Kirsten in a Tie Break

Margaret. That is a heart breaker. Two years in a row only to lose in a tie breaker. But, Kirsten by choosing a higher point total is the champ of the Family Bowl Pool. Pack up the Plaque Chris Ross. Send it to me. I've got some engraving to do.

Delicious

Kirsten, RC, and Margaret... Good Luck!!!!

Auburn represents the SEC and they have won about 110 championships in a row.

Florida State from the ACC is favored.

Who will win? Sit back and relax and enjoy the fun!

Three Way Tie

RC, Kirsten, and Margaret/Candace are all tied at 12-8 going into Monday's championship. RC has Auburn. If Auburn wins, RC wins. Kirsten and Margaret/Candace have Florida State. If Florida State wins then we go to a tie breaker. Tie breaker is closest to point total. Kirsten predicted 57 points, and Margaret/Candace predicted 45 points. This is two years in a row that Margaret/Candace has gone to the last day. Impressive Margaret/Candace. Impressive.

This is why we love the Bowls

Makes CFB unique. So sad that the play-off advocates have won out.

More Fun with Fake Lou Holtz

@FakeLouHoltzKSR can you say Metamucil?
— Family Bowl Pool (@FamilyBowlPool) January 4, 2014

“@FamilyBowlPool: @FakeLouHoltzKSR can you say Metamucil?” I literally cannot shay Metha- Methamushil- Thitrushil? No.
— Fake Lou Holtz (@FakeLouHoltzKSR) January 4, 2014

I'm Also Having Fun with Crazy Lee Corso

@FamilyBowlPool only if they'll let me wear the Hook 'em head while I coach!
— Crazy Lee Corso (@CrazyLeeCorso) January 3, 2014

@CrazyLeeCorso and @FakeLouHoltzKSR seen smoking Buckeyes outside the #OrangeBowl
— Family Bowl Pool (@FamilyBowlPool) January 4, 2014

@CrazyLeeCorso @KirkHerbstreit @Lastjwfan As long as @espn has a budget for large mascot costumes.
— Family Bowl Pool (@FamilyBowlPool) January 3, 2014

The Fake Lou Holtz

If you haven't been following my back and forth with the Fake Lou Holtz on Twitter here's a sample:

@FamilyBowlPool 2001 UKvsSCar I took a shafety and field pothishun late 4th quarter to sheal the game #shtrategery
— Fake Lou Holtz (@FakeLouHoltzKSR) January 4, 2014

“@FamilyBowlPool: Remember Coach @FakeLouHoltzKSR when Tim Brown took you to victory v. the Aggies in the Cotton Bowl?” Hewathoutshtanding.
— Fake Lou Holtz (@FakeLouHoltzKSR) January 4, 2014

“@FamilyBowlPool: @FakeLouHoltzKSR Is that a mouthpiece on the ground?” Losht my teeth again. Operating my shpare #teampolygrip
— Fake Lou Holtz (@FakeLouHoltzKSR) January 3, 2014

Kirsten and Analicia

DO NOT ACT LIKE THIS WHILE YOU ARE IN COLLEGE!!!

http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2014/1/3/5270468/female-alabama-fan-tries-to-fight-every-oklahoma-fan

Cotton Bowl and the Curse of Fozzy: RC's Chance

I forgot that they are playing the Cotton Bowl tonight too. This is a huge bowl for RC. If he wins this he is really sitting pretty in the pool. He has Oklahoma State and Kirsten and Margaret went with the SEC's Missouri Tigers.

Missouri shocked the football world with their run in the SEC. They wound up in the SEC Championship game where they lost convincingly to Auburn. Oklahoma State absolutely choked to OU in their last game and lost their chance to go to the BCS. They had beaten Baylor but inexplicably had lost to West Virginia. They killed Texas. 

I hate Missouri. When they were in the Big XII they had a notoriously bad field. One of my favorite players Fozzy (yes that was his name) Whitaker tore up his knee on that field stepping into a divot making a cut. Pretty much ruined our season that year. They went to the SEC, and like A&M were supposed to struggle and languish in last place. But they have thrived. We'll see if Oklahoma State can get revenge for the BigXII on Mizzou.

