Wild first round features slew of upsets; Round of 32 voting begins
Thousands of votes have been tabulated, a wild first round is in the books, and Warchant.com’s first ever Seminoles’ Most Hated Contest is charging full speed ahead into the Round of 32.
While the top five seeds advanced in three of the four brackets -- Coaches, Players and Media -- the Miscellaneous bracket was pure pandemonium.
The lower-seeded team won six of the eight clashes in that bracket, including five double-digit seeds -- No. 15 Thursday Night Road Games (vs. Goalposts), No. 13 John Swofford (vs. UM Headset Guy), No. 12 ESPN (vs. Noon Kickoffs), No. 11 Willie Meggs (vs. ACC Refs), and No. 10 Miami fans (vs. Tallahassee Hotels). In a milder first-round surprise, No. 9-seeded Florida Fans knocked off No. 8 The New Logo.
The No. 1-seeded Southeastern Conference is still alive in the Miscellaneous bracket, but even it received a legitimate scare from No. 16 ACC Grant of Rights. The SEC secured 56.6 percent of the votes in that battle, compared to 43.4 for the contract that likely will keep FSU in the ACC for at least another decade. The Color Orange, which checked in as the No. 3 seed, was the only other favorite to advance in that bracket when it knocked off UM mascot Sebastian the Ibis.
Elsewhere in the voting, the top five seeds advanced in the Media bracket, but there were a pair of upsets after that as No. 10 seed Mark Schlabach pulled off a stunning win against fellow ESPN broadcaster Michelle Beadle and No. 11 seed Christine Brennan of USA Today knocked off Yahoo's Pat Forde. Schlabach came out victorious in one of the contests’ toughest battles, as he secured 51.3 percent of the votes against an ESPN personality who has repeatedly bashed FSU’s fan base and once said she would root for scurvy if scurvy every played FSU.
Schlabach and Brennan will be hard-pressed to advance to the Sweet 16, however, as Schlabach faces vitriol-spewing No. 2 seed Clay Travis and Brennan is going head-to-head with SEC mouthpiece Paul Finebaum. The other two second-round battles in the Media bracket should be knock-down, drag-outs as No. 1 seed Mike Bianchi takes on hard-charging No. 8 seed The New York Times, and No. 4 seed Matt Hayes goes up against ESPN's Heather Dinich.
The top five seeds and seven of the top eight are still alive in the Coaches' bracket. The only upset in the first round there was No. 11 seed Charley Pell knocking off No. 6 seed Dabo Swinney. That sets up an all-'80s Throwback showdown between Pell, who put Florida on NCAA probation, and former UM coach Jimmy Johnson, whose staff helped put the Hurricanes on probation.
The most compelling second-round matchup in the Coaches' bracket should be No. 2 seed Steve Spurrier against No. 7 seed Jeremy Pruitt. Spurrier is a heavy favorite to meet No. 1 seed Urban Meyer in the coaches' final, but Pruitt could be a pesky competitor. FSU fans are still peeved about the way Pruitt bailed after the national championship season, and some 'Noles have softened their stances on Spurrier during his post-Florida years.
The favorites dominated the first round of the Players’ bracket, as seven of the top eight seeds advanced past the first round. The only potential Cinderella in that bracket is former UF quarterback Doug Johnson, who stunned No. 6 seed Warren Sapp in his opening battle. The 11th-seeded Johnson, who is reviled for once throwing a football at Bobby Bowden, is one of five Gator entries to make the Round of 32 -- the others are No. 1 Tim Tebow, No. 4 Dante Fowler Jr., No. 5 Aaron Hernandez and the No. 7 seed Pouncey Twins.
The other three first-round winners were former Miami Hurricanes Kellen Winslow Jr., Michael Irvin and Jeremy Shockey.
Check out the Seminoles' Most Hated HQ page to see the latest bracket updates and matchups.
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