot day (or had to crawl to it in the ice like I did back in 2009), you know the name isn’t just for show. T

he campus in Bowling Green, Kentucky that is over 8 hours away, sits on a massive, nearly unwalkable hill that will either make you or break you if you attend.

But- From 1903 to 1939, Western Michigan used the same nickname before switching to the Broncos. They gained the nickname because the campus is located on Prospect Hill, and they thought it was a fun way to pay tribute to that. But over time, either folks in Kalamazoo finally left and realized the hill wasn’t really all that big, or they just thought that horses are way cooler, because they changed to the Broncos when they started playing at at the newly built Waldo Stadium in 1939.

Western Kentucky however came up with their nickname in the 1926-27 season when the team was promised New Jerseys if they could turn the team around. When they did, coach E.A Diddle got the team jerseys with “Hilltoppers” on them, cementing the identity for the school going forward.

Meanwhile, WKU has stayed true to its Hilltopper identity, and for good reason. Our nickname isn’t just a nod to tradition or the half a mountain campus sits on, it’s a fact of life. Walking to class is basically a workout. Western Kentucky is also the home of the famous Hilltoppers, so they really owned the name.

To be fair, both schools have built their own legacies in sports. WKU is a basketball powerhouse and even has a football national championship under its belt, while WMU’s football team had an epic 13-1 season in 2016. Still, when it comes to the Hilltoppers name, there’s really no contest. WMU made the right call switching to the Broncos, and WKU students will still have the best calves on this side of the Mississippi (if they don’t skip class).