Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Bowl Pool Update: December 30, 2009

Since last we, uh, blogged, an update of the pool, three games occurred. In the first, Todd gave us a typical account of Georgia's 44-20 win over Texas A&M, but with 23% fewer dick jokes. I think he was off his game. It was an ugly game where neither team looked very good at all, and it turned on several big plays from Georgia's special teams. If a Big Ten team had won the exact same way, idiot columnists and bloggers wouldn't have been able to rip on them fast enough. As it is, though, this was just another great win for the dominant, world-conquering SEC. The vast majority of our pick 'em group picked the Bulldogs. As they should've, because A&M is turble [/Barkley].

Yesterday, UCLA snuck by Temple, 31-20, in a matchup led by the Owls for the majority of the game. After taking a 21-7 lead late in the second half, Temple got outscored 24-0 over the final 32 minutes of the game. After failing to pick up a first down on 4th-and-1 inside the UCLA 20-yard line early in the third quarter (thanks primarily to an extremely fishy spot on third down; the Temple RB seemed to clear the first down line easily, but was marked about a half-yard short), the Owl offense went completely in the tank. From that point on, Temple garnered -3 yards of offense. In the second half, Owl QB Vaughan Fithington Charlton III, Esq. was 1-for-7 passing for six yards, with two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown. Watching this game, I and my MAC Fanatic father were going crazy wondering why Temple didn't try a single screen pass in the second half, when the UCLA defense was sending the kitchen sink on every play. In the pick 'em, this appeas to have been another difference-maker game, as the individuals who decided to take a flier on the Owls trend toward the bottom of the group.

Finally, big, slow, lumbering Wisconsin decided to spot Miami a 7-point lead in the first twenty seconds of their matchup, then proceeded to completely dominate the OMG Southern Speed-infused Hurricanes for the next fifty-five minutes of game action. Miami scored a late touchdown and recovered the onside kick, giving Wisconsin fans a heart attack as they seemed to be on the verge of blowing a game they controlled, but a sack and fumble ended the contest. Seventeen of our 32 entrants picked the Hurricanes to win, including the people occupying spots 25 through 32. I am among those people, and I am giddy. I will trade points for Big Ten victories 'til the cows come home. In the pick 'em, the top 15 remains largely unchanged except for a few people shuffling back and forth. Toward the bottom of the top 15, Kat, Matt, and Chris C. make their first appearances. Chris and Matt in particular look like they could be strong contenders, as they have a ton of possible points remaining. Kristin remains in percentile 99.2 nationally. Of course.


Rank
Team
Owner
Record
PPR
TOTAL
1
Shiva Bowl
Kristin
10-3
251
252
2
jimlaipply 1
Jimmah
9-4
231
249
3
Super Snavely
Donnie Smavels
9-4
231
243
4
d32moyer 1
Di
8-5
231
216
5
mjn1980 1
Mike Neary
8-5
233
209
6
Pocke full of Posey
Katey
8-5
250
203
7
Cantstandya120
Frange
8-5
255
199
8
What's YOUR Hang Up?!?
Christina
8-5
251
193
9
Super Happy Fun Bowl
Evan
7-6
231
188
10
Kitten Mittons
Wolfe
9-4
307
184
11
Where's the meatloaf ma!?
Chris B.
9-4
314
174
12
BenKarrasch 1
take a guess
7-6
302
167
13
Wannstache Rides 25 Cents
Kat
6-7
273
164
14
Mangino's Chins
Chris C.
8-5
323
163
14
I can has VICTORY?
Matt
8-5
335
163
14
ChrisHenrysDeathmo-bowl
Elliott
7-6
268
163

Monday, December 28, 2009

2009 Independence Bowl SOC: 1st Quarter

LIVE from Shreveport it’s the 2009 Advocare V100(?) Independence Bowl starring TAMU vs UGA.

Joining me today in the booth is Ron Franklin and Ed Cunningham. We learn right away the Georgia has fired 3 defensive coaches and apparently it’s clear and cool for the 5pm kickoff. It’s no beef bowl, but kickoff is next.

