And the winner is . . .

Here's how it all played out. Lester stayed on top and A. Contenda stayed on the bottom. Fire Marshall, Mrs. B and Kenny came close, but have been eliminated for a while now. T. B. Husker hung on until the last game, but falls to fifth place. Here are the final standings:

L. P. Stoneworthy (Ray):
22 wins; 24 points (took the lead with Kansas win)

Fire Marshall (Grant):
22 wins; 24 points (had the lead after New Year's Day)

Mrs. B (Jean):
22 wins; 23.5 points (led for much of the competition)

Kenny Pickett (Mark):
22 wins; 23 points (doomed after New Year's)

A True Blue Husker (Nate):
21 wins; 21 points (would have won with OSU win last night)

Alex:
19 wins; 21 points (respectful finish after not picking first 2)

Dr. L (Tim):
19 wins; 20.5 points (middle of the table)

The Rev (Doug B.):
19 wins; 20.5 points (lots of upsets, finishes in the middle)

Chief Justice (Clyde):
18 wins; 20.5 points (joined late, could have cleaned up)

Peanut Head (Tobi):
18 wins; 20.5 points (flipped a coin for every game)

Tiffani:
19 wins; 20 points (very strong start, just unlucky)

Rick Shaw (Jacob):
18 wins; 19 points (won tie-breaker!)

Jack'em Up Kid (Brett):
17 wins; 19 points (picked U of M, but was too far behind)

TANK (David):
17 wins; 18.5 points (just missed last place)

A. Contenda (Sue):
16 wins; 16 points (strong early, but fizzled on New Year's)

And then there were two . . .

Much to my own chagrin (likely more so for Grant) the third and fourth BCS bowls were not as one-sided as I'd anticipated. Who would have guessed that an interim coach would finally win a bowl game this season? Well there were two of you; you know who you are. Unfortunately, one of the contestants who got West Virginia right was also the only person to go with Bowling Green. Ouch.

However, four of you thought that Kansas would actually live up to the hype. Hats off to you as well, particularly Lester P. Stoneworthy who has climbed his way to the top of the leader board and dethroned Fire Marshall. Even though they both have 22 points at the moment, Lester has the advantage on the tie-breaker. For what it's worth (not much at this point) Rick Shaw had the closest guess for Hart's and Henne's combined yardage: 403.

So with only one game left, the scenario is simple. Either LSU wins and Lester remains the leader or Ohio State wins and A True Blue Husker vaults from third to first place. The rest of us can just sit back tonight and see what happens. However, A. Contenda probably has a bit more riding on this than most of us. If the Buckeyes lose, she will remain stuck in the basement at dead last. But if they win, will she be able to face her mother?
Well, that's all for now. I'll post the final standings with everyone's total points after all is said and done. Have a good day and enjoy tonight's game.

Hail to the Victors

We all knew Big Blue would come back around one day and give us something to cheer about in the post season. Fortunately for Lloyd, the Wolverines were able to get it together one more time to send off their beloved coach, as well as their seniors, on a high note.

I, for one, knew they had more talent than their record showed; it was only a matter of getting their act together and staying healthy. Going into the season I would have thought Michigan's defense would have made some adjustments to deal with the spread offense more effectively. I also thought Chad would have learned to be a little more mobile in the pocket instead of being rooted to ground three or four steps behind the line of scrimmage. Neither seemed to be the case during the regular season as hopes to build on last year's accomplishments vanished in week one.

Yesterday was different. We saw a focused, determined and HEALTHY Wolverine football team. While Henne didn't amaze us with his mobility, he was able to briefly elude pass rushers and find a man down field. The Michigan defense by no means shut down the Gator offense, but they were able to contain Tebow when it really counted. Had it not been for two uncharacteristic fumbles by Hart, the Wolverines might have emerged as even more convincing victors.

Now to answer the question you're all asking: "So who's going to win the picks competition?" Well, only three entrants gained ground with their Capital One (formerly known as the Citrus) Bowl pick. Tobi (aka Peanut Head), David (aka TANK) and Brett (aka Jack'em Up Kid) were the only ones who put their faith in Michigan (though technically Tobi flipped a coin for every game).

Unfortunately for these three, they are all too far behind Grant (aka Fire Marshall) to win. With 20 points (not bowl wins) the Fire Marshall is the man to beat and has made conservative picks to finish out the bowl season. Like most of you, he picked Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, Rutgers, Tulsa and LSU for the final five games. Contestants such as myself, Kenny Pickett, and my mother-in-law, Jean (aka Mrs. B) cannot catch the Fire Marshall even though we are at 19 points and 19.5 points respectively. We've simply picked all the same teams.

Does that mean this is it? The competition is over half-way through the BCS bowls? How boring! I guess we should blame the bowl commissioners for selecting such lousy match-ups. Fortunately there are a few sports in the crowd who went against the obvious pick and went with the losers . . . ah . . . I mean underdogs in these final games. No one was delusional enough to go with "Ellinios" (as Kirk H. says). But those hoping for lightning from the Mountain West to strike twice were sorely disappointed. Sue (aka A. Contenda), Jacob (aka Rick Shaw) and Alex (aka Alex?) all went down with Colt Brennan last night.
However, my brother-in-law, Nate still has hope. Right now he is tied with me at 19 points, but is still holding on to "THE Ohio State Buckeyes" (as Brent M. and his good friend Bud Weiser like to say). Since the BCS Championship is a 2-pointer, that would give A True Blue Husker the lead over the Fire Marshall.

Now hold on a moment there, folks. It's not quite that simple. One more contestant holds on by the skin of his teeth. Ray (aka Lester P. Stoneworthy) currently sits at 18.5 points, a full point and a half behind the Marshall. But he's gone and picked those overrated Jayhawks who played one good team all season and lost. If Kansas proves to the nation that they can handle the pressure of a big game and pull the upset, Lester will pull even with the Marshall. Even though neither of them was willing to pick Michigan, Lester showed more confidence in Big Blue with his tie-breaker.

And there you have it. If Kansas beats Virginia Tech, Ray passes Grant on the tie-breaker (321 yds vs. 296 yds) and if LSU defeats the Buckeyes he keeps the lead over Nate. However, if Ohio State wins, Nate passes everybody regardless of what happens in these other four games.

So don't stop watching yet. We still have just enough possibilities to keep it interesting.