Jackson, Manning highlight Sweet 16 matchups in SEC Greatest Player tourney
Two of college football's all-time offensive legends are set to meet in
the SEC Greatest Player Tournament presented by Direct
Auto Insurance.
Running back Bo
Jackson (Auburn) and quarterback Peyton Manning (Tennessee) still rank
among the most celebrated careers of any player in conference history.
Jackson ran up 4,303 career yards and 45 total touchdowns en route to
the 1985 Heisman Trophy while Manning posted 89 passing TDs and set
multiple passing records on his way to a 1997 Heisman runner-up
finish.
As two of the Vaught Region's
top-three seeds, Manning and Jackson compose the highest-seeded matchup
of the tournament's Sweet 16. Both players were good
enough
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The other half of the
offense-focused Vaught Region is made up of two former Auburn stars,
Terry Beasley (No. 8 seed) and Cam Newton (No. 4). Beasley was an
All-American receiver in the late '60s and early '70s, while Newton, of
course, was a one-year wonder for the Tigers who hoisted the 2010
Heisman winner.
In the defense's Neyland Region,
Glenn Dorsey (LSU) meets Reggie White (Tennessee) while Cornelius
Bennett (Alabama) and Patrick Willis (Ole Miss) make up the final
matchup.
But it's clear that the most riveting
matchup will take place in two of the most accomplished backfield
competitors in SEC history. Will Bo Jackson and Peyton Manning advance
to the Elite Eight? Could one of these two be the greatest player in
conference history? You decide.
Click
here for results from last week's voting, in which
three Georgia Bulldogs (Herschel Walker, David Pollack and Champ Bailey)
advanced to the Elite Eight and Manning's father, Archie Manning, a
former Ole Miss star, pulled off the slight upset of former Heisman
winner and current South Carolina coach Steve
Spurrier.
· No. 8 Terry
Beasley vs. No. 4 Cam Newton
· No. 3 Peyton Manning vs. No. 2
Bo Jackson
· No. 1 Glenn Dorsey
vs. No. 4 Reggie White
· No. 6 Cornelius Bennett vs. No. 10
Patrick Willis
