With the opening round completed in two of our 16-team regionals, it's time for our Bracket Challenge to move over to the Defensive Playmakers bracket.
Before we do that, let's recap the winners from Friday's voting in the special-teams category: Greg Reid knocked off Joe Wessel with 71.2 percent of the vote on the Tribal Council and an even greater margin on Twitter, and Tamaick Vanover raced by Willie Reid in the other battle. Vanover took 65.1 percent of the vote on the Tribal Council and 57.9 percent on Twitter.
Our version of Seminole Madness continues today with the first two matchups in our Defensive Playmakers bracket. While this category features the best linebackers and defensive backs in school history, both of today's battles feature DBs going head to head.
No. 1 seed Deion Sanders vs. No. 16 seed Clifton Abraham
No. 8 seed Jalen Ramsey vs. No. 9 seed Tay Cody
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. 1 seed Deion Sanders vs. No. 16 seed Clifton Abraham
Deion Sanders is arguably the best cornerback in the history of the sport. He's 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.
Clifton Abraham was the smallest cornerback during the Seminoles' dynasty run, but he was also one of the best. The feisty 5-foot-9 defensive back was a three-year starter for the Florida State secondary and was a key contributor on the 1993 national championship team. Abraham was a consensus All-American in 1994 and finished his Seminole career with eight interceptions. He was also a special-teams whiz, returning four blocked punts for touchdowns in his career. During his four years at FSU, Abraham's teams went a combined 45-5-1, with three ACC championships and a national championship. The Dallas native, who played at powerful Carter High School, was a fifth-round pick in the 1995 NFL Draft and wound up playing six seasons professionally.
No. 8 seed Jalen Ramsey vs. No. 9 seed Tay Cody
Jalen Ramsey was so good, so quickly, that he started every game as a true freshman in 2013 -- on a team that returned a boatload of NFL talent in the secondary and went on to win a national championship. The five-star recruit out of Tennessee then became one of the best players in the nation his final two years in college. He started at a hybrid DB/LB position as a sophomore, racking up 80 tackles, three sacks, two interceptions and three forced fumbles, and then followed that up with an All-America junior season at cornerback. The two-sport star (he was a track standout in the long jump as well) was a consensus All-American in 2015 and scored his lone career touchdown on a fumble return at Boston College. He was the 5th overall pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2016 NFL Draft.
Tay Cody might not be one of the first names that comes up when your'e talking about Florida State defensive backs, but the Georgia native is truly one of the best in school history. And his 2000 season was one of the very best a Florida State defensive back has ever had. Cody, who always seemed to come up with big plays in big games, intercepted two passes in the Seminoles' regular-season finale against Florida that year. He also forced a critical fumble late in the fourth quarter against Miami. He was named a consensus All-American in 2000 and was a third-round pick of the San Diego Chargers. Cody, who was listed at 5-foot-9, finished his Florida State career with 12 interceptions. He had six interceptions alone in 2000, and his 200 return yards that year was one of the best single-season marks in school history.
Winner of $25 eCard from Garnet & Gold - Noleway85
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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