[Matt C]

Sounds similar to what happened to my team back in 2001 (I was in high school at the time). For our first two years we were sponsored by AIL Systems Inc. (Now EDO). They made antennas primarily used in radar jamming, thus are team name was the "Red Jammers" (Red for our school color). We lost sponsorship in 2001, but kept the name because it had been firmly associated with the team. We held that name until the team disbanded in 2005. I'm currently helping a team from Sayville, NY which disbanded after the 2001 season and reformed this year as a rookie team and still kept the same team name (Mechanical Animals).

How long has your team currently had this name?
How well is it associated to your school?
Does the name change really have to be a total change?

Association of the team and their image to their name and number always seems like an important concept many people overlook.