Urban Meyer vs. UF Fans: Who will be crowned Seminoles' Most Hated?
And then there were two.
Warchant.com’s quest to determine the greatest villain in the minds of Florida State fans comes down to -- not surprisingly -- an all orange-and-blue finals showdown.
Representing the Coaches Region in the first-ever “Seminoles’ Most Hated” contest is former Florida head coach Urban Meyer. Representing the Miscellaneous Region is Florida Fans. Voting will take place on Warchant.com on Thursday, July 28, with the “winner” announced one day later.
Meyer advanced to the finals by defeating Media Region champ The New York Times, which drew the ire of FSU fans for stilted reporting during the Jameis Winston saga. In Meyer's only close race of the contest, he acquired 57 percent of the vote.
Florida Fans made the finals by knocking off Players Region champion Dante Fowler Jr., a one-time Florida State commitment who spurned the Seminoles on Signing Day and went on to become a first-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Florida Fans defeated Fowler convincingly, with 72.7 percent of the vote.
The showdown of Urban Meyer vs. Florida Fans is especially intriguing because there is no love lost between those two -- Gator Nation was furious when Meyer left UF for “health reasons” and then jumped right back into coaching at Ohio State one year later. Meanwhile, Meyer’s wife, Shelley, has since described Gator fans as “hostile” and “mean.”
The 64-entry bracket, which was compiled from nominations by Warchant.com subscribers, featured 16 contestants in each of the Players, Coaches, Media and Miscellaneous regions.
The Coaches Region featured primarily an assortment of former and current Florida and Miami coaches, including Charley Pell and Jimmy Johnson. A couple of former FSU coaches were on the list as well, including reviled offensive coordinator Jeff Bowden.
The Media Region featured a number of national college football writers and ESPN analysts, including Chris Fowler and Paul Finebaum. Former Hurricane Michael Irvin and Gator legend Tim Tebow were among the early favorites in the Players Region.
The Miscellaneous Region, which was a catch-all category, featured things like Thursday Night Road Games and UM mascot Sebastian the Ibis.
Florida Fans dusted Miami Fans in the finals of the Miscellaneous bracket by garnering 81.9 percent of the vote. Urban Meyer whipped Steve Spurrier in the Coaches Region with 77.2 percent of the vote, among more than 600 voters.
The New York Times narrowly defeated Finebaum in the finals of the Media bracket. And Dante Fowler beat the Pouncey Twins (former UF linemen Mike and Maurkice) in the Players bracket final.
Visit our Seminoles' Most Hated HQ page for the complete updated brackets.
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