Pregame with Mark Richt. Question to coach Richt: “What will be the toughest challenge for today’s game?” Answer: “Getting lined up”. Analysis by me: “That’s some interesting coaching”. TAMU’s coach Sherman is looking pissed off already and they defer the toss. TAMU is 6-6 (3-5) and UGA is 7-5 (4-4).

1st Quarter

UGA ball 1st and 10 at own 30

Joe Cox. Joe Cox. Just say it with me. Also, his head is shaped like a triangle. O-line starts someone named Vince Vance. For realsees. TAMU’s defense is uninteresting. UGA gets AJ Green back for this game and Georgia is getting him the ball nonstop. Georgia gets stuff on 3rd and 1 at the TAMU 40. They should totally go for this. 4th and 3 in the Advocare V100 bowl, why not, but they punt and down it at the 3.

TAMU ball 1st and 10 at own 3

Offensive intros for TAMU. They start someone named Jeff Fuller. I went to high school with a Jeff Fuller. They would not be confused as related. Just like that, 3 and out for A&M. Punting from his own end zone and punt.

Advocare has hired Drew Brees and Saints colored uniforms as their spokespeople. I’m not sure what this means. Their products are “safe and effective” according to CEO Dick Wright. Thanks Dick.

UGA ball 1st and 10 at TAMU 43.

Joe Cox. Early thought is that Georgia is the better team. They seem to be controlling the line and have the explosive player in this game in AJ Green. Joe Cox. Therefore, I’m openly routing for TAMU. Matt Featherston is hurt. We should get him some Advocare products, whatever they are. 3rd and 11, Joe Cox, screen, and a good tackle for a stop. Cunningham complements Mike Bobo for calling a 3 yard screen pass. PUNT. Touchback.

TAMU 1st and 10 at own 20.

This game is scoreless with no attempted plays downfield. Lame. Joe Cox. Shreveport has the largest public arts mural in the nation. Also, it was paint by numbers. Really? Whatevs. TAMU averages the 2nd most plays in the nations at just over 80 a game. Right now they look terrible. Second straight 3 and out. PUNT.

Advocare also employs the selling power of such sports stars as: Josh Brown, Brad Hawpe, Carli Lloyd, Brent Quigly, and Matt Harpring. Thanks Dick.

UGA 1st and 10 own 30, 6:55 left in 1st quarter, 0-0

Joe Cox. Fuck it, I’m going long. Incomplete to AJ Green on his 6th look of the game. Run play for 5. Then tipped pass by Featherston who must have taken his V100. PUNT. FUMBLE. Oooooh. TAMU got lucky as the ball sneaks out of bounds.

TAMU 1st and 10 at own 28

Furthest down field they’ve been today. We just now get to announce the UGA defense. TAMU has a nice play, but holdin’ on Jeff Fuller. A&M’s QB Jerod Johnson is pretty nifty in the open field. Another 1st down called back for holding. Two incomplete passes and PUNT. 0 first downs for TAMU so far.

UGA 1st and 10 at own 39

Lordy this game is boring. Tomorrow we have UCLA vs Temple and Miami vs Wisconsin, I should have done those. Joe Cox. JOE COX. Post pattern to the TE which is ruled incomplete. It’s…..a terrible call. Should be overturned. Review…..Review…..Joe Cox…..Review…..AND….the ruling on the field stands. Wow, that’s terrible. I guess you don’t officiate the Advocare V100 bowl on accident.

Hmmm…okay so my cable went out for 5 minutes. Suddenly TAMU has the ball and the 1st quarter is mercifully over. It’s 0-0. However, I did learn that one of the players is named “Christine”. According to Ron Franklin, “His mom thought it was gonna be a girl and already had the name picked out. So they just changed the pronunciation to “Christian”. It’s no “La-a”, but wow. In summary, ine = ian.

2009 Independence Bowl SOC: 2nd Quarter

2nd quarter

TAMU 3rd and 7 from UGA 34

Little gainer and now a 49 yard FG attempt. Blocked. Sigh. So we remain scoreless. UGA takes over.

