The Republicans in town planning their national convention are having a little fun.

They've started a name-that-blog contest, with a twist. It's constructed like a March Madness, Final Four pool.

At their website, visitors can "vote" for names that are lined up against each other in bracket formation, like the familiar NCAA pool sheets that will start making the rounds next week.

You can vote on four "contests" now, with the other divisions going up against each other every couple of days.

Some early favorites — and I'm guessing here, just like I do in the NCAA pools — have to include:

Red Hot and No Blues (vs. Elephant Droppings) in the current round.

Elephant in the Room (vs. GOPeople) in Thursday's round.

Elephant Feed (vs Twin Bitties) on Saturday.

Shift + CTRL + GOP (vs. the Lanyard) on Monday.

Names that apparently didn't make the cut:

We Like Tim

Four a.m. Closing

Gather Around the Coleman Cooler (My suggestion for a hockey team name, when the Wild came to town, was The Coleman Coolers, because then Mayor (and now Sen). Norm was instrumental in getting the team and the arena)

The convention runs Sept. 1-4 at the Xcel Energy Center and will encompass the entire region with 45,000 visitors staying in hotels in Minneapolis, Bloomington, St. Paul and anywhere else they can find a room at the inn.

If you've got a suggestion for the Republicans' name-that-blog, list your idea in the comments area below.