Who is winning our Mascot Bracket? Let’s take a look at the results so far.

About two weeks ago, we embarked on a quest to name the best high school or college mascot in the Philadelphia area. The real search started months earlier, as we began narrowing down the hundreds of local schools to a top 16 — which range from the familiar like owls and hawks to the wholly original like kangaroos and pandas — and then seeding them in a bracket for readers to vote on.

And vote you did. With thousands of votes recorded, the early results are starting to take shape. So as we cross the midpoint in our voting process — you have until April 5 to vote — we figured it was as good a time as any to provide an update on where all the mascots stand.

» READ MORE: Didn't vote yet? Click here to fill out your own Mascot Bracket.

Currently, it seems here are two things that make a mascot successful: a big fan base, like the Temple Owls, or a unique identity, like the Abington Friends Kangaroos, which was a favorite of several of our celebrity voters, like Gritty.

But neither of those schools is in the lead at the moment. Perhaps unsurprisingly — at least given the school’s well-known slogan — the St. Joseph’s Hawk is in first place with 16% of the total vote. But with several schools within a few hundred votes and plenty of time left to vote, there’s no guarantee that “the Hawk will never die.”

» READ MORE: Here’s how the St. Joe’s Hawk prepares to flap its wings — all game, every game

The Temple Owls are in second place with 14.6% of the vote, followed by a pair of high schools with interesting mascots, the Central Lancers (12.2%) and the Abington Friends Kangaroos (11%). Rounding out the top five are the Unionville Longhorns (8.5%), a familiar-sounding mascot that shares its name with the University of Texas, but one that is far less common in this part of the country. They’re followed by two unique mascots in the Delaware Blue Hens (7.4%) and Nazareth Pandas (6.7%).

In the middle of the pack are three local colleges — the Penn Quakers (6%), the Rowan Profs (4.2%), and the Jefferson Rams (3.1%) — who find themselves quite a bit behind the area’s top-performing college mascots in the St. Joe’s Hawk and Hooter the Owl.

» READ MORE: The mascot whisperer behind Gritty helped Jefferson University reimagine its mascot

At least in the case of the Rams, who even unveiled a new look for their mascot, the school could be suffering from what we’ll call “The NFL Effect.” Six of the seven mascots with the lowest vote totals share their names with NFL teams — the lone exception being the Church Farm Griffins (2.3%). While it makes some sense that teams named the Patriots, Vikings, Panthers, and Lions didn’t perform well in Philly, the effect stretched all the way to the Conwell Egan Eagles (1.8%), who share a mascot with the most popular team in town.

So will any of these teams make a late run at our title, which includes a $1,000 donation to the winning school? That all depends on you — and whether you vote. Head on over to our Mascot Bracket to submit your votes before April 5, and be sure to check back to see who wins.

In the meantime, here’s a full look at the standings as of Monday morning:

» READ MORE: Vote in our Mascot Bracket