Miami Mascot Madness Tournament: Vote in the Final Four

The first round of voting in our Miami Mascot Madness Tournament is now in the history books. On one side of the bracket we had two big blow outs. On the other side we had two face-offs that went down to the wire, with each mascot pulling ahead at one point or another. Now its time to find out the winners of Round One, and vote in the Final Four.

First the results:



The Academic Birds: Sebastian the Ibis (University of Miami) defeats Owlsey the Owl: 90.66% to 9.34%

Owlsey is a noble mascot, but he never really had a chance did he? This was by far the biggest blowout of the tournament. FAU may have a bigger student body, but Sebastian is a South Florida icon who cheers on the area's historically most successful team.

Sea Life: Billy the Marlin (Miami Marlins) defeats T.D. the Dolphin (Miami Dolphins): 69.44% to 30.56%

Another one that wasn't even close. We figure that the Dolphins may be the more favored team, but T.D. was a relatively late addition to the franchise's folklore. Plus he's not really given a prominent place during games. Billy, on the other hand, has been with the Marlins since day one, and the team has worked to make him a star.

Philly Phantic Rip-offs: The Miami Maniac (University of Miami Baseball) defeats Burnie (Miami Heat): 53.28% to 46.72%

This might have been the biggest upset of the first round. There's no doubt that the Heat are Miami's hottest team at the moment, but apparently Burnie didn't catch fire in the voting. The Miami Maniac has cheered on his team to four College World Series wins, though, and has been in town a bit longer.

Panthers: Stanley C. Panther (Florida Panthers) defeats Roary the Panther (FIU): 52.66% to 47.34%

We weren't sure what to make of this match up. It went down to the wire with the smallest margin of victory in the tourney, but apparently FIU's large student body wasn't enough to propel their mascot to victory. Which means the final four consists of two pro mascots, and two from (the same) college. Oddly, those pro mascots represent the two teams with the longest playoff droughts in the area. Go figure.

Now, its time to vote in the Final Four. Remember: voting closes in this round on Thursday night just before midnight.

Feathers and Fins Conference Championship: Sebastian the Ibis vs Billy the Marlin

This contest has something of a heated backstory, actually. For years, Sebastian nested in the Orange Bowl, but that was torn down to build Billy's new tank. Which is the best mascot to have called the stadium grounds in Little Havana home?