Upsets everywhere!!! edition

Who likes upsets?!?!  I do, especially if I picked them (even though I didn't really this time around).  But I typically love upsets.  The beauty of this is that after all chalk in the first 2 games, we've gone 3/3 in upsets.  And these haven't been minor upsets, these have been pretty sizeable ones.  Marshall was a 5.5 point underdog, and that was the closest point spread.  Georgia State was a 6.5 point underdog and Boise State was a 7.5 point underdog.  Most of the reason I like upsets is because it rewards people that don't choose chalk.  Chalk is boring.  Chalk winning isn't exciting.  As Wilt Chamberlain once said, "Nobody roots for Goliath".

It should come as no surprise that no one has gone 5/5.  Only 7 people have done as well as 4/5.  A whopping 22 people went 0/3 since the last update.  The biggest losers were Pete J. #2 (-81), Pete J. #1 (-81), Dan Du. (-82), Mindi W. (-88) and Kevin W. (-90).  Ouch.

It should come as no surprise that not many points were gathered on these games.  One 2 people went 3/3 (Ryan W, Joel S. #5).  Here are the top 5 point-netters in the last set of games:  Ryan W. (+60), Tim N. (+34), Joel S. #3 (+28), Becky H. (+27), Ashley D. (+20).  The average net points gained was -31.25, so a tough road for everyone.

There were some pretty big shakeups in the standings.  Here's the gross points rankings:

1. Clucko the Chicken: 105 (-41)

2. Tim N.: 99 (-34)

3. Michelle L. #2: 82 (-62)

4. Brad R.: 79 (-46)

5. Michelle L. #1: 77 (-65)

6. Becky H.: 75 (-29)

7. Matt N.: 74 (-47)

8. Klei - Consensus: 74 (-69)

9. Klei R.: 73 (-79)

10. Ally H.: 70 (-9)

11. Dylan B.: 68 (-51)

12. Joel S. #3: 68 (-75)

13. Roth W.: 67 (-79)

14. Grant F.: 65 (-18)

15. Jay H. #3: 64 (-37)

16. Ashley D.: 63 (-45)

17. Sanjay T.: 61 (-80)

18. Ryan W.: 60 (-5)

19. Mike S. #2: 59 (-40)

20. Hutch H.: 58 (-42)

21. Jim W.: 58 (-43)

22. Hal #2: 58 (-45)

23. Hal #1: 57 (-49)

24. Pete J. #1: 57 (-81)

24. Pete J. #2: 57 (-81)

26. Jay H. #1: 56 (-34)

27. Brent S.: 56 (-62)

28. Dustin B.: 51 (-7)

29. Mike W.: 46 (-36)

30. Damien R. #1: 43 (-37)

31. Sally R.: 41 (-61)

32. Adam E.: 40 (-60)

33. Damien R. #2: 39 (-63)

34. Mike S. #1: 35 (-68)

35. Dan Du.: 35 (-82)

36. Kevin W.: 34 (-91)

37. Myles G.: 30 (-16)

38. Mindi W.: 26 (-97)

39. Brent E. #1: 23 (-80)

40. Brent E. #3: 22 (-78)

41. Joel S. #4: 18 (-13)

42. Brent E. #2: 17 (-70)

43. Joel S. #2: 16 (-19)

44. Joel S. #5: 13 (-2)

45. Scott H. #1: 12 (-3)

46. Marc R.: 12 (-61)

47. Brett W.: 10 (-20)

48. Ben S. #3: 10 (-49)

49. Scott H. #2: 6 (-9)

50. Ben S. #2: 6 (-49)

51. Dan Dz.: 5 (-10)

52. Nichole W.: 5 (-21)

53. Ben S. #1: 4 (-52)

54. Jay H. #2: 4 (-68)

55. Joel S. #1: 3 (-12)

55. Nikolajs B.: 3 (-12)

57. Bartosz R. #1: 3 (-76)

58. Bartosz R. #2: 3 (-77)

...and the net points:

1. Tim N.: 65

2. Clucko the Chicken: 64

3. Ally H.: 61

4. Ryan W.: 55

5. Grant F.: 47

6. Becky H.: 46

7. Dustin B.: 44

8. Brad R.: 33

9. Matt N.: 27

9. Jay H. #3: 27

11. Jay H. #1: 22

12. Michelle L. #2: 20

13. Mike S. #2: 19

14. Ashley D.: 18

15. Dylan B.: 17

16. Hutch H.: 16

17. Jim W.: 15

18. Myles G.: 14

19. Hal #2: 13

20. Michelle L. #1: 12

21. Joel S. #5: 11

22. Mike W.: 10

23. Scott H. #1: 9

24. Hal #1: 8

25. Damien R. #1: 6

26. Klei - Consensus: 5

26. Joel S. #4: 5

28. Joel S. #2: -3

28. Scott H. #2: -3

30. Dan Dz.: -5

31. Klei R.: -6

31. Brent S.: -6

33. Joel S. #3: -7

34. Joel S. #1: -9

34. Nikolajs B.: -9

36. Brett W.: -10

37. Roth W.: -12

38. Nichole W.: -16

39. Sanjay T.: -19

40. Sally R.: -20

40. Adam E.: -20

42. Pete J. #1: -24

42. Pete J. #2: -24

42. Damien R. #2: -24

45. Mike S. #1: -33

46. Ben S. #3: -39

47. Ben S. #2: -43

48. Dan Du.: -47

49. Ben S. #1: -48

50. Marc R.: -49

51. Brent E. #2: -53

52. Brent E. #3: -56

53. Kevin W.: -57

53. Brent E. #1: -57

55. Jay H. #2: -64

56. Mindi W.: -71

57. Bartosz R. #1: -73

58. Bartosz R. #2: -74

The top 3 are an interesting group.  Tim N. was the inaugural winner of this pool oh so many years ago.  Clucko the Chicken is a game-picking chicken, and Ally H. is the daughter of my friends back in Michigan (who I always root for).  I'm not sure any of them are die-hard college football fans, but the results so far prove my point that experts don't really know anything.  As a matter of fact, my "consensus" picks are currently in 26th place - exactly in the middle of the standings, as they should be.

One last game today.  We have the Camellia Bowl.  I'm sure I looked up what a Camellia was last year, and I think it's a flower, but I don't remember.  I doubt I used the word "Camellia" since about this date last year during this same bowl.  It's the 38th ranked Bowl in terms of points risked, so maybe a good way to end the day after all the turmoil.  Here's the particulars:

Vegas Line: Arkansas State (-3.5

Median: Arkansas State for 7.5 points

Mean: Arkansas State for 7.4 points

Picks for Arkansas State: 40 (Average: 16.13 points)

Points for Arkansas State: 645 (35th overall)

Picks for Middle Tennessee: 18 (Average: 12.11 points)

Points for Middle Tennessee: 218 (67th overall)

People with Arkansas State as a top 10 pick: 4

People with Middle Tennessee as a Top 10 pick: 2 (Joel S. #4, Sally R.)

So, this game maybe doesn't mean as much in the standings.  So, sit back, relax and enjoy the game for the sake of the game.  I'll be back later tonight with a wrap up of Day 1.

Good luck to everyone!!!!!