Back in December of 2012, North Dakota retired its nickname of the Fighting Sioux and decided that their mascot would be put up for a vote. In July, Zach highlighted the nickname suggestions that included the Fighting Hawks, the Green Hawks, the Nodaks, the North Stars, the Roughriders, the Sundogs, and simply North Dakota.
Since the announcement in July, there has been a lot of talk that the mascot has already been decided by UND President Robert Kelley, but a piece in the Bismarck Tribune yesterday says that's simply not true, and that the vote that will take place next month will be "binding". So the name of the new mascot now lies in the hands of the voters, which includes UND students, faculty, staff, alumni, retirees, donors, and season ticket holders, and every name except for sticking with just "North Dakota" and the Green Hawks is fair game.
If any of the proposed nicknames receive 50% of the vote or more, that name will be declared the winner, and if no single nickname gets a majority vote, a second vote will be held by the same voting audience between the top two non-majority vote-getters.
The highly anticipated vote is scheduled to take place the week of October 19th.
Zach and I are in agreement, and if we had a vote it'd be for the Sundogs. Might as well go with something unique while you have a shot.