Sebastian to Battle for Mascot of the Year

McLEAN, Va. – Sebastian the Ibis, the University of Miami’s famous mascot, is one of 16 spirited heroes vying to become the 2012 Capital One Mascot of the Year, announced Monday by Capital One. Sebastian is one of three ACC mascots in the competition, joining Testudo (Maryland) and Ms. Wuf (NC State).

Fans will be able to vote for their favorite mascots via Twitter. Regular season vote officially opens at 12 p.m. EDT on Mon., Sept. 3, and continues weekly through Mon., Nov. 26. The top eight mascots with the best head-to-head records will then compete in a bracket-style, single-elimination competition to determine the overall winner. Fans can vote at www.CapitalOneBowl.com, on Facebook and on Twitter. All voting information appears at www.CapitalOneBowl.com.

For the first time in its 11-year history, the competition will include two female mascots – Ms. Wuf and Wilma T. Wildcat from Arizona. The duo will be joined by four other competition newbies – Colorado State’s Cam the Ram, Missouri’s Truman the Tiger, Rutgers’ Scarlet Knight and Texas Tech’s Red Raider.

The rest of the 16-member 2012 Capital One All-America Mascot Team includes Cosmo (BYU), Sparty (Michigan State), Mike the Tiger (LSU), Wolfie Jr. (Nevada), YoUDee (Delaware), Bucky Badger (Wisconsin), The Duck (Oregon) and Cocky (South Carolina).

In addition to the 2012 team, Western Kentucky’s Big Red became the first inductee into the Capital One Mascot Challenge Hall of Fame. Big Red competed eight times in the Capital One Mascot Challenge.

This year, fans will get a behind-the-scenes look inside the Capital One Mascot Training Camp. The quirky video vignettes will be released at www.CapitalOneBowl.com and www.Facebook.com/MascotChallenge.

The Capital One National Mascot of the Year will be announced Jan. 1, 2013, at the Capital One Bowl and will be awarded a $20,000 scholarship to help fund its school’s mascot program. Each of the 2012 Capital One All-America team members will also receive $5,000 for their university mascot program.

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