UGA 1st and 10 from own 32

Whatever I said about Georgia earlier, just ignore it. These teams both stink. How did Georgi beat GT? Wild. Joe Cox delivers a duck for a 1st down. Follow up by a loss of 3. Joe Cox delivers another duck on 3rd and 13 and TAMU’s corner is borderline retarded and allows him to run past him. Injury to Washaun Ealey, UGA RB. Joe Cox. Ealey’s up and okay. Joe Cox throws his best ball of the day right to the TAMU corner. He was wide open. By he, I mean the TAMU player.

TAMU 1st and 10 at own 37

Jerrod Johnson make a nice throw, ahem, a nice throw. The receiver caught it, gets tackled, runs to the sideline, and then passes out. Injury times out. Breaking news!! Mike Leach is suspended for the bowl game as he “allegedly” put an injured player in an electrical closet for several hours. He also confined that same player to a dark equipment room with a concussion. Why not? And we’re back as Ron Franklin says, “Good job by Johnson not keeping his 6’5” frame erect”. Giggles. Meanwhile, TAMU is driving nicely down to the UGA 26. Maybe we’ll get some points in this game? Maybe? Just to taunt me, they show a graphic that TAMU is averaging 460 yds and 33 points per game. And now it’s 4th and 15. Balls. Another 49 yard FG attempt. And they don’t think they should kick the FG and a times out is called. I bet they punt. You really need that 12 yards of field position. Ok, 4th and 15 and they line up for a FG, and it’s a FAKE. A fake FG punt. Sigh. Well, it goes OB at the 5.

UGA 1st and 10 at own 5

Joe Cox hands off and falls down. Joe Cox, not good at football. Joe Cox, not good at walking. Little over 6 minutes left in the half and I’m not sure there’s 200 yards of offense yet. Phffff, Joe Cox throws a strike? Whatevs. Nice 1st down though on 3rd and 10 from their own 5. According to Ron Franklin the Georgia FB is wearing mittens. I’m not sure what that means. Oh goodie! Another punt. It’s Georgia’s fifth already.

TAMU 1st and 10 at own 25, 4:40 left 2nd Qtr, 0-0

Incomplete pass, 2 yard loss, ooooh, 16 yard pass. That was bordering on competent. Johnson, FUCK IT, I’m going deep. JUST overthrown to Jeff Fuller. Then on 3rd and 8 Jerrod Johnson jukes all 3 LBs and picks up a first. He follows that up by a pass to no one and then a false start. Fuck it! I’m going deep again, this time into double coverage. COMPLETE. Wow. 1st down inside the UGA 20!!! I can smell points! And Georgia takes a times out. YOU KNOW IT! Holy cross. Johnson just guns one into the end zone and it’s caught for a TD. POINTS! PAT good.

TAMU 7-0

Ensuing kick-off, BLAM-O! Returned for a TD by UGA 81 yards. PAT good. Tied 7-7.
Hopefully this opens things up a bit. But the thing is, Joe Cox is terrible.
TAMU 1st and 10 at own 25, 2:15 left 2nd Qtr, 7-7
A&M looks like they’re content to run out the half. But then they fumble, interesting choice. TAMU does recover. UGA on the season is -17 in turnover margin 119th in the country. Wow. 3 and out and UGA will get the ball back. PUNT! BLOCKED! Wowzers. They didn’t block the edge rusher AT ALL.

UGA 1st and goal at TAMU 2

Handoff, fumble, recovered into the end zone by UGA for a TD. Why not. PAT good. 14-7 Georgia.
There’s been 3 TDs on the past 7 plays of this game. Weird.

TAMU 1st and 10 at own 25, 1:17 left 2nd Qtr, 14-7 UGA

Looks like TAMU isn’t gonna settle for being down 7 as they go hurry up. Quickly across midfield with 34 sec left. Things stall after taking a sack, but they spike it with 10 sec left at the 34. Completion for a first down with 2 sec and they try to spike it. Eh…they say it’s halftime. They aren’t even reviewing it? Looks like there should have been 1 sec left. Once again, you don’t officiate the Advocare V100 bowl on accident.

