# BCS bowls (5 Games - 10 Teams -- Pick Teams to LOSE) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 28, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368 "2013-12-28T20:13:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/21 "2013-12-31T19:20:44Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Thanks for starting the threads, **Zeldar** , and for being so good about doing each week in a timely manner. It’s been a real hoot to pick losers; somehow it’s different than picking the winners. Yeah! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/22 "2013-12-31T19:56:38Z")
I haven’t participated all season. However, if my pick of losers is anything like my pick of celebrities in the Celebrity Death Pool, all my loser picks will win. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/23 "2014-01-01T16:04:29Z")
With four hours (give or take) before the poll closes: ```auto ====================================================================================== ==================================================================================== MichSt Stanford Baylor CentFla Alabama Oklahoma Clemson OhioSt FlaSt Auburn ==================================================================================== armedmonkey 5 MichSt CentFla Oklahoma OhioSt FlaSt DMC 5 MichSt CentFla Alabama Clemson Auburn For You 5 Stanford CentFla Oklahoma Clemson FlaSt Jackknifed Juggernaut 5 Stanford CentFla Oklahoma Clemson Auburn Jman 5 Stanford CentFla Oklahoma Clemson Auburn JohnT 5 MichSt CentFla Oklahoma OhioSt FlaSt Munch 5 MichSt CentFla Oklahoma OhioSt Auburn Nauplius 5 MichSt CentFla Oklahoma OhioSt Auburn NoClueBoy 5 MichSt CentFla Alabama Clemson Auburn notfrommensa 5 MichSt CentFla Oklahoma Clemson Auburn Oakminster 5 MichSt CentFla Oklahoma OhioSt FlaSt Rex Goliath 5 Stanford Baylor Oklahoma OhioSt Auburn Snowboarder Bo 5 MichSt CentFla Oklahoma Clemson Auburn Sterling Archer 5 Stanford CentFla Oklahoma Clemson Auburn swampbear 5 Stanford CentFla Oklahoma Clemson FlaSt Typo Negative 5 MichSt Stanford Baylor CentFla Clemson USCDiver 5 MichSt CentFla Oklahoma OhioSt Auburn Yorikke 5 Stanford CentFla Oklahoma Clemson FlaSt Zakalwe 5 MichSt CentFla Oklahoma Clemson Auburn Zeldar 5 Stanford CentFla Alabama Clemson FlaSt zoog 5 MichSt CentFla Oklahoma Clemson FlaSt ======================== ==================================================================================== 21 105 13 9 2 20 3 17 14 7 8 12 /105 ====================================================================================== ``` ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/24 "2014-01-01T20:21:48Z")
Here are the other threads where 21 voters participated: > **[Week 9 CFB -- Which AP Top Ten team(s) will lose?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=705440)** > > AP Top 25 Alabama Oregon Florida St. Ohio St. Missouri Baylor Miami (FL) Stanford Clemson Texas Tech Auburn UCLA LSU Texas A&M Fresno St. Virginia Tech Oklahoma Louisville Oklahoma St. South Carolina UCF Wisconsin (idle) Northern Illinois... Week 9 CFB – Which AP Top Ten team(s) will lose? Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 21 > **[Week 14 CFB -- Which AP Top Ten team(s) will lose?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=708638)** > > AP Top 25: Week 14 Records through Sat Nov 23, 2013. 1. Alabama 2. Florida St. 3. Ohio St. 4. Auburn 5. Missouri 6. Clemson 7. Oklahoma St. (idle) 8. Stanford 9. Baylor 10. South Carolina 11. Michigan St. 12. Oregon ... Week 14 CFB – Which AP Top Ten team(s) will lose? Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 21 ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/25 "2014-01-01T21:06:19Z")
Closest split looks to be the Championship Game. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/26 "2014-01-02T04:10:05Z")
I really thought Stanford had enough motivation being close to home that they would pull out the win. Ah well. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/27 "2014-01-02T05:05:08Z")
> [@armedmonkey](#): > > That game was tied before Bama tried that ill advised field goal attempt. If you take that play out then Auburn would have _still_ won in overtime. The Tigers were at home, the Tide doesn’t have a kicking game… AU _would_ have won in OT. Speculation spiced with a bit of homerdom. You don’t need a kicking game if you can score touchdowns. On the short field in OT, advantage Crimson Tide. All they have to do it punch it in and stop Auburn. Winning the way Auburn did was flukey at best. Saban made a very strange call to try the long fieldgoal, and frankly got out coached the whole game, but the thing could have gone either way in OT. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/28 "2014-01-02T07:24:58Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I really thought Stanford had enough motivation being close to home that they would pull out the win. Ah well. Stanford was pretty good this year, but not really a powerhouse. I mean, they lost to the pudding that was USC and, FFS, the _Utes_. That they should be felled by the Spartans is no big surprise. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Goliath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rex\_Goliath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Goliath)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/29 "2014-01-02T08:48:39Z")
Baylor goes down and I’m 2 for 2. Roll Tide! ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/30 "2014-01-02T13:51:58Z")
Yeah, congrats to the two who had the guts to call Baylor. Did NOT expect that one. Still, if go 1-4 in this, I’ll be perfectly happy as long as the 1 is the BCS game… ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/31 "2014-01-02T14:19:27Z")
