After St. Petersburg Bowl

Happy Boxing Day everyone.  I'm not really sure what one does for Boxing Day, but I celebrated by hiking in the new hiking boots my wife got me, watching the last episode of the Colbert Report on DVR and eating AmeriCone Dream ice cream - and largely avoiding watching football game.  That will probably be my plan tomorrow as well, and it's not even going to be a holiday.

But there was 3 games today, and as a group, we did pretty lousy.  Only 2 people managed to go 3/3 and 6 people managed to go 0/3 including the leader coming into today (CBS Hinnen).  The average sheet today went 1.34 / 3.  The average number of points won was 22.32, and the average number of points lost was 25.36, meaning we lost more points than we won.  Given that 2 of the 3 games wound up being upsets based on the pick distribution, including NC State in the St. Petersburg Bowl, which qualifies for the biggest upset of the pool so far.

The two big winners for the day were Tim N. (who won the first ever Bowl pool) and Sally R., who has never won anything, but is my Mom, so is worthy of praise regardless of how she does in the pool .  Tim N. was the biggest winner in terms of points today, taking 52 total points.  Unfortunately, that was only good enough to get him up from 49th to 34th in the standings today.  He still has a lot of points left to get, so he doesn't seem to be out of the running.

On the opposite end of the table today, 6 people managed to get none of the games correct.  The big loser was Jim W., who took a pretty severe hit, losing 69 points across his three losses.  That was enough to move him down from 32nd to 46th, which is not a big move.  The reason for that small of a move is mostly because other people around him didn't get many points either, so not as many passed him in the standings.

So, here are the standings:

1. Brett W.: 229 (-172)

2. CBS Hinnen: 199 (-52)

3. Mark N. #2: 198 (-37)

4. Ray R.: 195 (-60)

5. Mike W.: 192 (-90)

6. Andrew D.: 187 (-103)

7. Brent E. #1: 165 (-51)

8. CBS Fornelli: 160 (-51)

9. Mark N. #1: 155 (-44)

10. Scott H. #2: 154 (-45)

11. Ryan G.: 151 (-51)

12. Ryan W.: 151 (-57)

13. Bruce G.: 151 (-118)

14. Hutch H. #1: 147 (-43)

15. Ally H.: 147 (-127)

16. Carl B.: 146 (-28)

17. Brent E. #2: 146 (-51)

18. Hal R. #2: 144 (-54)

19. Mike S.: 143 (-18)

20. Daniel D.: 141 (-64)

21. Brent S. #1: 140 (-87)

22. Hutch H. #2: 139 (-41)

23. Hal R. #3: 138 (-77)

24. Ben W.: 137 (-102)

25. Sarah G.: 131 (-64)

26. Kevin W.: 129 (-30)

27. Andrew O.: 129 (-82)

28. Brent S. #2: 126 (-60)

29. Michelle L. #2: 125 (-51)

30. Adam E.: 125 (-53)

31. Matt N.: 125 (-71)

32. Chad L.: 124 (-84)

33. Pete J. #2: 124 (-95)

34. Tim N.: 120 (-86)

35. Damien R. #2: 118 (-116)

36. Klei R.: 116 (-122)

37. Hal R. #1: 110 (-88)

38. Lance L.: 105 (-86)

39. Marc R.: 104 (-93)

40. Dave M.: 103 (-48)

41. Scott H. #1: 102 (-86)

42. Michelle L. #1: 101 (-75)

43. Amos W.: 100 (-99)

44. Pete J. #1: 100 (-119)

45. Dustin B.: 99 (-53)

46. Jim W.: 99 (-157)

47. Becky H.: 97 (-195)

48. Brad R.: 93 (-155)

49. Mandi A.: 88 (-163)

50. Dylan B.: 86 (-81)

51. Sally R.: 83 (-161)

52. Presley J.: 76 (-93)

53. Damien R. #1: 69 (-93)

54. Chad C.: 58 (-33)

55. Jay H. #2: 50 (-54)

56. Jay H. #1: 29 (-62)

...and here are the net points standings:

1. Mark N. #2: 161

2. CBS Hinnen: 147

3. Ray R.: 135

4. Mike S.: 125

5. Carl B.: 118

6. Brent E. #1: 114

7. Mark N. #1: 111

8. CBS Fornelli: 109

8. Scott H. #2: 109

10. Hutch H. #1: 104

11. Mike W.: 102

12. Ryan G.: 100

13. Kevin W.: 99

14. Hutch H. #2: 98

15. Brent E. #2: 95

16. Ryan W.: 94

17. Hal R. #2: 90

18. Andrew D.: 84

19. Daniel D.: 77

20. Michelle L. #2: 74

21. Adam E.: 72

22. Sarah G.: 67

23. Brent S. #2: 66

24. Hal R. #3: 61

25. Brett W.: 57

26. Dave M.: 55

27. Matt N.: 54

28. Brent S. #1: 53

29. Andrew O.: 47

30. Dustin B.: 46

31. Chad L.: 40

32. Ben W.: 35

33. Tim N.: 34

34. Bruce G.: 33

35. Pete J. #2: 29

36. Michelle L. #1: 26

37. Chad C.: 25

38. Hal R. #1: 22

39. Ally H.: 20

40. Lance L.: 19

41. Scott H. #1: 16

42. Marc R.: 11

43. Dylan B.: 5

44. Damien R. #2: 2

45. Amos W.: 1

46. Jay H. #2: -4

47. Klei R.: -6

48. Presley J.: -17

49. Pete J. #1: -19

50. Damien R. #1: -24

51. Jay H. #1: -33

52. Jim W.: -58

53. Brad R.: -62

54. Mandi A.: -75

55. Sally R.: -78

56. Becky H.: -98

So, despite going 0/3, CBS Hinnen is still pretty close to the top.  The new leader in points is Brett W., although it has cost him a lot to get there, as he's also currently 25th in net points.  More than 1/2 of his points are used up already.  I really shouldn't criticize.  Both of those placements are better than mine right now, so I'd gladly trade places.....

There are 5 games tomorrow: The Military Bowl, The Sun Bowl, The Independence Bowl, The Pinstripe Bowl and the Holiday Bowl.  We are finally going to see some ranked teams in Bowl Games, and we should be seeing a lot of points at stake.  I think this mostly because of the lowest point total games are more or less already over.   Of the bottom 8 games, only one is left (The Russell Athletic Bowl).

Here's the breakdown of the games tomorrow:

The Military Bowl:

Vegas Line: Cincinnati -2.5 over Virginia Tech

Points wagered:  1008 (23rd overall)

Picks for Cincinnati: 43 (average pick: 19.79 points)

Picks for Virginia Tech: 13 (average pick: 12.08 points)

Average pick: Cincinnati for 12.4 points.

Median pick: Cincinnati for 14 points.

Picks for Cincinnati:

Ben W.: 38

Dylan B.: 38

Ryan W.: 38

Becky H.: 37

Ray R.: 37

Amos W.: 35

Andrew O.: 32

Matt N.: 31

Mike W.: 31

Presley J.: 29

Brad R.: 28

Damien R. #2: 27

Marc R.: 27

Daniel D.: 24

Hutch H. #1: 23

Klei R.: 23

Pete J. #1: 22

Pete J. #2: 22

Mark N. #1: 20

Brent S. #2: 17

Mandi A.: 17

Ryan G.: 17

Sarah G.: 17

Hutch H. #2: 16

Scott H. #1: 16

Scott H. #2: 15

Brett W.: 15

Chad C.: 14

Damien R. #1: 14

Jay H. #1: 14

Brent E. #1: 13

Brent E. #2: 13

Bruce G.: 13

Brent S. #1: 12

Hal R. #1: 11

Hal R. #2: 11

Hal R. #3: 11

Dave M.: 8

Andrew D.: 7

CBS Hinnen: 7

Mike S.: 7

Mark N. #2: 3

Lance L.: 1

Picks for Virginia Tech:

Chad L.: 27

Jim W.: 25

Dustin B.: 19

Tim N.: 15

Ally H.: 13

Michelle L. #1: 12

Michelle L. #2: 12

Jay H. #2: 11

Adam E.: 8

CBS Fornelli: 7

Sally R.: 4

Carl B.: 3

Kevin W.: 1

The second game of the day is the Sun Bowl:

Vegas Line: Arizona State -7.5 over Duke

Points wagered:  1563 (6th overall)

Picks for Arizona State: 52 (average pick: 28.62 points)

Picks for Duke: 4 (average pick: 18.75 points)

Average pick: Arizona State for 25.2 points.