14-7 Georgia at the HALFTIMES!

2009 Independence Bowl SOC: 3rd Quarter

3rd Quarter 14-7 Georgia

LIVE (barely) from Shreveport, LA, it’s the second half of the Advocare V100 Independence Bowl!

1st half stats: Total Yds 260-99 TAMU, yuck. Well, Georgia did block 2 kicks, return a kickoff for a TD and had a 2 yard TD drive. So there. That sums it up.

TAMU 1st and 10 from own 27

Jerrod Johnson had a nice half, ahem, a NICE half. Just over 200 passing yds, 1 TD, 0 INT. TAMU RB gets horse collared, but isn’t tackled, spins around for 8 more yds. Odd play. Then 12 yards on a middle screen. Nice opening drive as TAMU is already down to the UGA 33. I will say this: he is indeed, one slippery Johnson. Ox is locks! Nice play on 3rd and 10 and they run it in from 14 yards out on the next play. PAT good. Tied 14-14
Really nice drive by the Aggies coming out of the half. They did whatever they wanted there. Ron Franklin likes his ballgames “good and tight”. Hmmm. Fair enough.

Kickoff is fair caught…?
UGA 1st and 10 from own 29, Tied 14-14

9/16 73 yards 1 INT – Joe Cox, Joe Cox. Georgia suddenly looks completely uninterested in this game. They must have bitches or warcraft waiting back in the hotel. Right as I say that they run a 40 yard screen play. I fold. 4th and 3 now from the Aggie 32. 49 yard FG attempt…..he….eeeeee….squeezes one off. [That means it’s good] 17-14 UGA.
How did I just realize that the QB matchup is Cox versus Johnson!?!?! Wow, that’s my bad.

TAMU 1st and 10 from own 34, 17-14 UGA

Johnson comes out hard for this series. He’s been the best player on the field. Cox has really shrunk under the pressure. Anyone? Johnson goes long, incomplete, but offsides on UGA. 3rd and 5. TAMU receiver can’t handle the Johnson delivery. Hehe. Punt formation, and it’s over his head. Aggie special teams have handed this game to Georgia.

UGA 1st and 10 on the Aggie 24, 17-14 UGA

Georgia receiver is awarded a reception even though he didn’t catch the ball. Not sure that’s in the rules. Now they review it. Huzzah. No way this call is upheld. I’ll bet 1 American dollar. And….it’s not a catch. Suck it. I was right. Joe Cox has thrown about 20 passes and 3 good ones. One of those went directly to TAMU. Good lord. The Aggie safely anticipates the Cox duck, but it fluttered high for a 24 TD pass. 24-14 Georgia.

Advocare is endorsed by recording artist and transcendent rock band, KUTLASS! Yeesh.

Aggie 1st and 10 at their own 23, 24-14 UGA

TAMU has completely dominated this game statistically, but their special teams are even worse than Joe Cox. Total yards are 320-160. A few plays later A&M is already down to the Bulldog 23. 4th and 1 and they’ll go for it from the 23. Shotgun? And it’s an interception. That’s a very strange call.

UGA 1st and 10 at their own 25, 4:55 left 3rd Qtr, 24-14 Georgia

I’d look for UGA to try to run some clock here and Ed Cunningham agrees with me. Joe Cox. Joe Cox. Huge run on a counter play for Georgia and the clock keeps ticking. Discussion point: Is Terrelle Pryor a better throwing QB than Joe Cox? It’s close, but I say yes. If it wasn’t already official, it is now, Joe Cox: bad player. TAMU holds nicely and PUNT

Texas A&M 1st and 10 at own 20, 24-14 Georgia

They keep throwing stats on the screen and TAMU dominates them all. Has to be depressing to be an Aggie fan watching this game. Blatant facemask. Even the frumpy, albino referee sees it. Fuck it, I’m going deep! Underthrown, picked off and a yooge return back to the Aggie 27. If Georgia punches it in from here, ball game over.

