The "3 of the last 4 winners have scored > 50 points" edition

My apologies to anyone that was mislead by my prediction that tonight's game simply had to better than the lopsided Boca Raton Bowl.  I watched tonight's Frisco Bowl until the SMU QB threw his 3rd INT, and then figured the game was over.  This was about 5 minutes into the second quarter.  At one point, I said to my wife, "I don't know the stats, but I bet the teams that have two defensive TDs scored against them don't win too many games".  Based on the final score, it's possible that there were more than 2 defensive TDs, but I'll be honest - I totally lost interest.  I kept tabs on the score for a little while, but every time I checked my phone, it looked like Louisiana Tech had just scored another TD.  I legitimately thought that they might score 70+ points.  MY guess is that they threw in the 2nd and 3rd team players later in the game.  I bet they even threw the cheerleading squad on the field to take a few snaps at the end of the game.  That's how little in doubt it was.

As I mentioned yesterday, Louisiana Tech now is the team that has had the fewest points wagered on it to actually win a game.  It also means that favorites are 3-5.  Only 17 people managed to get any points in this game, so the gross point standings aren't dramatically changed, but things were shook up a little bit on the net points rankings.  Speaking of which, here are the gross points standings:

1. Tim N.: 139 (-97)

2. Michelle L. #2: 127 (-78)

3. Ally H.: 121 (-30)

4. Michelle L. #1: 121 (-84)

5. Clucko the Chicken: 120 (-102)

6. Matt N.: 114 (-75)

7. Klei - Consensus: 110 (-105)

8. Dylan B.: 107 (-83)

9. Roth W.: 107 (-114)

10. Grant F.: 105 (-43)

11. Joel S. #3: 105 (-152)

12. Becky H.: 102 (-41)

13. Sanjay T.: 101 (-123)

14. Brad R.: 99 (-73)

15. Mike S. #2: 99 (-98)

16. Hutch H.: 98 (-73)

17. Hal #2: 98 (-81)

18. Jim W.: 98 (-86)

19. Dustin B.: 97 (-21)

20. Hal #1: 97 (-88)

21. Pete J. #1: 97 (-129)

21. Pete J. #2: 97 (-129)

23. Damien R. #1: 96 (-64)

24. Brent S.: 96 (-92)

25. Klei R.: 96 (-141)

26. Damien R. #2: 88 (-78)

27. Mike W.: 86 (-46)

28. Sally R.: 86 (-78)

29. Jay H. #1: 85 (-47)

30. Adam E.: 82 (-64)

31. Jay H. #3: 79 (-47)

32. Kevin W.: 79 (-120)

33. Ryan W.: 71 (-37)

34. Myles G.: 65 (-42)

35. Ben S. #3: 63 (-49)

36. Ashley D.: 63 (-95)

37. Brent E. #1: 63 (-127)

38. Marc R.: 62 (-74)

39. Brent E. #3: 62 (-119)

40. Mike S. #1: 59 (-96)

41. Brent E. #2: 57 (-94)

42. Joel S. #4: 56 (-25)

43. Brett W.: 55 (-20)

44. Ben S. #1: 52 (-52)

45. Joel S. #2: 47 (-35)

46. Ben S. #2: 46 (-63)

47. Bartosz R. #1: 46 (-86)

48. Bartosz R. #2: 46 (-87)

49. Joel S. #5: 43 (-19)

50. Dan Du.: 42 (-91)

51. Scott H. #2: 40 (-29)

52. Scott H. #1: 37 (-16)

53. Mindi W.: 26 (-161)

54. Joel S. #1: 20 (-42)

55. Jay H. #2: 20 (-73)

56. Dan Dz.: 12 (-24)

57. Nikolajs B.: 10 (-26)

58. Nichole W.: 9 (-41)

and the net points rankings:

