Point Park Bison mascot claims 2017-18 RSC Mascot Challenge title
Point Park Bison mascot claims 2017-18 RSC Mascot Challenge title
MIDDLETOWN, Ohio -- Point Park University's Black Diamond Bison mascot claimed the championship in the 2017-18 River States Conference Mascot Challenge held March 28 to April 5 on the RSC's social media pages. The Bison moves on to represent the conference at the NAIA Mascot Challenge beginning next week.
The 13 RSC mascots squared off in the challenge with three rounds being held on Facebook and Twitter. Point Park's Bison came out on top in the final round of four schools held on Twitter and finishing up on April 5 at 4 p.m. The Bison claimed the victory with 31 percent of the 1,491 votes casts in the final round
IU East came in second place and staged a furious charge at the end of the contest. Rufus the Red Wolf claimed 27 percent of the votes to move up to second place and give Point Park a big challenger in the closing hours. Earlier in the day, Point Park built a lead of a few percentage points over IU Kokomo's Kingston the Cougar, who was tied with Point Park at the start of the day. IU Kokomo finished in third place with 26 percent, and WVU Tech's Monty the Golden Bear was the fourth finalist with 16 percent.
The Twitter poll from the final round is embedded below. The results from the earlier rounds of the contest are below. The NAIA Mascot Challenge bracket and qualifiers will be announced in the coming week. The RSC may be in line for an at-large bid as well if the participation was high enough to warrant.
RSC MASCOT CHALLENGE -- SECOND ROUND (Twitter Polls -- Head to Head)
Voting opened Monday, April 2 at 12 pm ET; Voting closed Tuesday, April 3 at 4 pm ET
#1 IU Kokomo (Kingston the Cougar) defeated #8 Asbury (Isaiah the Eagle) -- RESULTS
#2 IU East (Rufus the Red Wolf) defeated #7 Midway (Eagles Mascot) -- RESULTS
#3 Point Park (Black Diamond the Bison) defeated #6 Brescia (Barney the Bearcat) -- RESULTS
#5 WVU Tech (Monty the Golden Bear) defeated #4 IU Southeast (Gus the Grenadier) -- RESULTS
RSC MASCOT CHALLENGE -- FIRST ROUND (Facebook Voting -- Complete)
Voting opened March 28 at 12 pm ET; Voting closed on March 30 at 4 pm ET
1. IU Kokomo -- Kingston the Cougar 305 Likes
2. IU East -- Rufus the Red Wolf 219 Likes
3. Point Park (Pa.) -- Black Diamond the Bison 194 Likes
4. IU Southeast -- Gus the Grenadier 188 Likes
5. WVU Tech -- Monty the Golden Bear 129 Likes
6. Brescia (Ky.) -- Barney the Bearcat 94 Likes
7. Midway (Ky.) -- Eagles mascot 88 Likes
8. Asbury (Ky.) -- Isaiah the Eagle 86 Likes.
For the complete voting from the Facebook round, click here (all likes after March 30 at 4 pm ET did not count).
For the complete information on the RSC Mascot Challenge and the contest rules, click here.