1st and 10 UGA at Aggie 27, 24-14 Georgia
Despite Cox’s best efforts to thrown behind AJ Green he catches it. Everyone holds up 4 fingers and I hold up 1.

2009 Independence Bowl SOC: 4th Quarter

4th Quarter

UGA 1st and 10 at Aggie 12, 24-14 Georgia

TAMU has them double up in yardage but this game is all but over. First and goal at the 1. Stone walled on 1st down. Nothing on 2nd down. Yooge play here. Play action and touchdown. Lame. PAT good. 31-14 UGA and this game is OVAH.

TAMU 1st and 10 at own 34, 13:02 to play, 31-14 UGA

Smote! Johnson throws high and the Georgia safety dropped a pick 6 right off his chest. The other UGA safety drops another pick and it’s 3 and out. FYI, the Aggies have mailed it in. Times out. Another high snap, but caught, jeez. PUNT

UGA 1st and 10 own 29, 31-14 Georgia

It’s time to check who I picked to win this game in the bowl mania. It appears I have 20 points on Georgia as the UGA FB rumbles for 25 yards and an Aggie gets hurt. Joe Cox. And another times out. Super. Odds of Georgia scoring on this drive: 1 hundred percent. Joe Cox under center. Handoff and right up the middle for 24 yards down to the Aggie 15. Toss play and they’re at the 1. They’re in for the TD. The frumpino Ref rambles on about offsetting penalties. PAT good. 38-14 UGA

KUTLASS is back and this time they tell me that Advocare is TSA approved. Thanks Dick.

Aggies 1st and 10 own 20, 9:40 left, 38-14 Georgia

Apparently we have to keep playing the game, and we’re now showing Russ the interim Bulldog mascot. The handler is possibly the most southern person in history. Deedley. TAMU throws a pointless 1 yard pass on 3rd and 5 and it’s another 3 and out. And finally, an uneventful punt. PUNT!

UGA 1st and 10 own 35, 38-14 UGA

Immediately they have a 32 yard run. Joe Cox has become Logan Gray. Several backups are into the game now. Also, the fans have begun the S-E-C chant. Georgia has 115 yards this quarter and there’s still 7min to go. This game is going to go over 4 hours. And someone named Munzenmaier is tackled. Ahh, now I see how they beat GT, they ran for 339 yards in that game. Meanwhile UGA scores on a 4 yard run and then the kicker shanks the PAT terrifically. 44-14 Georgia

TAMU 1st and 10 own 35, 44-14 UGA

I have no way to verify it, but I’m fairly certain I’m the only person still watching this game. Aggie receivers muff two catches. Then they make a couple of catches, then I stop watching for a couple of plays. Just under 3 minutes to play. A nice catch, ahem, a NICE catch by an Aggie wide-out and it’s 1st and goal. Smote. TAMU punches it in and goes for 2. Pass tipped and conversion failed. 44-20 UGA

Onside kick goes OB and Bobo takes a Gatorade bath. Richt is spared the orange-ish shower.

UGA 1st and 10 at Aggie 40, 44-20 Russesesesss
Just a minute left and Georgia runs out the clock. Richt is still nervous that Cox is gonna get him wet. Oh yeah. And that’s the ball game! Cox extends past Johnson as Georgia wins in a very strange blow-out. The game lasted exactly 4 hours and sadly I don’t think I made enough dick jokes.

Final Score 44-20 Georgia.

Bowl Pool Update: December 28, 2009

Well, since our last update, five games occurred. The Mountain West continued their pwnage of the Pac 10, as Utah outscored Cal 37-27 in the Poinsettia Bowl, in a game that CFN unknowingly wrapped up perfectly in a four-word sentence: why isn't Cal better? Maybe you guys should remember that sentence when you decide to rank the Bahrs in your preseason top 20 next year. Pick 'em effect: significant, as this is pretty much the only game so far where there is an approximate 50/50 split in who people picked, and, by and large, the people who picked Utah trend toward the top, while the people who (stupidly) picked Cal are, on average, lower.

