Klei's Sports Blog: After Miami Beach Bowl

So, I was at work today around 2:30 when I realized that, oh yeah, there was a bowl game on today. I clicked on the Internet in time to follow Memphis's game tying final drive in the 4th quarter. Then they proceeded to go into overtime, where both teams hit field goals of over 45 yards (no small accomplishment for college kickers), and then Memphis won it in 2nd overtime. That all seemed pretty exciting, and it made me kind of sad that I missed it. It seems only fitting that the most entertaining Bowl game so far would take place at a time when absolutely no one would be able to watch it.

I went home and updated my spreadsheets and proceeded to watch the Broncos and Bengals NFL game, which was also pretty good, but of no consequence to the Bowl pool. I decided to watch PTI, which I record every day. Lo and behold, the end of the Miami Beach Bowl was on, since it was running long. It turned out to be just as exciting a finish as I thought it was. It also appears that I missed a full-on brawl during the game. It must be one of Murphy's Law's that that game was on at such a terrible time. It will probably be the best game of the entire bowl season.

But, what about the standings, you say. Well, we are down to only 1 perfect sheet, and it comes compliments of CBS Hinnen, who was leading the pool at the end of Day 1. However, because of the 30 points that Andrew D. put on Memphis, he takes over the lead. Here are the rankings:

1. Andrew D.: 150 (-14)

2. CBS Hinnen: 146 (0)

3. Ray R.: 120 (-22)

4. CBS Fornelli: 109 (-26)

5. Brent E. #1: 102 (-20)

6. Mark N. #2: 100 (-31)

7. Ryan W.: 97 (-4)

8. Jim W.: 92 (-5)

9. Brent E. #2: 83 (-20)

10. Bruce G.: 82 (-68)

11. Brent S. #1: 81 (-34)

12. Mike S.: 80 (-1)

13. Matt N.: 80 (-26)

14. Ally H.: 80 (-45)

15. Mike W.: 79 (-45)

16. Mark N. #1: 75 (-20)

17. Hal R. #3: 70 (-26)

18. Adam E.: 69 (-11)

19. Ryan G.: 68 (-16)

20. Hutch H. #1: 67 (-4)

21. Brett W.: 67 (-116)

22. Pete J. #2: 65 (-24)

23. Pete J. #1: 64 (-25)

24. Scott H. #2: 63 (-14)

25. Hal R. #2: 63 (-33)

26. Brent S. #2: 62 (-14)

27. Daniel D.: 62 (-34)

28. Mandi A.: 61 (-74)

29. Kevin W.: 60 (-13)

30. Marc R.: 60 (-30)

31. Hal R. #1: 60 (-36)

32. Damien R. #1: 60 (-49)

33. Dave M.: 59 (-17)

34. Lance L.: 58 (-19)

35. Ben W.: 58 (-56)

36. Presley J.: 57 (-37)

37. Damien R. #2: 55 (-31)

38. Klei R.: 55 (-71)

39. Carl B.: 49 (-7)

40. Hutch H. #2: 49 (-9)

41. Brad R.: 49 (-85)

42. Becky H.: 49 (-104)

43. Dustin B.: 47 (-22)

44. Scott H. #1: 47 (-54)

45. Chad L.: 46 (-40)

46. Sarah G.: 40 (-44)

47. Dylan B.: 38 (-20)

48. Michelle L. #1: 38 (-23)

49. Tim N.: 37 (-39)

50. Sally R.: 33 (-66)

51. Amos W.: 33 (-68)

52. Andrew O.: 30 (-20)

53. Jay H. #2: 30 (-29)

54. Michelle L. #2: 28 (-21)

55. Chad C.: 18 (-9)

56. Jay H. #1: 12 (-9)

...and the net points:

1. CBS Hinnen: 146

2. Andrew D.: 136

3. Ray R.: 98

4. Ryan W.: 93

5. Jim W.: 87

6. CBS Fornelli: 83

7. Brent E. #1: 82

8. Mike S.: 79

9. Mark N. #2: 69

10. Brent E. #2: 63

10. Hutch H. #1: 63

12. Adam E.: 58

13. Mark N. #1: 55

14. Matt N.: 54

15. Ryan G.: 52

16. Scott H. #2: 49

17. Brent S. #2: 48

18. Brent S. #1: 47

18. Kevin W.: 47

20. Hal R. #3: 44

21. Dave M.: 42

21. Carl B.: 42

23. Pete J. #2: 41

24. Hutch H. #2: 40

25. Pete J. #1: 39

25. Lance L.: 39

27. Ally H.: 35

28. Mike W.: 34

29. Hal R. #2: 30

29. Marc R.: 30

31. Daniel D.: 28

32. Dustin B.: 25

33. Hal R. #1: 24

33. Damien R. #2: 24

35. Presley J.: 20

36. Dylan B.: 18

37. Michelle L. #1: 15

38. Bruce G.: 14

39. Damien R. #1: 11

40. Andrew O.: 10

41. Chad C.: 9

42. Michelle L. #2: 7

43. Chad L.: 6

44. Jay H. #1: 3

45. Ben W.: 2

46. Jay H. #2: 1

47. Tim N.: -2

48. Sarah G.: -4

49. Scott H. #1: -7

50. Mandi A.: -13

51. Klei R.: -16

52. Sally R.: -33

53. Amos W.: -35

54. Brad R.: -36

55. Brett W.: -49

56. Becky H.: -55

Through 2 days, it looks like its a 2 person race for the top. Like I've said a million times though, it's a long season. We still have 30+ games to go....

