It was no surprise that No. 1 seed Deion Sanders high-stepped his way to victory in the opening round of voting in the Defensive Playmakers bracket. Sanders racked up nearly 99 percent of the vote in his matchup on the Tribal Council and 98 percent on Twitter, while No. 8 seed Jalen Ramsey had a somewhat easy time of winning his battle with No. 9 seed Tay Cody. Ramsey grabbed 62 percent of votes on the Tribal Council and over 91 percent on Twitter.
Our version of Seminole Madness continues today with two more matchups in our Defensive Playmakers bracket.
No. 4 seed Terrell Buckley vs. No. 13 seed Telvin Smith
No. 5 seed Leroy Butler vs. No. 12 seed Sam Cowart
If you need more information and insight, we present bios on each player below:
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In addition to voting on our Tribal Council message board, you can also submit your vote on Warchant's Twitter account. The voting window is 24 hours, and each round offers an opportunity for Warchant subscribers and Twitter users to win a $25 e-card to Garnet & Gold. That prize will go to the person who makes the most compelling and/or original argument for their vote.
If you already know who gets your vote, click here to make your picks on the Tribal Council:
The Matchups
No. 4 seed Terrell Buckley vs. No. 13 seed Telvin Smith
Terrell Buckley played only three seasons at FSU before bolting early for the NFL -- a move that was fairly rare at the time -- but he still had enough time to etch his name all over the Seminole record books. The Mississippi native burst onto the national scene as a sophomore in 1990 by recording six interceptions and returning two of them for touchdowns. But his final season in garnet and gold is one that might never be duplicated. Buckley intercepted a school-record 12 passes that season and again returned two for scores, and he also proved to be one of the game's top return specialists. He earned consensus All-America honors that season and won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation's top defensive back. More than 25 years after his career ended, Buckley still holds FSU records for interceptions in a season (12), in a career (21), in consecutive games (5), and several other marks.
Telvin Smith only started one season as a Seminole, but he was a key member of the FSU defense for three years and was a dominant force on the 2013 national championship team. Playing behind future NFL linebacker Vince Williams in 2011 and 2012, Smith still was able to emerge as one of the Seminoles' top defenders, recording 42 tackles as a sophomore and 64 as a junior. His junior total ranked third on the team despite the fact he was coming off the bench. Smith led FSU with 90 stops as a senior, and he delivered a monster performance in the national championship game with 15 tackles. Smith also returned two interceptions for touchdowns in 2013 and was tabbed All-ACC first-team by the conference's coaches.
No. 5 seed Leroy Butler vs. No. 12 seed Sam Cowart
Leroy Butler will go down as one of the most versatile and productive defensive backs in Florida State history. The Jacksonville product emerged as a standout free safety for the Seminoles as a sophomore and junior before moving to cornerback as a senior in 1989 following Deion Sanders' departure. Butler intercepted seven passes that season and was named a Consensus All-American. His 87-yard interception return against Syracuse in 1989 remains one of the longest in school history, and he was a key figure in arguably the most famous play of the Bobby Bowden era -- the puntrooskie. Butler ran for 78 yards on that fake punt at Clemson and helped the Seminoles pull off a 24-21 victory. He went on to make several Pro Bowl appearances with the Green Bay Packers and was tabbed for the NFL's All-Decade Team.
Sam Cowart also came to FSU from Jacksonville and was one of the Seminoles' top defensive standouts during the Dynasty Era. After recording 31 tackles as a freshman reserve on the 1993 national championship team, Cowart became a force as a sophomore in '94, racking up 76 stops. But it was the next season that saw Cowart emerge on the national scene. He registered 115 tackles that season and capped it off with a memorable performance against rival Florida (13 tackles, 3 sacks). After missing all of 1996 with a knee injury, Cowart came back even stronger in '97 and earned consensus All-America honors. He recorded 116 tackles, four sacks and won the ACC's Brian Piccolo Award as he league's "most courageous player." Cowart ranks 15th on FSU's all-time tackles list with 338.
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Click here to make your votes on the Tribal Council. If you're not yet a member of Warchant.com, start your 30-day Free Trial today. (Votes also can be placed through the poll at our official account on Twitter, @Warchant.)
About the tournament
We've broken down the field of 64 into four 16-team brackets:
* Offensive Playmakers
* Defensive Playmakers
* Linemen (offensive and defensive)
* Legends/Special Teams
The first three "regions" are pretty self-explanatory. The final one is a combination of eight Seminole "legends," which we've defined as players who graduated by 1985 (just before the Dynasty era really began), and eight special-teams players.
The special-teams players were broken down further into two four-team brackets -- kickers/punters and "specialists" (return men or players who specialized in blocking kicks).
* CLICK HERE for a printable bracket
(Note: Players who already held a spot in one of the other categories were not eligible to also be selected as specialists. That is why Deion Sanders, Peter Warrick and Terrell Buckley are not listed there.)
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