Located in sunny Southern California, just east of LA, the Claremont Brains represent not one, but four different schools united by the Claremont consortium: Harvey Mudd College, Pomona College, Pitzer College, and Claremont McKenna College.
The Braineaters have a proud and noble history, steeped in lore and tradition. Created in 1979, the team is currently celebrating its glorious 30th anniversary. In the team’s early days, it represented only Pitzer College, the alma mater of the Braineater’s founding father Jeff Landesman. Legend has it, the 1979 team was one day away from their first tournament and needed a name to call themselves. A teammate heard about a low-budget B movie on TV that night called "The Braineaters," and they decided it would suffice. Ironically, the whole team had other plans for the night and missed the movie. To this day, no member of the Braineaters has ever seen the movie.
The Brains swiftly developed a reputation at tournaments for being a fun, if not particularly talented team. The most famous Braineater tradition was the ritual offering of the pre-game "Mystery Box." If the opponents accepted, the Braineaters would receive all of the pre-game decisions. If the opposing team declined the box, they would receive the pregame decisions. Not surprisingly, nearly all teams accepted the contents of the mystery box, which has been known to include everything from a functional wetsuit to a naked team captain.
We’ve come a long way from our fun-filled beginnings. Last year, for the first time, the Brains competed in Division-III, and won the championship. We’re back again this year to defend the title in a significantly improved decisions. Game on.