A lot of people out West are starting to get excited about the Zags playing Pac-12 basketball, but high school mascot fans back East might prefer some positive Obezags news.

That’s definitely true at Key High School in Maryland, home of the only Obezags in the country.

Over the next couple of months, SBLive/SI will be featuring the best high school mascots in every state, giving readers a chance to vote for No. 1 in all 50.

Vote: Best high school mascot in Louisiana

Vote: Best high school mascot in Maine

The winners and highest vote-getters will make up the field for our NCAA Tournament-style March Mascot Madness bracket in 2025. The Coalinga Horned Toads (California) are the defending national champions.

Here are High School on SI’s top 10 high school mascots in Maryland (vote in the poll below to pick your favorite):

The poll will close at 11:59 p.m. ET Wednesday, Oct. 23.

“Camp Hill,” the site of the present-day Allegany, was a federal army camp during the Civil War, and Allegany High School honors that history by calling themselves the Campers.

Known as “the Seafood Capital of the World,” the city of Crisfield has a giant crab on its welcoming water tower. The Crisfield Crabbers were a minor league baseball team in the 1920s and ’30s, and the high school decided to keep the name alive.

These aren’t just any ducks, they’re Mallards. And they aren’t just any Mallards — they’re Fighting Mallards.

No, Forest Park’s mascot isn’t a Subaru. It’s a bearded burly guy wearing a beanie and swinging a mean ax. Notable past Foresters are Mama Cass Elliot and former Vice President Spiro Agnew.

North Hagerstown went from one interesting mascot to another, switching from Little Heiskell to Hub. The new name stems from the historical and geographical location of Hagerstown at the intersection of waterways, railroads and interstate highways. Little Heiskell, named for German tinsmith Benjamin Heiskell,is an iconic weathervane in Hagerstown.

Michigan has the only Martians in the country among U.S. high schools, and Bryn Mawr has the only Mawrtians. Mascot pride is brimming at the 140-year-old school.

When the property on which the school was built was donated, it was filled with gazebos. The students voted and decided to spell gazebo backwards as their nickname. Not surprisingly, they’re the only Obezags in the country.

This unique school with a unique mascot started in 2015 with 100 ninth-graders, and it’s grown by 100 students each year since. The only requirement to apply to become a Sea Turtle is that English is not your first language.

Not only are these the only Wildebeests among U.S. high schools, they have a fantastic back story. From the school website: “The Wildebeest was a character from an original operetta written by former music teacher Bryan Seith and performed by SSFS students during the school’s early years. At some point after the production, a student thought it would be funny to bring the Wildebeest costume head to an SSFS game to cheer on the team, and eventually SSFS adapted the wildebeest as our School mascot!”

The most clever use of the letter E in high school sports history resulted in Wilde Lake having a deceptively unique mascot. There are 743 U.S. high schools that call themselves the Wildcats, and there’s only one Wildecats.

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— Mike Swanson | swanson@scorebooklive.com | @sblivesports

Millions of dollars continue to pour into Maryland’s Senate election between former Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D), new campaign finance reports show.

The candidates themselves reported big hauls over the past three months in the tight race to replace departing U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D). And those efforts have been supplemented by secondary fundraising committees and robust outside spending — including a pro-Hogan political action committee that has raised an eye-popping $27 million so far and has spent almost $11 million.

The July 1 to Sept. 30 campaign fundraising and spending reports, filed Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission, confirm that Maryland’s Senate race continues to be one of the most closely watched in the nation this year — a rarity for the state — with Democrats clinging to a two-seat majority that is in danger of changing hands.

Recent public polls have shown a small and durable lead for Alsobrooks — but nothing insurmountable, as Hogan remains better known and still is popular after eight years as governor.

When it comes to their own fundraising committees, Alsobrooks appears to have bested Hogan in money raised over the past quarter, based on a quick read of the campaign finance reports, which were posted to the FEC website late Tuesday. But the campaigns have moved a lot of money in and out of their principal fundraising entities and auxiliary accounts over the past few months, so it is difficult at first glance to calculate what the campaigns’ bottom lines are.

Alsobrooks’ campaign committee reported raising more than $13.4 million and spending $13.6 million between July 1 and Sept. 30, which included a transfer of almost $2.4 million from a separate entity, the Alsobrooks Victory Fund, which reported collecting almost $3.8 million over the last three months.

The victory fund doled out more than $3.5 million during the previous quarter, including the money it sent to Alsobrooks’ campaign committee.

Delaney widens lead over Parrott on the fundraising and spending front

Overall, Alsobrooks’ campaign fund has raised almost $26 million since she entered the race in May 2023. It has spent $22.5 million for the election, and as of Sept. 30, she had more than $3.6 million in her war chest.

