1st place decided!!!!! (but not 2nd or 3rd)

 Before I get to the results, I’d just like to take the opportunity to say that USC are bunch of choking dogs who should hang their heads in shame from now until the start of next season.  To lose that game in the way they did took some decent play from Tulane, but a LOT of help from USC.  It was disgraceful.  Maybe we should have seen it coming when they had a chance to make the playoffs by winning the Pac-12 Championship game, and they choked there too.  Just terrible.

What that game does do, however, is decided a lot in the pool.  The chase for 1^st place is over.  I’ve mentioned time and time again that you have to some chances and have them pay off.  Erik K. had 29 points riding on Tulane in this game, and with those 29 points, Eric K. takes an insurmountable lead in the pool.  Eric K. is the winner this season.  It also happens that Eric K. also currently is the leader in games picked correctly, so that correlation between those two events that I mentioned a long, long time ago still holds.

There is a matter of 2^nd and 3^rd.  Some of those things may not be decided until the Championship game, but here are the eliminations for the Rose Bowl:

If Utah Wins:

Jim W. is eliminated from 2^nd place contention.

Michelle L. is eliminated from 3^rd place contention.

If Penn State Wins:

CAAT3 is eliminated from 2^nd & 3^rd place contention.

Here is the points standings:

1. Eric K.: 648 (-178)

2. Michelle L.: 636 (-219)

3. Jim W.: 630 (-230)

4. Matt M.: 610 (-221)

5. CAAT 3: 605 (-218)

6. CAAT 5: 602 (-221)

7. Scott H. #2: 594 (-252)

8. Mark B.: 592 (-258)

9. Emily T.: 589 (-260)

10. CAAT 1: 584 (-239)

11. Dan E.: 577 (-266)

12. Ally H.: 576 (-255)

13. Rich F.: 570 (-281)

14. Hutch H.: 568 (-282)

15. Dylan B.: 564 (-275)

16. Adam E.: 563 (-284)

17. Brian K.: 562 (-286)

18. Paul K.: 559 (-278)

19. Scott H. #1: 559 (-288)

20. Mike N.: 558 (-301)

21. Andrew Du.: 555 (-278)

22. Matt N.: 554 (-305)

23. Steve D.: 552 (-298)

24. Marc R. #2: 550 (-310)

25. Larry G.: 548 (-301)

26. Otis L.: 548 (-310)

27. Marc R. #1: 544 (-289)

28. Pete J. #1: 542 (-314)

29. Hurley 357: 539 (-290)

30. Kylar G.: 539 (-317)

31. Mike W.: 538 (-304)

32. Pete J. #2: 530 (-326)

33. Harrell R. #2: 528 (-331)

34. CAAT 4: 527 (-296)

35. Kylee T.: 527 (-325)

36. Harrell R. #1: 526 (-333)

37. CAAT 2: 525 (-298)

38. Brent E. #2: 519 (-321)

39. Quinn 1130: 516 (-341)

40. Jay H. #1: 511 (-330)

40. Jay H. #2: 511 (-330)

42. Dave M.: 510 (-331)

43. Grant F.: 508 (-327)

44. Ryan W.: 505 (-337)

45. Tim N.: 503 (-325)

46. Brent E. #1: 503 (-337)

47. Dan D.: 498 (-338)

48. Mason A.: 487 (-348)

49. Brad R.: 485 (-351)

50. Mike S.: 485 (-357)

51. Josiah T.: 476 (-361)

52. Hero R.: 475 (-373)

53. Brett G.: 471 (-351)

54. Brett W.: 470 (-355)

55. Dustin B.: 467 (-382)

56. Peter F.: 458 (-365)

57. Vincent W.: 458 (-378)

58. Fr. Guido S. #1: 451 (-376)

59. Baily T.: 430 (-430)

60. Miela 314: 429 (-417)

61. Fr. Guido S. #2: 403 (-424)

62. Klei R.: 391 (-435)

63. Becky H.: 358 (-468)

64. Jason S.: 343 (-477)

65. Christa M.: 313 (-508)

66. Dennis R.: 299 (-553)

…and the matrix:

