North Dakota nickname vote down to Fighting Hawks vs. Roughriders

So “Nodaks” didn’t make the cut for the final runoff vote for the University of North Dakota’s new nickname. Which is frustrating, given that it was the only remotely unique name of the three choices, but the voters have spoken.

The final two in the nickname vote to replace “Fighting Sioux” are “Fighting Hawks,” as generic as a Hallmark card but at least it has “Fighting” in the title, and “Roughriders,” which is a terrific nickname for an existing Canadian Football League franchise.

The total votes were 26,479 in the latest round:

Fighting Hawks: 12,098  (45.69 percent)

Roughriders: 7,400 (27.95 percent)

Nodaks: 6,981 (26.36 percent)

Since no name got over 50 percent of the vote, a final runoff vote will occur from Nov. 12 through 11:59 p.m. Central Time on Monday. Nov. 16. It’s open to a collection of current and former UND students and staff, as well as current season-ticket holders for UND events.

It’s also completely superfluous, as the stands for hockey games will still be flooded by Fighting Sioux gear …

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