The Alsobrooks Victory Fund has brought in $6.6 million this election cycle and spent $6.2 million. It had about $433,000 in the bank on Sept. 30.

Alsobrooks is also collecting money from a joint fundraising committee that was set up during the summer for herself and U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), who is also bidding to become one of the few Black women elected to the Senate (the congresswoman is heavily favored to win her race next month). The Alsobrooks-Blunt Rochester Victory Fund reported raising $75,000 during the three-month period and spending just shy of $70,000. Of that, $26,000 went to Alsobrooks’ campaign, and $30,500 went to Blunt Rochester.

Another joint fundraising committee that has since been closed, established for Alsobrooks and U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, transferred $13,000 to the Alsobrooks campaign during the summer.

Alsobrooks also has a leadership PAC, called AlsoPAC, which has raised $180,000 this election cycle, but is mostly sending that money to other candidates.

Hogan’s principal campaign committee reported taking in more than $3.2 million over the past three months and spending $4.3 million during the same period. The money that came in included a $756,000 transfer from a separate entity known as the Hogan Victory Fund, which on its own raised $5.4 million from July 1 to Sept. 30.

Hogan has raised more than $10.2 million for his Senate campaign account since entering the race in February, and just shy of $12 million for the victory fund. The campaign committee has spent $8.7 million on the election, while the victory fund has spent over $10 million.

Hogan’s campaign committee reported over $1.5 million on hand as of Sept. 30, while his victory fund banked $1.8 million.

A separate Hogan PAC called Better Path Forward, reported raising $92,000 over the past three months and spending $51,775 during that period. The PAC has raised $390,000 this election cycle and spent $366,000. According to the PAC’s FEC report, the entity has both collected money from and sent money to the Hogan Victory Fund.

Better Path Forward had $181,000 in its campaign account as of Sept. 30.

Poll: Majority of Marylanders support reproductive rights ballot question

Just as significant, Hogan is reaping the benefits of spending from an independent committee, Maryland’s Future PAC, which raised $27 million through Sept. 30 and spent almost $11 million, mostly on TV and radio ads and mailers that attack Alsobrooks.

The super PAC, which is not bound by federal campaign finance limits that apply to campaign committees, has received huge contributions from national business titans and regular Republican donors. In the most recent quarterly report, Maryland’s Future received a $2 million contribution from the Senate Leadership Fund, which is controlled by allies of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). It received a $1 million donation from casino mogul Steve Wynn, and another $1 million from James Davis, the chair of New Balance Shoes.

In addition to spending millions on ads attacking Alsobrooks, the PAC reported spending $990,000 over the past three months on canvassing and $172,000 for polling, paid to the well-respected GOP firm Public Opinion Strategies. It has reserved millions more in advertising over the final weeks of the campaign.

At a more modest level, Alsobrooks has been the beneficiary of an independent entity called Unity First PAC that was set up earlier this year by Gov. Wes Moore (D) to oppose Hogan, his predecessor. That PAC reported raising $288,000 over the past three months and $448,000 overall. The PAC spent $203,001 since July 1 and had $215,200.26 in the bank on Sept. 30.

The biggest donation to that PAC this quarter, $100,000, came from the Mid-Atlantic Laborers Political Education Fund.

State of play

Polls have shown a close race between Alsobrooks and Hogan, but the last handful to have been released over the past few weeks have the Democrat with a small advantage. The most recent, according to the Senate Leadership Fund, put Alsobrooks ahead 48% to 41%. The existence of the poll, by Public Opinion Strategies, was first reported Sunday night by Politico.

Alsobrooks has sought to make Maryland’s potential role in determining control of the Senate a major part of her campaign message. But many national strategists and pundits believe the Senate is likely to change hands regardless of what happens in Maryland — even if the new round of Republican state-by-state polls isn’t as encouraging as GOP leaders would like.

In a virtual appearance Tuesday before the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, Hogan tried to blunt Alsobrooks’ argument that Maryland could be pivotal when it comes to Senate control, and said he is uniquely qualified to work with other moderates in the chamber to bring more comity and compromise.

“I’m not going to flip anything, but I think I’m going to be the most important one there,” Hogan said.

Meanwhile, Alsobrooks debuted a positive TV ad Tuesday, suggesting she is ready to work for Marylanders’ top priorities, including fighting “corporate price gouging,” ensuring prescription drugs are more affordable, keeping neighborhoods safe and protecting seniors’ retirement funds.

“In Maryland, we live closer to the halls of the U.S. Senate than anywhere in America,” she said at the top of the 30-second spot. “But often it feels like they’re on another planet.”