Nov. 28, 2011
MCLEAN, Va. -
Click here to vote for Wolfie Jr.
After 12 weeks and millions of votes from their beloved fans, eight of the Capital One All-America Mascots are now headed into the three-week, single-elimination playoff portion of the national competition. The 10th annual Capital One Mascot Challenge saw more than 17 million votes cast during the regular season, but it's the final rounds of competition that will determine the winner, which will be announced at the Capital One Bowl on January 2, 2012.
"We've been buzzing around the competition throughout the entire season and I'm glad they've secured us a first place seed in the finals," said "Buzz" of Georgia Tech, through a mascot interpreter. "To all other mascot competitors, I just want to say, `look out!' because nobody likes to be stung by a Yellow Jacket."
The eight finalists were determined by the best head-to-head records in the regular season, and include: "Buzz" of Georgia Tech, "Wolfie Jr." of the University of Nevada, "Aubie" of Auburn University, defending champion "Big Blue" of Old Dominion University, "Sparty" of Michigan State University, "The Duck" of University of Oregon, "Wilbur T. Wildcat" of University of Arizona and "Brutus Buckeye" of The Ohio State University.
Similar to years past, the top eight mascots will now compete in a bracket-style, single-elimination competition to determine the overall winner. Fans can vote at www.CapitalOneBowl.com, on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/MascotChallenge and via text voting. Playoff voting officially opens at 12 p.m. EST on November 21, 2011, and continues weekly through December 12, 2011.
"With over 17 million votes cast during the regular season, we are amazed at the support and turn-out for the 10th annual Capital One Mascot Challenge," said Marc Mentry, Senior Vice President of Advertising and Sponsorships at Capital One. "The competition always gets exciting during the playoffs and this year should be no different. We have eight spirited and energetic mascots supported by thousands of enthusiastic fans. We hope everyone will tune-in to the Capital One Bowl to celebrate the winner with us."
Fans can tune-in to the Capital One Bowl broadcast at 1:00 p.m. EST on ESPN on January 2, 2012 to learn which mascot prevails to be named the Capital One National Mascot of the Year and earn $20,000 toward its collegiate mascot program, provided by Capital One.
The complete 2011 Capital One All-America Mascot Team included:
Wilbur T. Wildcat of University of Arizona
Sparty of Michigan State University
Aubie of Auburn University
Mike the Tiger of Louisiana State University
Testudo of the University of Maryland
Wolfie Jr. of the University of Nevada
Hairy Dawg of the University of Georgia
Boomer of the University of Oklahoma
Brutus Buckeye of The Ohio State University
Big Blue of Old Dominion University
The Duck of the University of Oregon
Benny Beaver of Oregon State University
Buzz of Georgia Tech
SuperFrog of TCU
Cy of Iowa State
Big Red of Western Kentucky University
Throughout the regular season, fans have enjoyed viewing custom videos that were created for each of the mascots portraying their entertaining back stories. The videos are available at www.CapitalOneBowl.com and www.Facebook.com/MascotChallenge.
Fans who did not see their favorite mascot on the team this season, can "write-in" a vote for their favorite to potentially make the 2012 team by visiting the program web site, www.CapitalOneBowl.com, and following the prompt after voting on this year's challenge.
The 2011 national mascot champion will join an elite group of mascots that have held the title over the past 10 years of the program. Past winners include: "Monty" of University of Montana (2002, 2004), "Cocky" of University of South Carolina (2003), "Herbie Husker" of University of Nebraska (2005), "Butch T. Cougar" of Washington State University (2006), "Zippy" of University of Akron (2007), "Cy" of Iowa State University (2008), "Bearcat" of University of Cincinnati (2009) and defending champion "Big Blue" of Old Dominion University (2010).
About Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A. and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., had $128.3 billion in deposits and $200.1 billion in total assets outstanding as of September 30, 2011. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. Capital One, N.A. has approximately 1,000 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 100 index.
Capital One, an NCAA corporate champion, began its affiliation with college sports with the sponsorship of the 2001 Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl (now the Capital One Bowl) and ESPN's Capital One Bowl Week. In addition, Capital One sponsors the ABC College Football Halftime Report, Capital One All-America Mascot Team, all 88 NCAA Championships including the Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Championships, and numerous other collegiate athletics programs.