Orange Bowl: Someone Call Kirsten

Hey Kirsten,
If you win tonight with your Clemson pick, you are back in this thing. Rumor is you lived in South Carolina too long and got hypnotized by people who like Tigers. You have a real shot. Ohio State usually struggles with speed. Many people say that have a soft schedule. Clemson has played FSU and other tough southern competition.

You know what this match up is famous for don't you? I was watching. It was the first time I had ever heard of Clemson. It was 1978 in the Gator Bowl:

I was stunned as all night Keith Jackson had been talking about the greatness of Woody Hayes. Clemson is ahead at the end of the game. Ohio State had the ball. A Clemson player makes an interception near the Ohio State sideline and Woody Hayes steps up to the kid and slugs him in the mouth. Hilarity! I love sports. Old man Hayes lost his job for this. Poor Hayes, evidently he was a great coach. But when you are nine years old and you are just developing your consciousness of the world, such an outburst sticks in your sports-loving brain forever. To me, Woody Hayes is the crazy old man who punched a kid from Clemson in the mouth through his helmet. What the hell is wrong with you Ohio? 

Anyway, someone call Kirsten. She probably doesn't care, but she has a shot tonight if the Tigers can upset the Buckeyes again. Then we'll all have to watch to see what Urban Meyer does.

RC in Control

The group alive is three: Kirsten (two games back), Margaret (one game back), and our new exclusive leader RC (the original Commish). Tomorrow night is the Orange and Cotton Bowls. RC: Oklahoma State and Ohio State. Margaret: Missouri and Ohio State. Kirsten: Missouri and CLEMSON. Should be FUN.

You are not reading the blog, but...

I'll be live tweeting on Twitter. Follow @FamilyBowlPool

RC v. Us: The Sugar Bowl

RC Smith has won the bowl pool on many occasions. He is poised to win it again. More below.

RC has picked Oklahoma. It's a bad pick, but Central Florida was a bad pick. And how did that work out for Kirstie Bird? Especially after Baylor's choke last night, it should be evident that OU does not belong in this game. After all Alabama's only loss was because of a fluke Auburn return of a missed field goal. They rolled everyone else they played including Johnny Football's Aggies in College Station. OU lost to Case McCoy and Texas on a neutral field. Let that sink in. Case freaking McCoy.

OU got killed by Baylor. You saw what Baylor was about last night. The Big XII is a wreck and that was so evident last night. OU has no decent quarterback. They have a senior Blake Bell who could not even get through a porous Texas rush defense. They have a freshman from San Antonio, Trevor Knight, who has been inconsistent at best and injury prone. Yet, somehow they beat Oklahoma State on the road in a massive choke job by the Cowboys. With their losses to Texas and Baylor (by large margins by the way), there was no way they should have been picked for a BCS bowl over the Ducks of Oregon. Conspiracy? Pay back to Phil Knight for buying a team in Eugene for Nike?

I could tell you a lot of juicy stuff about Nick Saban, the coach for Alabama. It has been crazy here in Texas with the collapse of the football program under Mack Brown. There are all sorts of rumors about Big Money Longhorns courting Saban and trying to get him to come to Texas. But, it's all rumor, so I won't report it here. What am I, some desperate blogger looking for advertisement dollars? (By the way Golden Chiropractic and TDS Law, I would appreciate you boys paying your advertisement bills.)

What does all mean for us? If Oklahoma pulls the upset, RC goes ahead and is in the cat bird seat. If Alabama wins, RC falls back to a tie with Kirsten and Will. Margaret will assume the solitary lead again and will have the advantage. Fun. Delicious fun. All of you bowl system haters can... well, this is a family website. The bowls are awesome, unique, and fun. Play-off systems are for other sports. You play-off lovers are going to ruin college football just like the one and dones have killed college basketball.

What a Day

Usually New Year's Day gives us a dividing line between the contenders and pretenders. Young Matt had a real chance to put it to the rest of us with his picks of Duke (the day previous) and Iowa. But alas, in both games he got close but couldn't seal the deal. But Kirsten, surprised us all with a gutsy pick of Central Florida. The Knights pulled off the upset of the Bowl season and took down Baylor (stay in Phoenix losers - see previous post). Therefore, the UNC Charlotte student has a shot to take the title.

