2016 Bowl Pool - If they play a Bowl game, and nobody watches it... edition.

Hello again everyone.... Did anyone realize there was a football game today?  From the looks of things, the only people that actually realized it were the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes as they walloped Central Michigan 55-10.  Honestly, the only real effect this game had on my day was that it preempted Pardon the Interruption.  That was actually the trigger to remind me that there were points to dole out today.

The Miami Beach Bowl had the 6th most points assigned to it, and for good reason.  Tulsa was a 13 point favorite, and the median pick was Tulsa for 35, making it the 3rd most skewed pick.  All but 8 people got points today, so it was like a jubilee of free Bowl pool points for most of us.  Compliments of today's game, we no longer have anyone that is shut out.  We are, however, down to only 3 people that have gone 7/7 as Tim N. falls from the realm of the unbeaten.

Anyway, there wasn't much of a change in the standings.   Here's the total points standings:

1. Freitag B.: 172 (0)

2. Brent E. #2: 165 (0)

3. Klei R.: 154 (0)

4. Brent E. #1: 149 (-16)

5. Dave M.: 135 (-58)

6. Roth W.: 134 (-50)

7. Michelle L. #1: 132 (-22)

8. Hutch H.: 132 (-42)

9. Marc R.: 129 (-19)

10. Mark ESPN: 129 (-21)

11. Josiah T. #2: 129 (-29)

12. Brent S.: 126 (-18)

13. Michelle L. #2: 125 (-36)

14. Pete J. #1: 124 (-23)

15. Mike S.: 123 (-55)

16. Matt N.: 122 (-14)

17. Marc S.: 119 (-28)

18. Hal R. #1: 118 (-51)

18. Hal R. #2: 118 (-51)

20. Deborah G.: 118 (-67)

21. Mason A.: 117 (-38)

22. Damien R.: 115 (-25)

23. Tim N.: 111 (-6)

24. Ben S.: 109 (-39)

25. Ray R.: 109 (-40)

26. Adam E.: 108 (-9)

27. Scott Her. #2: 106 (-33)

28. Josiah T. #1: 106 (-48)

29. Ryan W.: 106 (-50)

30. Kevin F. #1: 104 (-19)

31. Jim P.: 98 (-8)

32. Mike W.: 95 (-38)

33. Scott H.: 95 (-40)

34. Kevin F. #2: 90 (-34)

35. Julie S.: 89 (-98)

36. Nick B.: 88 (-41)

37. Dan S.: 88 (-99)

38. Jay H. #3: 86 (-98)

39. Stephanie P.: 78 (-30)

40. Brad R.: 76 (-63)

41. Jim W.: 71 (-32)

42. Pete J. #2: 71 (-76)

43. Chad L.: 70 (-30)

44. Dustin B.: 68 (-37)

45. Scott Her. #1: 60 (-60)

46. Dorthea R.: 59 (-54)

47. Jay H. #1: 54 (-70)

48. Dylan B.: 50 (-67)

49. Ally H.: 42 (-15)

50. Becky H.: 35 (-24)

51. Ash D.: 33 (-35)

52. Brett W.: 26 (-12)

53. Dan Dz.: 24 (-39)

54. Jay H. #2: 15 (-13)

55. Dan Du.: 15 (-74)

56. Nichole W.: 12 (-47)

...and the net points standings:

1. Freitag B.: 172

2. Brent E. #2: 165

3. Klei R.: 154

4. Brent E. #1: 133

5. Michelle L. #1: 110

5. Marc R.: 110

7. Mark ESPN: 108

7. Brent S.: 108

7. Matt N.: 108

10. Tim N.: 105

11. Pete J. #1: 101

12. Josiah T. #2: 100

13. Adam E.: 99

14. Marc S.: 91

15. Hutch H.: 90

15. Damien R.: 90

15. Jim P.: 90

18. Michelle L. #2: 89

19. Kevin F. #1: 85

20. Roth W.: 84

21. Mason A.: 79

22. Dave M.: 77

23. Scott Her. #2: 73

24. Ben S.: 70

25. Ray R.: 69

26. Mike S.: 68

27. Hal R. #1: 67

27. Hal R. #2: 67

29. Josiah T. #1: 58

30. Mike W.: 57

31. Ryan W.: 56

31. Kevin F. #2: 56

33. Scott H.: 55

34. Deborah G.: 51

35. Stephanie P.: 48

36. Nick B.: 47

37. Chad L.: 40

38. Jim W.: 39

39. Dustin B.: 31

40. Ally H.: 27

41. Brett W.: 14

42. Brad R.: 13

43. Becky H.: 11

44. Dorthea R.: 5

45. Jay H. #2: 2

46. Scott Her. #1: 0

47. Ash D.: -2

48. Pete J. #2: -5

49. Julie S.: -9

50. Dan S.: -11

51. Jay H. #3: -12

52. Dan Dz.: -15

53. Jay H. #1: -16

54. Dylan B.: -17

55. Nichole W.: -35

56. Dan Du.: -59

Tomorrow promises to be at least a little closer of a game, and maybe even a game more than die hards will watch because it's on at a decent hour.  It's the Boca Raton Bowl.  Certainly everyone had December 20th circled on their calendar's to make sure they blocked out time to watch the Boca Raton Bowl, right?  This game strikes me as one that could potentially shake up the standings a little bit.  It's 32nd in total points wagered with an average of 15.91, but the picks are somewhat evenly distributed (or at least as even as some of these games get).

Here are the particulars:

Vegas Line:  Western Kentucky -5

Median Pick: Western Kentucky for 10

Picks:

Western Kentucky: 36  (Average points: 15.64)

Memphis: 20 (Average points: 16.40)

This is one of the rare instances where the people that like the underdog, on average, like them more than the people that picked the favorite.  I think these numbers are pretty skewed compliments of the husband/wife duo of Dan & Julie S. who both took Memphis for 33 points, giving them the honors for the people that have the most riding on this game.  Maybe they know something the rest of us don't.  Maybe the dart landed on triple 11 when they were deciding how many points to assign.  However they came up with it, it's a big gamble that could really pay off if the Tigers win.

Personally, I think the game is worth watching if the amorphous blob of a mascot that Western Kentucky uses shows up.  I guess his name is "Big Red", and you'll know him when you see him.  He's big and he's red.

Enjoy the game.  I'll be back again tomorrow with updates.

Good Luck everyone!!!!!