The first showdown in the Elite Eight of our Warchant Bracket Challenge featured the top two seeds in the Offensive Playmakers bracket, but it ended up being not much of a competition after all.
Quarterback Charlie Ward, the No. 1 seed in that bracket, raced out to a big lead and cruised past No. 2 seed Jameis Winston with 72.1 percent of the vote. Ward is the first player so far to claim a spot in the Final Four.
The Elite Eight continues today with the two finalists from the Defensive Playmakers bracket:
No. 1 seed Deion Sanders vs. No. 2 seed Marvin Jones
If you need more information and insight, we present bios on each player below:
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All voting will be done on our Tribal Council message board, and the voting window is 24 hours. Each round offers an opportunity for Warchant subscribers 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 Matchup
No. 1 seed Deion Sanders vs. No. 2 seed Marvin Jones
Deion Sanders is an NFL Hall of Famer and was a two-time consensus All-American for the Seminoles in 1987 and 1988. He won the 1988 Thorpe Award as the nation's best defensive back and also led the country in punt-return average that season as well. As a freshman, he set a Florida State record with a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown against Tulsa, and then finished off the regular season with a 58-yard punt return TD against Florida in Gainesville. From there, the highlights just kept coming for the three-sport star. He was considered the best cornerback in the nation in 1987 and then was so good in 1988 that he finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting. He finished off his remarkable FSU career with a game-clinching interception in the end zone against Auburn in the 1989 Sugar Bowl. For his career, he had 14 career interceptions, three of which were returned for touchdowns. He also had three punt-return TDs as well. His No. 2 jersey has been retired by Florida State.
Marvin Jones was a star on Florida State's defense almost from the day he first stepped foot on campus. As a true freshman in 1990, the Miami native racked up 133 tackles to lead the team; that mark still stands as one of the 20 most productive seasons for a defensive player in school history. Jones went on to record more than 100 tackles in all three of his seasons at FSU and would be recognized as the best linebacker in college football. Jones earned consensus All-America honors in 1991 and 1992, and he claimed just about every honor possible during his junior year. He won the Butkus Award as top linebacker and the Lombardi Award as top lineman, and Sporting News named him the nation's college football Player of the Year. Jones ranks seventh all-time for career tackles in FSU history, and he's the only player in the top 20 who only played three seasons of college football.
Winner of $25 eCard from Garnet & Gold - CarlsbadNole
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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 -- updated with Round 1 & 2 results
(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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