Bowl Pool 2016 - Minnesota dilemma

Well, well, well.  There's still time to get into the pool.  As of this writing, we have 42 entries into the pool.  Last year we had 44, so I think we should surpass that this year.  I think my cutoff for a 3rd place payout was 100, so I doubt we will make it that far.  That makes this a run for 1st and 2nd. 

Once the games start, I'll pull together some stats to go over based on how everyone picked.  So far, there are no shutouts except for one.  As of tonight, no one has Washington winning the Championship game.   Actually, instead for some picks in the Championship game, every team had at least 2 people pick them so far.  That's good to see.  I'm sure those teams appreciate the support.

I was looking at last year's standings.  If anyone wants to take a walk down memory lane, here were the top 10 teams last year:

Row Labels	Points
Michelle L. #2	692
Brent E. #1	692
Klei R.	691
Matt N.	656
Scott H. #2	647
Michelle L. #1	642
Jay H. #1	637
Brent S. #2	636
Dustin B.	631
Mike W.	627

There are the same amount of points available this year, so it will be interesting to see how we stack up year over year.

One thing that may throw a wrench into things is the situation regarding the Holiday Bowl.  As of tonight, Minnesota is threatening to not play.  To be more correct, most of the football team is threatening to boycott the game.  There are a few ways this can play out.  Most of them will pose interesting problems for picking.  Here's the ways it could work as far as I can see:

1.  Minnesota plays - Status quo.

2.  Minnesota doesn't play - If Minnesota forfeits, it's the easiest points anyone will ever get in the pool if they picked Washington State.

3. The Holiday Bowl picks a substitute team for Minnesota - This poses problems for me.  If this happens, I'll eliminate the game from the pool and shift the points down one point.  So, if you took Washington State for 30, all the games worth 31-41 would be worth 1 point less.  It's a pain for me to do, but it seems like the only fair way to deal with it.  I hope it doesn't come down to this. 

Honestly, I'm kinda hoping for #2 to happen.  I haven't ever seen a Bowl forfeit ever.  It would be pretty lousy for the Bowl organizers and the city of San Diego, but good for traffic around Qualcomm stadium that day.

All right.  I'm going to the Star Wars movie tomorrow afternoon, so I'll check in periodically with stats and ranking updates.

Good luck to everyone!!!!!!