We Have a Winner! And It's Matt!

I love when we get new winners. Matt has been wanting to win this pool contest for a long time. He finally got his victory, but not without a hefty challenge from Alex who caught him on the last day and forced a tie breaker. Both pickers selected Georgia tonight. So they padded their records with another win. But Matt picked a 60 point total score and Alex picked a 29 point game. the 65-7 Georgia blowout gave Matt the clear victory as the Bulldog offense exploded against the overmatched Cinderella. So Matt will get the plaque and we say to Alex, "There's always next year!"

Again, sorry I had limited content this year. We just got word that COVID has entered our house for the first time. So our winter of discontent continues. Let's hope things turn around for us soon here in San Antonio. But in Austin, I can hear the victorious shouts of our newest champion. Congratulations Matthew

We Have a Tie!

 In the end it came down to the one point Tulane victory over USC. If USC had not choked at the end of the Cotton Bowl, Matt had it wrapped up. But a fumble, a safety, a non-stoppable run game, and some luck led a plucky Tulane squad over USC despite a five touchdown performance by the Trojan quarterback. And, so Alex finished with a three game win streak to tie Matt and force a tie breaker. I will contact each contestant and they will give me a winner and a point total for the final game: Georgia vs. TCU. Winning pick first, but if both contestants pick the same team, then the contestant closest to the overall point total wins the championship. Good luck.

The Granddaddy

 The Rose Bowl will the last contest in regulation for the pool.

It could come down to this contest between Utah and Penn State. Utah has a potent offense and Penn State is known for defense. Utah upset USC and kept the Trojans out of the College Football Playoff. Penn State finished third in their division of the Big 10 to Michigan and Ohio State. It should be a great contest in a beautiful stadium: Vince Young Field. Utah are the -1.5 favorites in Vegas. Matt has Utah because he is all about the Pac-12. Joe also has the Utes. Tim, Alex, and I have the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Happy Bowling everyone! I'll be at work on the second... somehow I bet some the action finds its way on my phone. 

-The Commish

The Plural of Cheez It is not Cheez Its, it is Cheez It Crackers

 The Citrus Bowl sponsored by a cracker company.

The CheezIt Citrus Bowl features LSU versus Purdue. LSU are heavy favorites, with a -14.5 spread. The weird story coming out of this one is that Drew Brees has caused a little bit of a controversy. Drew (my fellow alum of Westlake High School and NFL future Hall of Famer) has taken a role as an assistant coach at his former university, Purdue. Evidently this was announced on December 15. The problem is that Drew is also connected with a sports betting entity in of all places, New Jersey. As New Jersey allows sports betting, this conflict has created a problem. So, the game has been taken off the board in New Jersey and all the bets placed on the game up to date have been cancelled. We are going to see more of this as the country has loosened its regulations around sports betting. As Drew has no relation to the Bowl Pool (other than, as I stated above, attending the same high school as the commissioner) we will not pull this game off our board. Game on! 

Leader Matt has LSU as do Alex and Tim. Joe and I have the underdogs, Purdue.

Cotton Land!

 Yee Haw! It's the Cotton Bowl!

I remember growing up in Texas driving to Lubbock too many times in my life seeing the giant combines full of cotton shaped into giant rectangular blocks on the side of the road. I remember hoping Texas would find its way into this game named after the crop that seemed to dominate the landscape of my home state (that is in places where they weren't drilling for the real cash crop of the state: oil). Of course my heart was broken more often than not: 1977-78, 83-84, and ugghh 90-91, where I personally witnessed the Miami thrashing of Texas. But that was balanced with 81-82 upset of Alabama, and the 98-99 win over Mississippi State (where I personally caught an extra point kick after a Ricky Williams touchdown). Hard to believe the last time Texas was in the Cotton Bowl Classic was 2003, a victory over LSU which I watched in the living room of one of Patricia's cousins in Jal, New Mexico, with a delicious bowl of menudo. 

This game features upstart Tulane, champions of the AAC, against Southern California. USC are 2 point favorites but many Vegas wiseguys really like Tulane, because of USC's suspect defense. Leader Matt has USC as do Tim and me. Alex and Joe have picked Tulane and hope for a Green Wave triumph. 

ReliaQuest Madness

 By request, I have some Bowl Previews for you. January 2 will feature four bowls that will decide our contest. Currently, Matt leads with a sparkling 11-5 record. The ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, Florida

This Bowl features the Fighting Illini of Illinoisversus the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Mississippi State are the 2 point favorites here. The Fighting Illini have had a great season but lost three of their last four in the Big 10. They find themselves in beautiful Tampa Bay facing the mourning Mississippi State Bulldogs, who lost legendary coach Mike Leach to a devastating heart attack a few weeks ago. Leach was a creative mind who was truly one of the more interesting characters in sports. Not sure I liked his politics, but his football could be entertaining and he always told you his honest feelings. Our current leader, Matt has picked Mississippi State in this contest with second place Alex choosing Illinois. 

As far as I can tell the pickers alive in this contest are Matt, Alex, me (Will), Tim, and Joe. I have Mississippi State as does Joe. Tim has Illinois. So the ReliaQuest Bowl shapes up to be a Charlotte (Tim and Alex) v San Antonio (Matt, Joe, and the Commish) contest.