Lance Armstrong had two decades of professional racing and seven Tour de France championships to his credit before he became America’s most disliked athlete. That happened, of course, when he acknowledged that he cheated through much of the ride. For Manti Te’o, it took little more than a day, following the revelation of a fake girlfriend, to join Armstrong at the top of the list.

The latest public surveys from Nielsen/E-Poll show Te’o and Armstrong in a virtual dead heat for the dubious title of America’s most disliked athlete (though we give the nod to Armstrong based on higher name recognition, which gives his score a bit more heft). Each appeals to just 15% of the public, according to Nielsen’s polling, which it conducts on a rolling basis with the help of E-Poll, an Encino, Calif.-based market research firm. Candidates were limited to active athletes with a minimum of 10% awareness (Armstrong is now barred from officially sanctioned events, but still competes as an athlete, hence for all practical purposes he is active).

Despite years of doping whispers and suspicions, Armstrong managed to maintain a surprisingly positive public image through vehement denials, his feel-good comeback from cancer and his charitable work with Livestrong. Then he decided to fess up to Oprah. Good for the soul perhaps, but as for public opinion, not what he’d hoped for. Especially since many viewers didn’t find him all that remorseful.

“The Oprah interview hurt him, he came off as pompous, arrogant and unapologetic,” says Stephen Master, senior vice president of sports at Nielsen.

Then there’s Te’o, the Notre Dame linebacker and Heisman Trophy runner-up who enjoyed immense popularity as he led the Irish to a 12-0 regular-season record and a spot in the BCS National Championship game. Not only was Te’o all over the field every week, he was likable and articulate in post-game interviews. And of course, he did it all while fighting the grief over the deaths of both his grandmother and his girlfriend.

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