Row Labels	1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place
Eric K.	100.00%	USC	Purdue
Michelle L.	USC	Purdue	25.0000%
Jim W.	Michigan	25.0000%	Purdue
Matt M.	Kentucky	USC	50.0000%
CAAT 3	Michigan	25.0000%	25.0000%
CAAT 5	USC	50.0000%	Purdue
Scott H. #2	Clemson	Michigan	Michigan
Mark B.	Ohio St.	Illinois	USC
Emily T.	Illinois	USC	Purdue
CAAT 1	Initial	Clemson	Kentucky
Dan E.	Kentucky	Kentucky	Kentucky
Ally H.	Clemson	Illinois	Purdue
Rich F.	UCLA	Clemson	Clemson
Hutch H.	Initial	Texas	Texas
Dylan B.	Clemson	Kanas St.	Michigan
Adam E.	Michigan	Ohio St.	Ohio St.
Brian K.	Michigan	Michigan	Michigan
Paul K.	Illinois	Illinois	Illinois
Scott H. #1	UCLA	Clemson	Clemson
Mike N.	So. Car.	Clemson	Ohio St.
Andrew Du.	Kentucky	Kentucky	Michigan
Matt N.	Initial	Syracuse	Oklahoma
Steve D.	Kanas St.	Illinois	Illinois
Marc R. #2	Initial	NC State	UCLA
Larry G.	UCLA	Wyoming	Wyoming
Otis L.	Ohio St.	Ohio St.	Ohio St.
Marc R. #1	Michigan	Illinois	Illinois
Pete J. #1	Kentucky	Michigan	Michigan
Hurley 357	Texas	Texas	NC State
Kylar G.	Syracuse	Syracuse	Oklahoma
Mike W.	Kentucky	Michigan	Ohio St.
Pete J. #2	Kentucky	Kentucky	Kanas St.
Harrell R. #2	UCLA	UCLA	So. Car.
CAAT 4	Kentucky	Kentucky	Kanas St.
Kylee T.	Kentucky	Wyoming	Kentucky
Harrell R. #1	Texas	NC State	UCLA
CAAT 2	Initial	Syracuse	Texas
Brent E. #2	Kentucky	Kentucky	Michigan
Quinn 1130	Initial	Initial	Texas
Jay H. #1	NC State	So. Car.	So. Car.
Jay H. #2	NC State	So. Car.	So. Car.
Dave M.	Texas	UCLA	UCLA
Grant F.	Oklahoma	Oklahoma	Oklahoma
Ryan W.	Initial	Clemson	Clemson
Tim N.	Wyoming	Michigan	Clemson
Brent E. #1	Oklahoma	Oklahoma	Texas
Dan D.	Wyoming	Wyoming	Wyoming
Mason A.	So. Car.	So. Car.	So. Car.
Brad R.	Initial	Initial	Oklahoma
Mike S.	Syracuse	Syracuse	Texas
Josiah T.	Initial	Initial	Initial
Hero R.	Clemson	So. Car.	Clemson
Brett G.	Initial	UCLA	So. Car.
Brett W.	So. Car.	So. Car.	So. Car.
Dustin B.	Initial	Initial	Initial
Peter F.	Wyoming	UCLA	Wyoming
Vincent W.	Clemson	Kentucky	Michigan
Fr. Guido S. #1	Oklahoma	UCLA	UCLA
Baily T.	Syracuse	Syracuse	Texas
Miela 314	Initial	Initial	Initial
Fr. Guido S. #2	Initial	Initial	Initial
Klei R.	Oklahoma	NC State	NC State
Becky H.	Initial	Initial	Initial
Jason S.	Initial	Initial	Initial
Christa M.	Syracuse	Syracuse	Texas
Dennis R.	Initial	Initial	Initial

At the first pass of the 1^st place rankings, Eric K. had a 5.113% chance of winning, which was good for 7^th favorite.  Over the course of the last 15 games, he managed to go 12/15.  When he lost 33 points on South Carolina, his odds went down to 2.295%, but he has won every game since.  Two of those games were must win / elimination games.  Erik K. needed Tennessee to beat Clemson to stay alive.  He also needed Georgia to beat Ohio State to stay alive.  In both cases, he managed to eke out wins – although both games were really, really close.  My guess is that Erik K. probably lost a few pounds sweating out those wins.

So, congratulations to Erik K.  Those of you may not know, but of all the people in the pool, he is the person that I have known for the 2^nd longest (My Dad being 1^st).  We used to ride the same bus to elementary school, so I am really happy to send him the winnings.

Speaking of winnings, the amount for 1^st place = 66*5*.5 = $165.  That’s not bad for a $5 investment.

Enjoy the last two games!!!!