Suck it, 20 people who voted against UCF! ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/32 "2014-01-02T15:31:15Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Suck it, 20 people who voted against UCF! I will, and gladly. That’s the funny thing about when you force yourself to pick games. Sometimes you kinda want one team to win, but pick the other. I do genuinely like Baylor, but a rising Central Florida sure as hell makes me smile. Kudos to the Knights. > [@Oakminster](#): > > Speculation spiced with a bit of homerdom. You don’t need a kicking game if you can score touchdowns. On the short field in OT, advantage Crimson Tide. All they have to do it punch it in and stop Auburn. Winning the way Auburn did was flukey at best. The Crimson Tide were 4-13 in third down conversions in that game. That’s not good, and should tell you something about who is better when the game is on the line. It wouldn’t have bode well for the Tide if that thing went to overtime. However, that is all speculation 🙂 I do want you to do me a favor, though. Kick the shit out of Oklahoma the same way that you kicked the shit out of Notre Dame last year. Do it for the SEC and do it for the state of Alabama. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/33 "2014-01-02T15:34:57Z")
> [@armedmonkey](#): > > I will, and gladly. Well, I didn’t see _that_ coming. 😃 After years of effort I finally got my wife into football this year (she’s a UCF grad too) and she kept asking me if we had a chance of winning last night. I was like, “yeah, we have… a chance.” And then she started asking if a 17 point spread was a lot, and I started lying through my teeth. Still, I personally had the game as a coinflip. The spread is one thing we _have_ been able to defend this season (north/south running, not so much). ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/34 "2014-01-02T15:53:42Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Speculation spiced with a bit of homerdom. You don’t need a kicking game if you can score touchdowns. On the short field in OT, advantage Crimson Tide. All they have to do it punch it in and stop Auburn. Winning the way Auburn did was flukey at best. Saban made a very strange call to try the long fieldgoal, and frankly got out coached the whole game, but the thing could have gone either way in OT. Speculation, yes, since that is all we have, but simply being tied at the end of regulation against the No. 1 team in the nation would be considered a victory for just about any team, no matter how you spice it, particularly for a team that didn’t win a single SEC game in 2012. And, what’s this “you don’t need a kicking game”? You could say the same thing about special teams or, to take it to extreme, the entire defensive squad. A kicking game would have helped 'Bama out considerably; even a mediocre kicking game would have obviated the need for a last-second field goal. Finally, to admit that “the thing could have gone either way in OT” is just a (perhaps unintentional) way of saying that the Tigers had the upper hand. Things being equal, 'Bama should have had a clear and undeniable advantage in OT. To realize that they could have gone either way just shows why Saban was scared enough of OT to do what he did. No, the **armedmonkey** had it right. The win against Georgia had one very lucky play at the end. Had that play occurred with 7 minutes left to go in the 3rd quarter (with the same final score), nobody would would say the Tigers only won by luck. The Iron Bowl win was just good football. I’d have the same opinion if 'Bama had made that field goal and the final score had been 31-28 instead of 28-34, but \*that \*is just speculation. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/35 "2014-01-02T15:59:11Z")
> [@armedmonkey](#): > > \<\< snipped \>\> Do it for the SEC and do it for the state of Alabama. In case you have yet to see the conference standings in the bowls, check out [2013–14 NCAA football bowl games](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013%E2%80%9314_NCAA_football_bowl_games) where at this hour things look like this: [Bowl Challenge Cup standings](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013%E2%80%9314_NCAA_football_bowl_games#Bowl_Challenge_Cup_standings) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/36 "2014-01-02T16:02:21Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > The toughest game for me to pick was Stanford vs. Michigan State. They’re both physical teams with strong defenses. On that game, I guessed. > > The easiest game to pick was Alabama, who are just waaay better than Oklahoma. > > And Auburn needed too much luck to get to the BCS game. This week, their luck runs out. > > After that, I went with my long-started bowl theorem: bet against the team that’s pissed off it isn’t in a much better bowl, especially when it’s facing a team that’s happy to be there. > > Hence, Baylor and Ohio State (who thought, not long ago, they might be in the BCS game) go down. And if Dabo Swinney wants the Texas job, he’ll pile on the points. I hadn’t done all that well in previous rounds, but so far, I’m looking good! I just had a feeling Baylor’s porous defense would let them down again. Although… DUH! It looks like I didn’t actually vote. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/37 "2014-01-02T16:04:23Z")
You didn’t vote. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/38 "2014-01-02T18:48:31Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Suck it, 20 people who voted against UCF! Note that one of those people who voted against UCF also voted against Baylor. ---
**Author:** ![Nauplius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nauplius/32/51_2.png) [@Nauplius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nauplius)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/39 "2014-01-03T05:18:27Z")
So we were supposed to pick the winners right? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/40 "2014-01-03T05:39:57Z")
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