I dug up an interesting 1917 article. Apparently, if not for a question posed by Woodrow Wilson (and the historical insights of M.U. grad and Missouri Attorney General N. T. Gentry), the link between Rollins' militia unit and the football team moniker could have been lost to history. (Thanks again to Kirby Ross - his posts on this site were the first I heard of that link, and who got me interested in the topic.)

http://digital.library.umsystem.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?, c=alum;cc=alum;xc=1;sid=c7442119343f48eced5e53605deaff82;q1=columbia%20tigers;rgn=full%20text;idno=alum191703;view=image;seq=21