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Gridiron Politics

Football, politics and gambling

Four games left, anything is still possible

The end is now in sight! There’s four games left. That makes 16 different scenarios possible. The race for second and third place is still wide open. First place is still technically a race too, as Jed ties front-runner Zach in four of the 16 outcomes. However, Jed needs each of the last four games to post a average score of 73 points each. The first 31 games clocked in at 53.6 points each, so this seems somewhat unlikely. Auburn and Oregon could easily combine for 80 points or more, but it’s hard to see the total for LSU/A&M to even top 30 points.

The last four matchups are Texas A&M vs. LSU, Pittsburg vs. Kentucky, Nevada vs Boston College and Auburn vs. Oregon. One each night until the Championship on Monday. Here are all 16 possibilities and who wins. There are a lot of ties, so some of you will have to get lucky with point totals as well. The loser of the tie takes the next position. So the loser in a tie for first place wins second place, etc. First place is always Zach unless otherwise noted. Also, the results will be double-checked at the end to make sure everything was entered right, so feel free to go over the spreadsheet with a fine-tooth comb if you think I made an error somewhere.

1. T/P/N/O: 2nd: Brook, Jennifer, Ellen and Noah.
2. T/P/N/A: 1st: Zach and Jed. 3rd: Brook, Jennifer, Ellen and Noah.
3. T/P/B/A: 1st: Zach and Jed. 3rd: Brook, Mary, Ellen, Jennifer and Noah.
4. T/P/B/O: 2nd: Brook, Jennifer, Ellen and Noah.
5. T/K/B/O: 2nd: Brook, Ellen, Jennifer, Noah and Valerie.
6. T/K/N/O: 2nd: Brook, Ellen, Jennifer, Noah and Valerie.
7. T/K/N/A: 1st: Zach and Jed. 3rd: Brook, Ellen, Jennifer, Noah and Valerie.
8. T/K/B/A: 1st: Zach and Jed. 3rd: Brook, Mary, Jennifer, Noah and Valerie.
9. L/P/N/O: 2nd: Linda. 3rd: Brook, Ellen, Jennifer and Noah.
10. L/P/N/A: 2nd: Linda and Jed.
11. L/P/B/A: 2nd: Linda and Jed.
12. L/P/B/O: 2nd: Linda. 3rd: Brook, Ellen, Jennifer and Noah.
13. L/K/B/O: 2nd: Linda and Lori.
14. L/K/N/O: 2nd: Linda and Lori.
15. L/K/N/A: 2nd: Linda, Lori and Jed.
16. L/K/B/A: 2nd: Linda, Lori and Jed.

Spreadsheet.

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Five games left, Zach locks up a lead

Ohio State took down the Razorbacks last night as expected, solidifying Zach’s lead at 18 games picked correctly. Jennifer, Jed and Brook are all tied for second at 16 games picked. Jed is the only person who can tie Zach with the five games left on the schedule, unfortunately, with his predicted point total of 2,100, Jed loses the tiebreaker to Zach (who picked a total of 1803) unless the point total ends up closer to Jed’s final. The point total right now is 1605, so with five games left, there would have to be some high scoring games for Jed to have a chance.

For the same reason, Jennifer is likely to beat out Brook with her projected point total of 1960 vs. Brook at 1995. They picked the last five games identically, so Brook will cross his fingers for high scoring games :-)

Spreadsheet.

Edit: It was pointed out to me that I messed up the Vegas Spread on the spreadsheet. If you check now, you’ll see that Nevada, not BC, is the Vegas favorite according to the spread. In my checking, I also realized that Southern Miss was actually the favorite over Louisville, and Kansas State was the favorite over Syracuse. I changed both those things, so now it appears that THE SPREAD only got 16 of the 30 games so far correct, 2 games below Zach. So listening to Vegas this season would not have won you the bowl pool.

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Zach leads entering the home stretch

After 28 games, Zach leads the field with 16 picks correct. Simply picking favorites and following THE SPREAD would also net you 16 picks correct at this point. Brook is in second with 15 picks correct. Ellen, Jennifer and Jed are all tied for third place with 14 picks correct.

The spreadsheet now includes running point totals for all games and an average score per game. If the current trend holds up, the winning number pick will be 1870 (which only matters in tie-breaker situations.) That means if the bowl picks ended with all the standings as they are now, Jennifer would win third place based on her point total being closest to the final number.

Spreadsheet.

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Ellen takes the lead

Well, Brook was dethroned after a rough New Year’s Eve of failed picks, handing off the reigns to Ellen, who has 12 picks correct. Zach comes in second with 11 picks correct, while Mary and Brook are tied for third at 10 each. There’s 13 games left, so anything can happen!

Spreadsheet

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Maryland, Illinois and OSU win

Maryland beat East Carolina, Illinois pulled the upset against Baylor and Oklahoma State hammered Arizona. There’s now a three-way tie for first: Jed, Jennifer and Brook, all at 8 correct out of 14. THE SPREAD is also prescient with 8 out of 14 correct. There’s a lot of parity right now, with 14 of us at 6, 7 or 8 games correctly picked.

Spreadsheet.

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Underdogs win the day, 4-way tie for first

West Virginia was upset by North Carolina State, and Iowa beat Missouri on Tuesday night. Both teams were underdogs, and Iowa in particular was playing without some of its key players who had been suspended for the game.

Jed, Jennifer, Mary and Brook are all tied for first place with 6 wins out of 11. Vegas has fared no better, with THE SPREAD having 6 correct out of 11 as well.

Download spreadsheet.

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FIU tops Toledo & Air Force beats BYU

No update yesterday, sorry. After 9 games, Jed and Brook are tied for first place. There’s a bunch of people at 5 games correct out of 9, including THE SPREAD.

Spreadsheet.

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Tulsa Unexpectedly Wins

So Tulsa destroyed Hawaii, benefiting Will and Mary and setting everyone else back a loss. Next bowl game is Sunday night.

Spreadsheet.

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