Vote to determine most iconic jersey number
We recently embarked on a journey to figure out which jersey number in sports is the most iconic of all-time.
We looked at numbers through professional and college baseball, basketball, football, hockey, soccer and on race cars.
Through carefully vetted research, we narrowed our choices down to 21, then had a panel of 13 experts further whittle that down to 16.
Last week we laid out a bracketed vote, and this week, the 16 have become 8.
Here are the remaining 8 numbers, broken down into 4 votes, and athletes associated with those numbers.
You can vote at floridatoday.com, jacksonville.com, palmbeachpost.com, tallahassee.com or any of our other USA Today Network sites in the state of Florida.
(No. 1 seed) 23 vs. (No. 8 seed) 7
Jersey No. 23 cruised to victory over No. 80, collecting 93 percent of the vote.
It will face No. 7, which eased by No. 8 with 58 percent of the vote.
Here are some all-time great athletes associated with 23 and 7.
Michael Jordan, Ryne Sandberg, LeBron James, Draymond Green, Devin Hester, Kirk Gibson, Don Mattingly, David Beckham, Christian McCaffrey.
Mickey Mantle, Ivan Rodriguez, John Elway, George Halas, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Johnson, Pete Maravich, Cristiano Ronaldo.
23:
7:
(No. 2 seed) 3 vs. (No. 10 seed) 44
No. 3 dispatched No. 15 with 83 percent of the vote.
It will face No. 44, the only number to pull an upset, by beating the high-ranked No. 99 with 58 percent of the vote.
Here are some all-time great athletes associated with 3 and 44.
Babe Ruth, Dale Earnhardt, Alex Rodriguez (Took 13 as Yankee because of Ruth), Harmon Killebrew, Bryce Harper, Allen Iverson, Dwyane Wade, Dale Murphy.
3:
44:
Hank Aaron, Willie McCovey, John Riggins, Jerry West, George Gervin, Pete Maravich.
(No. 3 seed) 32 vs. (No. 6 seed) 42
No. 32 had no issues getting past No. 9 with 79 percent of the vote.
It will face No. 42, which fended off No. 13 with 57 percent of the vote.
Here are some all-time great athletes associated with 32 and 42.
Magic Johnson, Sandy Koufax, Steve Carlton, Marcus Allen, Jim Brown, Franco Harris, Edgerrin James, OJ Simpson, Dr. J, Karl Malone, Shaquille O’Neal, Bill Walton, Kevin McHale.
Jackie Robinson, Mariano Rivera,
32:
42:
Ronnie Lott, James Worthy, Lee Petty, Kyle Larson.
(No. 4 seed) 24 vs. (No. 5 seed) 12
No. 24 garnered 64 percent of the vote in defeating No. 5.
It will face No. 12, which seized 60 percent of the vote in downing No. 33.
Here are some all-time great athletes associated with 24 and 12.
Jeff Gordon, Ken Griffey Jr, Barry Bonds, Miguel Cabrera, Rickey Henderson, Kobe Bryant, Willie Mays, Rick Barry, Manny Ramirez, Moses Malone, Charles Woodson, Darrelle Revis and Marshawn Lynch.
Tom Brady, Roberto Alomar, Terry Bradshaw, Bob Griese, Jim Kelly, Joe Namath, Ken Stabler, Roger Staubach, John Stockton, Dwight Howard, Pat Riley, Bobby Allison, Aaron Rodgers.
The stage is set. Next week we’ll whittle it down to the final four.