Speaking of which, we have 2 more tomorrow, and what a surprise: both of them are on television at times when people with jobs can actually watch them.

The first game of the day is the Boca Raton Bowl. I don't remember a Boca Raton Bowl last year, so I'm guessing it's the first year for this Bowl game. It features Marshall against Northern Illinois. I'm guessing it's a byproduct of the larger point spread (Marshall -9.5), but this winds up having the 11th most points wagered on it. It's a real battle royale in my family, as my wife has 38 points on Marshall, while my Mom has 38 on Northern Illinois. Someone's going to be disappointed in a big way tomorrow after this one.

Here's the stats for the game overall: Picks for Marshall (43, average: 26.67 points). Picks for Northern Illinois (13, average: 15.15 points). The average pick is Marshall for 17 points, with the median being Marshall for 26.5 points, making this a tie for the 11th most lopsided picking. Despite that, this game has the 4th highest variance of the entire field, so the distribution of picks is pretty wide.

Here are the actual picks:

For Marshall:

Michelle L. #1: 38

Michelle L. #2: 37

Ryan G.: 37

Hutch H. #2: 36

Mark N. #1: 36

Mark N. #2: 36

Pete J. #1: 36

Pete J. #2: 36

Adam E.: 35

Hutch H. #1: 35

Lance L.: 35

Sarah G.: 34

Ray R.: 33

Brett W.: 33

Brent S. #1: 32

CBS Fornelli: 32

Chad L.: 32

Mike S.: 32

Andrew O.: 31

Ben W.: 31

Brent E. #1: 31

Brent E. #2: 31

Tim N.: 31

CBS Hinnen: 30

Kevin W.: 30

Mike W.: 30

Hal R. #3: 29

Matt N.: 27

Carl B.: 26

Dave M.: 26

Brent S. #2: 25

Marc R.: 20

Bruce G.: 20

Andrew D.: 15

Damien R. #2: 14

Hal R. #1: 12

Hal R. #2: 12

Mandi A.: 12

Scott H. #2: 12

Dylan B.: 8

Chad C.: 7

Jay H. #1: 7

Amos W.: 5

For Northern Illinois:

Sally R.: 38

Ally H.: 32

Jim W.: 28

Brad R.: 22

Presley J.: 20

Becky H.: 18

Ryan W.: 10

Dustin B.: 8

Damien R. #1: 7

Jay H. #2: 7

Klei R.: 3

Scott H. #1: 3

Daniel D.: 1

Andrew O.: 35

Ryan W.: 34

Brett W.: 29

Scott H. #2: 16

Amos W.: 14

Hal R. #2: 14

Hal R. #3: 14

Scott H. #1: 8

Adam E.: 4

Chad C.: 4

Chad L.: 4

Kevin W.: 4

Mark N. #2: 4

Damien R. #1: 3

Jay H. #2: 3

Mandi A.: 1

The second game of the night is a Bowl game I've been to a few times: The Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego. Last year, I pulled a muscle in my back and had to sit in the cold trying to keep it from spasming, which wasn't all that fun, although I usually like going to the game. This year, it's an especially good matchup if you live in San Diego, as it features San Diego State vs. Navy.

As of yesterday, San Diego State was a 3 point favorite. Considering that Marshall was a 9.5 point favorite in the Boca Raton Bowl and the pick spread was 43-13, it's a little surprising to see the pick distribution for this game at 40-16. That's pretty lopsided for a 3 point game.

Despite all the homerism for SDSU, people aren't putting a ton of points on them. This game ranks 32nd in total points wagered. The distributions are as follows: SDSU (40 picks, average of 15.03 points). Navy (16 picks, 11.94 points average).

The average wager is SDSU for 7.32 points, and the median is SDSU for 8.5 points.

Here's the picks:

For SDSU:

Andrew D.: 38

Jim W.: 38

Klei R.: 37

Brent S. #1: 31

Presley J.: 30

Brad R.: 27

CBS Hinnen: 27

Lance L.: 25

Michelle L. #1: 25

Sally R.: 20

Bruce G.: 19

Tim N.: 18

Damien R. #2: 16

Ally H.: 15

Dylan B.: 15

Marc R.: 15

Mike W.: 15

Pete J. #1: 15

Pete J. #2: 15

Becky H.: 14

Hal R. #1: 14

Ben W.: 11

Hutch H. #2: 11

Dustin B.: 10

Matt N.: 10

Michelle L. #2: 10

Ryan G.: 9

Sarah G.: 9

Carl B.: 8

Jay H. #1: 8

Mike S.: 8

Ray R.: 8

Daniel D.: 6

Hutch H. #1: 6

Brent S. #2: 5

Dave M.: 4

Mark N. #1: 4

Brent E. #1: 2

Brent E. #2: 2

CBS Fornelli: 1

For Navy: