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Official Rules

Capital One All-America Mascot Team
National Mascot of the Year Online Voting Rules and Criteria

How the Capital One All-America Mascot Team Was Selected

The 12 members of the Capital One All-America Mascot Team were selected from among the mascot entries received from the 242 eligible NCAA Division IA and Division IAA schools that feature a football team. A panel of seven (7) judges from Capital One and the mascot community used the following criteria to determine the 12 team members:

  • Interaction with fans and demonstration of the mascot's originality, ability to create enthusiasm among the fans, and contribution to an exhilarating atmosphere.
  • Originality, creativity and professionalism of mascot appearance or costume.
  • Pedigree—awards earned by the mascot during the past five (5) years and national prominence.

How the National Mascot of the Year Will Be Selected

The Capital One National Mascot of the Year is determined by Online Voting. (100%).

Voting

The voting will be conducted online at capitalonebowl.com in regular season and playoff phases.

Regular Season Voting

The regular season voting will be conducted over 11 weekly voting periods beginning September 8, 2008. For purposes of this Contest, a week begins on a Monday at 9:00 am ET and ends on 8:59 am ET on the following Monday ("Voting Period"). Each week the 12 mascots will be paired in groups of two so that each mascot will be paired with all other mascots over the 11 week Voting Periods, you may cast one vote per day for your favorite mascot in each of the six pairings for that Voting Period. You must cast a vote for all six pairing on any day that you cast a vote. At the conclusion of each weekly Voting Period, the votes for each mascot will be tabulated and a list of the six winning and six losing mascots will be posted at the website.

At the conclusion of the 11 weekly Voting Periods, the mascots will be ranked in descending order of wins versus losses. The six mascots with the highest number of wins will advance to the Playoff phase. In the event of ties, the mascot that received the most total votes over the 11 Voting Periods will be declared the winner.

The Playoffs

The Playoff voting will be conducted in two rounds over a two week period beginning November 24, 2008. The two highest ranking mascots from the regular season will each receive a first week bye for the playoffs and will immediately advance to round two. The remaining four mascots will be paired as follows in round one: The third highest ranked mascot will face the sixth highest ranked mascot and the fourth highest ranked mascot will face the fifth highest ranked mascot in week one. The mascot that receives the most votes of each competition will advance to the second round which will be conducted in week two. In the second round, the first seeded mascot will be up against the winner of the third/sixth place seed competition. The second seeded mascot will be up against the winner of the fourth/fifth place seed competition. In the event of ties in either the first or second round, the mascot with the higher ranking will be deemed the winner.

Visitors may cast one vote per day during the Playoffs casting one vote for each of the two competitions in round one, one vote for each of the two competitions in round two and one vote in the championship matchup. You must cast a vote for all pairings on any day that you cast a vote. The two winning mascots in round two will advance to the Final Match, which will be determined solely by online voting over the Final Match week voting period starting December 8, 2008 at 9:00 am and ending December 15, 2008 at 8:59 am. The mascot with the most votes will be the Capital One National Mascot of the Year. The winning mascot will be announced during the 2009 Capital One Bowl on January 1, 2009 and will be named The Capital One National Mascot of the Year.

Regulations

The contest begins September 8, 2008 and runs through December 15, 2008. Votes received after 8:59 am ET on December 15, 2008 will not be counted. Capital One reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to void any votes it deems fraudulent, are not cast in conformity with these official rules or are otherwise designed to undermine the integrity of the Contest. Decisions of Capital One are final.

Internet

Sponsor is not responsible for technical failures of any kind or any problems or delays arising from any technical, software or equipment malfunctions, computer viruses, congestion on or unavailability of the Voting site during the Contest any other technical, equipment or human errors of any kind. If Sponsor determines in its sole discretion that there is any suspected or actual evidence of electronic or non-electronic tampering or fraud relating to any portion of the Contest, or if technical difficulties compromise the integrity of the Contest, it may cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest, in whole or in part, at any time without notice.

Prizes

Each school that was selected as a member of the Capital One All-America Mascot Team was awarded $5,000, for use in scholarships and funding of its school's mascot program. The National Mascot of the Year will receive an additional $5,000 (total of $10,000) for its school's mascot program.

MASCOT WRITE-IN VOTING RULES AND CRITERIA

How the eligible mascots were selected

Under our Write-In guidelines, only mascots that are the official costume character representing their NCAA Division I-A and I-AA college or university with football programs are eligible to participate. Under these requirements, 164 eligible NCAA Division IA and Division IAA school's mascots were identified by Capital One to be eligible for this competition. Capital One, in its sole discretion, identified the eligible Write-In mascots. In the case of schools with multiple costumed mascots, only the primary (original) mascot of the respective schools are eligible. All decisions of Capital One are final.

The Write-In Contest is completely separate from the Capital One National Mascot of the Year competition. The 12 mascots selected to the 2008 Capital One All-America Mascot Competition are not eligible for the Write-In Contest.

How the Write-In Contest Winner Will Be Selected

The winner of the Write-In Contest will be determined by Online Voting. (100%).

Write-In Contest Voting

The Write-In voting will be conducted over 14 weeks beginning September 8, 2008 (9:00 am ET) and ending on December 15, 2008 (8:59 am EST). In order to cast a write-in vote, you must first vote for the Capital One National Mascot of the Year Competition. Once you have voted for the National Mascot of the Year competition you will have the option of voting in the Write-in Contest. You will only be able to cast a Write-In vote immediately after voting for the National Mascot of the Year Competition. If you leave the site before casting a Write-In vote, you will not be able to vote for the Write-In Contest until the following day.

Visitors may cast one vote per day during for the Write-In Contest. The Write-In mascot with the most online votes at the end of the fourteen week voting period will be the Write-In Contest winner. The winning Write-In mascot will be announced on January 1, 2009 at capitalonebowl.com.

Regulations

The Write-In Contest begins September 8, 2008 and runs through December 15, 2008 (8:59 am EST).Votes received after 9:00 a.m. ET on December 15, 2008 will not be counted. Capital One reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to void any votes it deems fraudulent, are not cast in conformity with these official rules or are otherwise designed to undermine the integrity of the Contest. Decisions of Capital One are final.

No purchase is necessary to vote for the Write-In contest.

Internet

Sponsor is not responsible for technical failures of any kind or any problems or delays arising from any technical, software or equipment malfunctions, computer viruses, congestion on or unavailability of the Voting site during the Write-In Contest any other technical, equipment or human errors of any kind. If Sponsor determines in its sole discretion that there is any suspected or actual evidence of electronic or non-electronic tampering or fraud relating to any portion of the Write-In Contest, or if technical difficulties compromise the integrity of the Write-In Contest, it may cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Write-In Contest, in whole or in part, at any time without notice.

Prizes

The Write-In mascot receiving the most online votes will win $1,000 for use in scholarships and funding of its school's mascot program. The winning mascot will also be offered an opportunity to be on the 2009 All-America Mascot Team pending their school's official approval and willingness to agree to the official terms and conditions required by Capital One to be on the All-America Mascot Team.

In the event of a tie, the Write-In prize money will be split between the two winning schools and both winning mascots will be offered an opportunity to compete in the 2009 Capital One All-America Mascot Competition.