1. Ally H.: 91

2. Dustin B.: 76

3. Grant F.: 62

4. Becky H.: 61

5. Michelle L. #2: 49

6. Tim N.: 42

7. Mike W.: 40

8. Matt N.: 39

9. Jay H. #1: 38

10. Michelle L. #1: 37

11. Brett W.: 35

12. Ryan W.: 34

13. Damien R. #1: 32

13. Jay H. #3: 32

15. Joel S. #4: 31

16. Brad R.: 26

17. Hutch H.: 25

18. Dylan B.: 24

18. Joel S. #5: 24

20. Myles G.: 23

21. Scott H. #1: 21

22. Clucko the Chicken: 18

22. Adam E.: 18

24. Hal #2: 17

25. Ben S. #3: 14

26. Jim W.: 12

26. Joel S. #2: 12

28. Scott H. #2: 11

29. Damien R. #2: 10

30. Hal #1: 9

31. Sally R.: 8

32. Klei - Consensus: 5

33. Brent S.: 4

34. Mike S. #2: 1

35. Ben S. #1: 0

36. Roth W.: -7

37. Marc R.: -12

37. Dan Dz.: -12

39. Nikolajs B.: -16

40. Ben S. #2: -17

41. Sanjay T.: -22

41. Joel S. #1: -22

43. Pete J. #1: -32

43. Pete J. #2: -32

43. Ashley D.: -32

43. Nichole W.: -32

47. Mike S. #1: -37

47. Brent E. #2: -37

49. Bartosz R. #1: -40

50. Kevin W.: -41

50. Bartosz R. #2: -41

52. Klei R.: -45

53. Joel S. #3: -47

54. Dan Du.: -49

55. Jay H. #2: -53

56. Brent E. #3: -57

57. Brent E. #1: -64

58. Mindi W.: -135

Tim stayed at the top of the gross points despite losing 31 points on this game.  Obviously, that doesn't make a difference in the gross points rankings.  The fact is he won 0 points just like a lot of other people.  The reason he stayed at the top of the standings is because no one that picked Louisiana Tech had enough points on them to pass him for first.  On the other hand, Ally H. jumped up from 7th to 1st in net points compliments of 31 points and a 14 point loss for Dustin B.  Anyone who has played these pools for any length of time knows how much I root for Ally.  Keep up the great picking Ally!!!

I was looking at the standings a little closer, and I was starting to feel bad for Mindi W., who can't seem to catch a break.  She won the first game of the season, but has managed to be on the wrong side of every game since.  That's 7 in a row, and at least 5 of those games featured a favorite losing.  I hope that turns around for Mindi W.

I also noticed that long-time stalwart at the top of the standing Brent E. is toiling at the bottom of the standings.  I think he's the only person that has won both the March Madness pool and this Bowl pool in the past, so his picking is usually spot on.  I think even last year he finished one spot out of the money.  It's been quite a topsy turvy year.  That's how I like it.  Predictability is boring...

We have another game tomorrow.  It's the Gasparilla Bowl.  I had to look this up, but it seems like the Gasparilla is some kind of pirate flotilla in Tampa.  I had never heard of it.  Then again, I haven't been to Tampa since I was in elementary school and have zero desire to go there ever again.  I will admit that a pirate flotilla parade is a pretty cool reason to go though.  Maybe if I'm in the neighborhood some time....

Here is the graph for the game:

This game marks the 2nd most points wagered so far, and only the second game in the top 1/2 as it comes it at #19 with 1,110 total points wagered (19.11 average).  Here are the particulars:

Vegas Line: Temple (-7)

Median: Temple for 13.5 points

Mean: Temple for 9.1 points

Picks for Temple: 39 (Average: 20.97 points)

Points for Temple: 818 (22nd overall)

Picks for Florida International: 19 (Average: 15.37 points)

Points for Florida International: 292 (56th overall)

People with Temple as a top 10 pick: 7

People with Florida International as a Top 10 pick: 1 (Damien R. #1)

I hope this game is better than the last few have been, but if the pattern continues, I expect Florida International to single handedly cover the "over" and Temple to essentially throw in the towel somewhere around the 7:30 mark of the 2nd quarter.  Let's hope that's not the case.  Enjoy the shortest day of the year.  I'll be having some birthday pizza.

Good luck to everyone!!!!!