Tim Tebow Facing First Round Exit

On the Padrecast posted earlier today some of the discussion centered on the way votes would ultimately be distributed in the Madden NFL 12 cover tournament. With a one vs one setup there is just as much potential for to go against an individual as there is for the votes to be cast in favor of them.

ESPN has decided to release some of the current voting results before the winner is even determined and the motivation for doing so could be questioned. In this case the first reveal is that Tim Tebow is losing big to Jamaal Charles. That would be a surprise to most, and with Charles getting a whopping 65% of the vote putting this out there makes it look like ESPN/EA are hoping to light a fire under the Tebow fan base.

It was difficult to determine going into the voting whether it would trend heavily towards the most popular players and individual fan bases, or if dislike of certain players could result in a band of support for their opponents. If the latter were to be true, and based on this initial news it may be, than those like Tebow and Michael Vick are going to struggle to advance and almost certainly have no chance to win.

(Update) Other match-ups mentioned include Andre Johnson crushing Chris Johnson, and Patrick Willis holding just a few percentage point edge over The 12th Man.