We have four contenders going into the last four games: Margaret/Candace (although Analicia is really questioning whether your picks should count), RC, Will (me), and Kirsten. Tomorrow is huge for RC. He picked Oklahoma in a huge upset of Alabama. The rest of the contenders have Alabama. See you tomorrow!

Now on TWITTER!!!

Follow the bowl pool commissioner on Twitter @FamilyBowlPool

New Year's Day: Bowlapalooza

Five, count them, five games today!!! Let's get the preview out of the way.

We open with the SEC again. The Bulldogs of Georgia are an annually underachieving team. They were supposed to have a hotshot QB lead them to glory this year yet again. But they could not get through the SEC unscathed and even had problems at home against North Texas. However, that is nothing compared to the train wreck that is Bo Pellini and Nebraska. At one point the Cornhusker head coach was caught on tape disparaging the fans of his team. He is cocky and gruff, but his team underachieves. This is really the Underachievement Bowl. Bulldogs are 8.5 point favorites.

The old ball coach Steve Spurrier takes his Gamecocks of South Carolina to Orlando to play the Wisconsin Badgers. This may be the best match-up of the day. Spurrier has SEC talent and the Badgers usually perform well in bowl games. In a rarity the SEC team is an underdog here, but only by two points. I don't know much about the players in this game other than South Carolina's stud defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. Known for his helmet busting tackle in last year's bowl game against Michigan, Clowney has seemed disinterested in the regular season this year. He just got busted for speeding over 100+ miles an hour for the second time to which the old ball coach commented: "He needs to go to driving school." Aaahhh the SEC. Just win games for us son. Just win games.

Another Big 10 v. SEC challenge. This one appears to be a mismatch though. LSU is always stacked with athletic talent. This year they could not match Alabama or Auburn, but they killed Johnny Football. They barely lost to Ole Miss, but took out everyone else for nine wins. I know nothing about Iowa other than they lost to the Big 10 powerhouses like Michigan St. but beat everyone else. Iowa has historically done well in bowl games and are good for an upset every now and then. LSU is a 7.5 point favorite.

The granddaddy turns 100 this year. A classic Big 10 v. Pac 12 match-up as Michigan State arrives in California to play Stanford. Michigan State has a studly defense and workman like offense. Stanford has a coach that I want to head to Austin. They also feature defense and rushing. This game should be a great battle for the true football fan. Stanford is a 6.5 point favorite. Who's got tickets? Rose Bowl is on my bucket list.

Really? Central Florida? Texas had to play Oregon in the Alamo Bowl, but Central Florida gets to go to a BCS game. Ugghh. Baylor if you don't win this, stay in Arizona. Move your right wing school president Ken Starr, the cheating basketball programs, and the whole metropolitan area of Waco (including the new football stadium) to the outskirts of Phoenix and start over. You'll love Gov. Jan Brewer and the rest of the reactionaries out there and feel right at home. Seriously, this should be a snoozer. Baylor coach Art Briles has installed a high powered offense with a decent defense and his squad is full of pure athletic Texas talent. The Bears are 17 point favorites. Central Florida will need a miracle.

Enjoy the games. See you tomorrow!

What.A.Game

Poor young Matthew. So close to scoring a huge upset and sweeping yesterday's games to grab first place in the Bowl Pool only to be thwarted by Johnny Football.

In a stunning comeback, the Aggies came back on the Dukies and won free Chick-fil-A for life. Down 38-17 at half, the SEC giant killers took down the egg heads from Durham with five second half touchdowns. Duke QB, Anthony Boone, threw a pick 6 in the fourth to give Rick Perry's alma mater the lead, and Johnny Football goes down in Aggie lore as the greatest College Station signal caller ever. Meanwhile in a living room in San Antonio, Texas, a young man named Matthew learned that during Bowl season no halftime lead is safe. His forlorn expression and pacing in the fourth quarter forced his father to give the following bit of annoying advice: "Just wait until tomorrow. Five more games to come."