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almadenmike
by: almadenmike
# Posts: 464
Level: City Council
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I think it's fun to look at the dynamics of this Pickem contest as it nears its conculsion ... especially the range and impact of the Bonus Question.
As of Wednesday morning (Dec.22), owlcarlos has a 48-point lead over monarchfan91; 63 points over weagle97 and 68 points over NTTHOR.
They all have different Bonus picks: Wisconsin-Show, Iowa-Show, VaTech-Show and Memphis-Place.
On the basis of Bonus picks alone, only monarchfan and NTTHOR have a chance to make up their deficits, if their choices are correct and owlcarlos' is not.
Of course, picking the bowl winners and point spreads will surely be even more important, however. In the next three games (#12-14), monarchfan & weagle differ with owlcarlos on only one game (picking Miami-Ohio & Missouri, respectively) while NTTHOR differs on two: Missouri & UCF. Will they gain on the leader today and tomorrow? Or slide back. :-)
The biggest gainer in the Top 25 so far is MotleyBlazer (265). He's now 149 points behind ... but has Michigan to win the Bonus. If he's correct, that 100 points could be very helpful, no doubt. His picks for the next three games are the same as owlcarlos', however (but with different point spreads, so on-the-nose picks could be a factor, of course).
Our commish ICB is looking good, too, with 202 points so far in the bowl round. He has Nevada-Show and differs with owlcarlos on ALL THREE of the Wed-Thurs games.
Here's the distribution of Bonus picks among the Tor 25:
Wisconsin - 6
VaTech, Iowa, KState UCLA & Georgia - 2 each
Memphis, Boston College, Nevada, Michigan, Wake Forest, Purdue, Army, Miami-Ohio & Iowa State -- 1 each
Good luck to all!!
Posted: 12/22/2021 12:22:11 PM
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almadenmike
by: almadenmike
# Posts: 464
Level: City Council
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FTR, here are the dates that the Top 25's Bonus Question teams will play:
December
22 - Army
23 - Miami (Ohio)
24 - Iowa State, Memphis
27 - Boston College, Nevada
28 - UCLA
29 - Virginia Tech
30 - Purdue, Wisconsin
31 - Georgia, Michigan, Wake Forest (if an opponent can be found, since Texas A&M has dropped out)
January
1 - Iowa
4 - Kansas State
Posted: 12/22/2021 4:20:53 PM
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almadenmike
by: almadenmike
# Posts: 464
Level: City Council
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Two more bowls have been cancelled due to COVID in at least one of the teams:
Today's Military Bowl (Boston College vs East Carolina) & Wednesday's Fenway Bowl (Virginia vs SMU). Boston College was my Bonus pick, so I'm especially bummed by this development.
Currently, the Bonus leaders appear to be:
24 - Army (picked by The Dancing Monarch) & Utah State
27 - Miami-Ohio (picked by scrappy1980 to Place ... but the best the Redhawks can do now is Show .. so bummer for you, too.)
Posted: 12/27/2021 11:05:53 AM
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almadenmike
by: almadenmike
# Posts: 464
Level: City Council
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Monday's bowl dropouts were favorites in the Sun Bowl (Game 33 - Miami-Florida) and the Arizona Bowl (Game 34 - Boise State). Central Michigan will move from Arizona to El Paso to take on Washington State in the Sun Bowl. The Arizona Bowl is now cancelled.
Twelve of the Top 25 in our current leaderboard had picked the Hurricanes to beat Washington State in the Sun Bowl ... including #2 monarchfan91 and #3 Mike77. Sucks for us -- I picked The U, too ... although the way I'm going, I'm not going to finish on the podium.
Boise's departure sucks for nearly everyone, as only two in the Top 25 picked the Chippewas to win. The highest ranking of this prescient duo is our commish, 8th place ICB!! If Central Michigan wins the Sun Bowl title, will those two votes for their Arizona Bowl win count? :-) I think they should. What an upset that would be!
Posted: 12/27/2021 11:54:21 PM
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almadenmike
by: almadenmike
# Posts: 464
Level: City Council
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Our leader (owlcarlos) had a great Wednesday ... the only one in the top 7 to pick all winners. He picked the Terps; the rest of us thought Virginia Tech would win. Hah!! He also hit Clemson's 7-point victory margin on the nose (along with ICB & weagle97).
For NTTHOR, Wednesday was a disaster: no wins at all! The rest of us went 2-1.
In the Bonus race, Clemson's 20-point total knocked out Army (24 points; picked by The Dancing Monarch.) The win and place slots are currently held by Houston (17) and Minnesota (18). None of us has picked any of these schools to win the Bonus.
The most popular pick -- Wisconsin, chosen by 6 in the Top 25 leaderboard -- plays tonight in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Posted: 12/30/2021 11:02:15 AM
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almadenmike
by: almadenmike
# Posts: 464
Level: City Council
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Heading into the five New Year's Day games (Games 37-41), with posted scoring through Game 31, the Top 6 are within 133 of our leader, owlcarlos.
We all agree that Ohio State will win. But we split 3-3 on Penn State/Arkansas and Kentucky/Iowa. I'm an outlier in picking Oklahoma State and Kansas State to win.
On the Bonus Question, Wisconsin scored just 20 points in its win, so it's tied for the Show position. Owlcarlos and #3 Mike77 picked the Badgers to show. Second-place monarchfan91 chose Iowa. If the Jayhawks win today scoring fewer than 20 points, monarchfan91 would be in position for 50 points (pending future game results, of course) while owlcarlos & Mike77 would get nothing.
Posted: 1/1/2022 12:05:15 PM
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almadenmike
by: almadenmike
# Posts: 464
Level: City Council
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Bad news for monarchfan91!
Iowa decided to punt rather than try to make a game-winning first down with less than a yard to go near midfield with a few minutes left in the game. Kentucky then drove for a go-ahead touchdown. Then near field-goal range, Iowa's QB is pressured, and threw a pick!
Kentucky won, 20-17 ... and joined Wisconsin and Clemson in the Bonus Pick 'Show' place.
Monarchfan91 had picked Iowa to win ... as well as to 'Show' on the bonus. He would have gotten points for both if Iowa had chosen to go for that 1st down ... and made it to win, 17-13. That result would have also knocked Wisconsin (owlcarlos' Bonus choice) off the Bonus podium.
Instead, it's advantage, owlcarlos!
Posted: 1/1/2022 2:35:57 PM
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