The Hawai(slight pause)i Bowl gave us our second blatant no-show of the bowl season. Nevada, who was picked to win by 31 of the 32 people in our pool, got nuked by bowl debutantes SMU 45-10. Would the news that Nevada would be without not one, but both of their 1,000-yard running backs had helped (remember, by the deadline to make your picks, we only knew that one of them would be out)? Probably not. June Jones's offense bombed away on Nevada mercilessly, and the Wolfpack were seemingly powerless to stop it. The sneaky untalked-about story emerging so far in bowl season has to revolve around the WAC and Boise State. You want to know why the Broncos get relatively little respect for running roughshod over their conference year after year? This game and the Fresno State loss to a bad Wyoming team illustrate the reason perfectly. That's all I want to say about this disgrace, other than the fact that if Colin Kaepernick's eyes were any closer together they would merge into a single entity and he would be a cyclops.

Marshall beat Ohio 21-17 in a game that no one watched or cared about.

The Pick 'Em's other bowl darling, Pittsburgh, scraped by North Carolina 19-17 in the something-something auto maintenance bowl. A Panther loss here would have meant mild disaster for an astounding 31 of our 32 entrants. Considering that Pitt had significant no-show potential, as they dropped from a BCS game (if they had held on against Cincy) to the muffler bowl against an ACC also-ran that happened to be playing in its own backyard, I am a little surprised so many people in the group were riding the Panther bandwagon. Nothing interesting happened in this game, other that Dion Lewis continuing to show that Pitt has not lost its supernatural ability to pull fantastic running backs seemingly out of the ether.

USC knocked off Boston College in a relatively yawn-worthy game that did nothing to make me less nauseous about the fact that our Rose Bowl-bound Buckeyes choked away a victory against this mediocre, begging-to-be-beaten Trojan outfit. This game was boring and I don't want to think about it anymore.

Finally, thirty of us picked up points last night as Clemson held off Kentucky 21-13 in the Music City Bowl. C.J. Spiller was good, and the ACC's "elite" finally picked up a victory over a mediocre SEC team (after Georgia Tech's loss to Georgia and Clemson's defeat at the hands of South Carolina). The upshot of all of this? Kristin, who freely admitted that she made her picks based on, in order, 1.) the teams' colors and mascots, and 2.) which teams other people picked, is in first place at 8-2 with 204 points. She also claims that she received advice from our cats, but that is possibly apocryphal. Now, she's lost her 34- and 31-point confidence games ... but almost everyone else has lost similarly high-confidence games. Will the insanity end? Stay tuned to find out. The only game today features Texas A&M and Georgia squaring off in the Independence Bowl, the result of which will certainly lead to premature proclamations of SEC or Big 12 superiority heading into the BCS title game. Hooray for conference wars.


Rank
Team
Owner
Record
PPR
TOTAL
1
Shiva Bowl
Kristin
8-2
326
204
1
jimlaipply 1
Jimmah
7-3
300
202
3
Super Snavely
Donnie Smavels
6-4
300
174
4
Cantstandya120
Frange
6-4
307
170
5
mjn1980
Mike Neary
6-4
306
162
6
d32moyer 1
Di
5-5
300
147
7
What's YOUR Hang Up?!?
Christina
6-4
320
146
8
Pocket full of Posey
Katey
5-5
310
143
9
Kitten Mittons
Wolfe
6-4
349
142
10
Super Happy Fun Bowl
Evan
5-5
300
141
11
Birds of War
Fred
5-5
313
138
12
BenKarrasch 1
take a guess
5-5
355
132
13
ChrisHenrysDeathmo-Bowl
Elliott
5-5
326
131
14
Where's the meatloaf ma!?
Chris B.
6-4
362
126
15
Joel Bribes the Jury
Rob Durham
6-4
360
125

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Bowl Pool Update: December 23, 2009

