Lending A New Name To Boston College's Hockey Non-Conference Rivals

On Tuesday, North Dakota voters supported the University of North Dakota dumping its controversial Fighting Sioux nickname, likely ending more than a decade-long feud over the use of the school's nickname and moniker.

Voters in Tuesday's North Dakota primary were being asked whether to uphold or reject the Legislature's repeal of a state law requiring the school to use the nickname and American Indian head logo. The vote sends the matter back to the state's Board of Higher Education, which is expected to retire the moniker and American Indian head logo.

Robert Kelley, the UND president, said the vote will allow the college to focus on its students.

The Boston College and North Dakota hockey programs are certainly no strangers to one another, having met 22 times in all (North Dakota leads 11-10-1), with nine of those contests during the NCAA Tournament. BC leads the all-time series in the NCAAs 6-3, including eliminating the Sioux in the Frozen Four in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Along with Minnesota and maybe Michigan, the former Fighting Sioux are one of the Eagles' biggest non-conference rivals on the ice.

So let's lend our non-conf hockey rivals a hand. While the school will likely swap out the controversial nickname and moniker with a cat or bird, here's SI's Holly Anderson starting us off with a few state-appropriate school nicknames. Add your own in the comments section.

The North Dakota Roughriders
The North Dakota Western Meadowlarks
The North Dakota Fur Traders
The North Dakota Fighting Welks
The North Dakota Geographic Centers of the North American Continent
The North Dakota Sharks (because cartilaginous fish are woefully underrepresented in college athletics)

And my additions:

The North Dakota Flickertails (the school's original nickname)
The North Dakota Fighting Squirrels (see above, and because the nearby Bradford Fighting Squirrels were ahead of their time)
The North Dakota Bison (trollin')
The North Dakota Stars (because this logo should have never gone away)
The North Dakota Fighting Kolanos (more trollin')