Median pick: Arizona State for 32.5 points.

Picks for Arizona State:

Brent E. #2: 38

Brent S. #1: 38

Mike S.: 38

Hal R. #1: 37

Hal R. #2: 37

Hal R. #3: 37

Ryan W.: 37

Brent E. #1: 36

Chad L.: 36

Michelle L. #1: 36

Bruce G.: 36

CBS Fornelli: 35

Damien R. #2: 35

Scott H. #1: 35

Adam E.: 34

Hutch H. #1: 34

Jim W.: 34

Klei R.: 34

Michelle L. #2: 34

Amos W.: 33

Damien R. #1: 33

Daniel D.: 33

Dustin B.: 33

Hutch H. #2: 33

Mark N. #1: 33

Mark N. #2: 33

Ryan G.: 33

Sarah G.: 33

Marc R.: 32

Pete J. #1: 31

Pete J. #2: 31

Andrew O.: 30

Scott H. #2: 30

Brad R.: 29

Matt N.: 29

Brett W.: 28

Mike W.: 27

Tim N.: 27

Dave M.: 25

Brent S. #2: 24

Carl B.: 22

Lance L.: 22

Jay H. #2: 21

Andrew D.: 20

Ray R.: 19

Chad C.: 15

Kevin W.: 12

CBS Hinnen: 11

Mandi A.: 11

Becky H.: 9

Dylan B.: 3

Sally R.: 2

Picks for Duke:

Presley J.: 28

Ben W.: 21

Jay H. #1: 15

Ally H.: 11

The third game of the day is the Independence Bowl:

Vegas Line: Miami  -3.5 over South Carolina

Points wagered:  816 (31st overall)

Picks for Miami : 34 (average pick: 13.71 points)

Picks for South Carolina: 22 (average pick: 15.91 points)

Average pick: Miami for 2.07 points.

Median pick: Miami for 4 points.

Picks for Miami:

Hal R. #1: 28

Hal R. #2: 28

Hutch H. #1: 27

Ally H.: 26

Mark N. #1: 24

Mandi A.: 23

Hutch H. #2: 22

Andrew O.: 21

Presley J.: 21

Tim N.: 20

Michelle L. #2: 19

Michelle L. #1: 18

Brent S. #1: 17

Jay H. #2: 17

Kevin W.: 16

Dustin B.: 15

Pete J. #2: 13

Klei R.: 12

Mark N. #2: 12

Scott H. #1: 12

Dave M.: 10

Andrew D.: 9

Ray R.: 9

Brent E. #1: 7

Brent E. #2: 7

Matt N.: 7

Marc R.: 5

Damien R. #1: 4

Damien R. #2: 4

Brett W.: 4

Mike W.: 3

Dylan B.: 2

Ryan G.: 2

Sarah G.: 2

Picks for South Carolina:

Ben W.: 32

Sally R.: 32

Hal R. #3: 28

Amos W.: 23

CBS Hinnen: 22

Adam E.: 21

Mike S.: 21

Daniel D.: 19

Becky H.: 17

Chad C.: 16

Jay H. #1: 16

Ryan W.: 16

Lance L.: 13

Pete J. #1: 13

Bruce G.: 12

Brent S. #2: 11

Carl B.: 11

Chad L.: 8

CBS Fornelli: 6

Scott H. #2: 5

Brad R.: 4

Jim W.: 4

The Fourth game of the day is the Pinstripe Bowl:

Vegas Line: Boston College  -3 over Penn State

Points wagered:  862 (27th overall)

Picks for Boston College : 33 (average pick: 16.76 points)

Picks for Penn State: 23 (average pick: 13.43 points)

Average pick: Boston College for 4.36 points.