Two days ago, Todd and I were discussing how difficult this year's crop of bowl games was to pick. I have a pretty good track record in this pick 'em the last five years or so, and in each of those bowl seasons I went in feeling very confident about at least four or five games at the top of my "confidence points" list. I'm talking, "well, there's no way in hell (team X) is gonna beat (team Y)" kind of confident. Yes, yes, in the '05-'06 pick 'em I lost my top three highest-confidence games – my point is, I always at least felt good, really confident, almost certain, about five or so games, and fairly confident about ten or fifteen more. Not this year. I could easily see upsets in, like, every game. After about the first ten or so highest confidence games on my list, I have absolutely no idea who is going to win the remaining 23 or so games. This is unprecedented.

Anyway, our conversation veered to why it was so difficult. One of the main monkey wrenches in the process of trying to pick college bowl games is the dreaded "no-show," where one team is clearly disinterested and just goes through the motions and either A.) just barely wins or gets upset in a game in which they were a solid favorite, or B.) gets their doors blown off in what looked to be a relatively even matchup. It's really difficult to pick these games; it's almost like they are black swans, and their unpredictability is part of what actually makes them happen. We were discussing possible no-show candidates, finding flaws with most possibilities (example: USC and Pitt are way too obvious, stuff like that) and deciding that no-shows are inherently unpredictable. But, like obscenity, you know one when you see it happen. If you watched the Las Vegas Bowl last night, you saw an epic no-show.

Astonishingly, coming into the game BYU seemed a more likely no-show candidate. After their upset of Oklahoma (which in retrospect was not an upset at all, but I digress) on opening weekend, BYU was probably thinking they'd end up where TCU is now. After getting positively assblasted by Florida State and the Terrifying Alien Frogs and seeing their BCS dreams disintegrate, you'd have to think that the Cougars would be less than ecstatic about playing in the Las Vegas Bowl for the FIFTH CONSECUTIVE SEASON. Conversely, Oregon State had won five straight bowl games and six out of seven this decade. Mike Riley was doing a great job at the helm of a program that had finished in the top three in the Pac Ten each of the last five years and was a touchdown away from making the Rose Bowl an OSU/OSU matchup. So, naturally, the Beavers faceplanted in spectacular fashion, losing 44-20 in a game that was nowhere near that close. They looked lethargic and disinterested, especially after a fumbled backwards pass was returned for a BYU touchdown. After that, Oregon State's players looked like they just wanted to get the hell out of there and go home. And if your guys look like they’re dying to go to Corvallis, Oregon, you know they are experiencing a soul-crushing beatdown. So congratulations to BYU on a big victory. And thank you, Oregon State, for giving us our first official no-show of the '09-'10 bowl season, and a positively textbook example at that.

So what does this mean for the pick 'em? Well, in general, things aren't going well. We've got two winless entries, seventeen 1-3 entries, nine people treading water at 2-2, and a scant four people charging forward at 3-1. Obviously this will all change, starting tonight with the Poinsettia (three syllables, ESPN. Three!) Bowl.


RankTeamOwnerRecordPPRTOTAL
1jimlaipply 1Jimmah3-146596
1Super SnavelyDonnie Smavels 3-146596
3Cantstandya120Frange3-147487
4Shiva BowlKristin3-149371
5d32moyer 1Di2-246564
6Birds of WarFred2-247259
7Pocket Full of PoseyKatey2-247358
7mjn1980Mike N.2-247158
9What's YOUR Hangup?!?Christina2-248150
10BenKarrasch 1take a guess2-251142
10Kitten MittonsS. Wolfe2-250541
12La-Fevour-FEVE!Al1-346533
12moyer1jlcmu 1Pops1-346533
12astro1305 1Javy1-346533
12Super Happy Fun BowlEvan1-346533
12ChrisHenrysDeathmo-bowlElliot1-347633

Monday, December 7, 2009

The Group is Up!

http://games.espn.go.com/bowlmania/en/
Group name is "Bowl Picks...FOR THE WIN!"
The password is "boban."

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Test

This is a test post. It is only a test.