Median pick: Boston College for 6.5 points.

Boston College Picks:

Mike S.: 36

Andrew D.: 33

Dave M.: 29

Klei R.: 28

Chad L.: 26

Ryan W.: 25

CBS Fornelli: 23

Andrew O.: 22

Damien R. #2: 22

Daniel D.: 22

Presley J.: 22

Pete J. #1: 21

Pete J. #2: 21

Brent S. #2: 20

Dylan B.: 19

Hutch H. #1: 19

Brad R.: 18

Jay H. #1: 17

Michelle L. #2: 16

Amos W.: 15

Adam E.: 14

Bruce G.: 11

Ryan G.: 10

Brent S. #1: 9

Carl B.: 9

Hutch H. #2: 9

Tim N.: 8

Michelle L. #1: 7

Mark N. #1: 6

Mark N. #2: 6

Brett W.: 6

Lance L.: 2

Mike W.: 2

Penn State Picks:

Ally H.: 37

Scott H. #1: 28

Marc R.: 25

Ray R.: 18

Chad C.: 17

Damien R. #1: 17

Dustin B.: 17

Matt N.: 14

Hal R. #1: 13

Hal R. #2: 13

Hal R. #3: 13

Jay H. #2: 13

Ben W.: 12

Kevin W.: 11

Sarah G.: 10

Jim W.: 9

Brent E. #1: 8

Brent E. #2: 8

Sally R.: 7

Mandi A.: 6

CBS Hinnen: 5

Becky H.: 4

Scott H. #2: 4

....and the last game of the day, the Holiday Bowl:

Vegas Line: USC  -7.5 over Nebraska

Points wagered:  1362 (9th overall)

Picks for USC : 49 (average pick: 25.35 points)

Picks for Nebraska : 7 (average pick: 17.86 points)

Average pick: USC for 19.9 points.

Median pick: USC for 27 points.

Picks for USC:

Andrew O.: 38

Presley J.: 37

Bruce G.: 37

Andrew D.: 35

Hal R. #1: 35

Hal R. #2: 35

Hal R. #3: 35

CBS Hinnen: 34

CBS Fornelli: 33

Tim N.: 33

Amos W.: 32

Daniel D.: 32

Dave M.: 32

Klei R.: 32

Dustin B.: 31

Hutch H. #1: 31

Marc R.: 31

Adam E.: 30

Brad R.: 30

Brent S. #2: 30

Hutch H. #2: 30

Damien R. #2: 29

Mark N. #1: 29

Mark N. #2: 29

Pete J. #1: 28

Pete J. #2: 28

Ryan G.: 28

Sarah G.: 28

Mike W.: 26

Jay H. #2: 25

Jim W.: 24

Mike S.: 24

Michelle L. #1: 23

Ben W.: 22

Sally R.: 22

Carl B.: 19

Chad C.: 18

Damien R. #1: 18

Jay H. #1: 18

Ray R.: 17

Ryan W.: 17

Matt N.: 16

Lance L.: 14

Scott H. #2: 14

Dylan B.: 9

Brent S. #1: 8

Brett W.: 8

Scott H. #1: 6

Mandi A.: 2

Picks for Nebraska:

Ally H.: 38

Michelle L. #2: 32

Chad L.: 14

Kevin W.: 13

Becky H.: 10

Brent E. #1: 9

Brent E. #2: 9

That's the list.  I decided that I am going to figure eliminations starting with the January 1st games.  That's the best cutoff point for me.  I could do it mid-day on the 31st, but by the time I got initial stats up, games would probably be finishing, changing the odds.  Look for those stats on the 1st.  I'll try to get the single game eliminations ready for at least 1st place, but given the number of entries, I should be able to get 2nd and 3rd ready as well.

Good luck to everyone!!!  I am going to see the Hobbit tomorrow.  I'll probably wind up watching some of the games tomorrow, but I have no great plans to sit in front of my TV all day.