# 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:** 3
**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 3, 2014, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/41 "2014-01-03T05:48:03Z")
That’s okay, Tide fans. At least Mark May and Lou Holtz think you’re the “best team in the country right now”. So you’ve got that going for you… And then they sit there and completely ignore everything they said before the game. Stay classy, ESPN. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/42 "2014-01-03T05:51:26Z")
All right boys, listen up…next year, I will accept [del]bribes[/del] voluntary donations to either a) Not pick your team to win; or b) Pick your team’s opponent to win ---
**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 3, 2014, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/43 "2014-01-03T06:00:05Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > All right boys, listen up…next year, I will accept [del]bribes[/del] voluntary donations to either > a) Not pick your team to win; or > b) Pick your team’s opponent to win I already tried that, Oak. No takers. 😉 Anyway, I had a WAY worse record than you during the regular season, I’m more reliable… ---
**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 3, 2014, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/44 "2014-01-03T06:37:01Z")
So **Zeldar** and **Rex Goliath** are leading with 2 of 3 so far. Eight of us are 1-2, ten are perfectly wrong, and then there is **Typo Negative** , who one might argue is 2-2, or maybe 2 of 6. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/45 "2014-01-03T14:01:58Z")
I sorted the original array like this for my own amusement, but perhaps y’all might enjoy what it shows, too. FWIW: ```auto ====================================================================================== ==================================================================================== MichSt Stanford Baylor CentFla Alabama Oklahoma Clemson OhioSt FlaSt Auburn ==================================================================================== armedmonkey 5 MichSt CentFla Oklahoma OhioSt FlaSt JohnT 5 MichSt CentFla Oklahoma OhioSt FlaSt Oakminster 5 MichSt CentFla Oklahoma OhioSt FlaSt Munch 5 MichSt CentFla Oklahoma OhioSt Auburn Nauplius 5 MichSt CentFla Oklahoma OhioSt Auburn USCDiver 5 MichSt CentFla Oklahoma OhioSt Auburn Snowboarder Bo 5 MichSt CentFla Oklahoma Clemson Auburn notfrommensa 5 MichSt CentFla Oklahoma Clemson Auburn Zakalwe 5 MichSt CentFla Oklahoma Clemson Auburn zoog 5 MichSt CentFla Oklahoma Clemson FlaSt DMC 5 MichSt CentFla Alabama Clemson Auburn NoClueBoy 5 MichSt CentFla Alabama Clemson Auburn Typo Negative 5 MichSt Stanford Baylor CentFla Clemson For You 5 Stanford CentFla Oklahoma Clemson FlaSt Jackknifed Juggernaut 5 Stanford CentFla Oklahoma Clemson Auburn Jman 5 Stanford CentFla Oklahoma Clemson Auburn Sterling Archer 5 Stanford CentFla Oklahoma Clemson Auburn swampbear 5 Stanford CentFla Oklahoma Clemson FlaSt Yorikke 5 Stanford CentFla Oklahoma Clemson FlaSt Zeldar 5 Stanford CentFla Alabama Clemson FlaSt Rex Goliath 5 Stanford Baylor Oklahoma OhioSt Auburn ======================== ==================================================================================== 21 105 13 9 2 20 3 17 14 7 8 12 /105 ====================================================================================== ``` ---
**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 3, 2014, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/46 "2014-01-03T14:37:30Z")
> [@For You](#): > > Note that one of those people who voted against UCF also voted against Baylor. Ha! I didn’t notice that. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/47 "2014-01-03T15:36:45Z")
I didn’t give the Sooners any chance at all. Looks like I should have stuck to my “Bet against the team that’s pissed they aren’t in a better bowl” theorem. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/48 "2014-01-03T15:47:30Z")
I think we can see why NFM does not bet on CFB. He can’t pick outright winners, let alone bet against the spread. ---
**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 4, 2014, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/49 "2014-01-04T04:57:51Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > I think we can see why NFM does not bet on CFB. > > He can’t pick outright winners, let alone bet against the spread. But you _did_ pick winners – unfortunately, those winners won. ---
**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 4, 2014, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/50 "2014-01-04T08:01:14Z")
I made a pretty (painful) little color-coded list of the BCS top fifteen teams so far, can anyone tell me what kind of movement this is likely to amount to? 1 Florida State 2 Auburn 3 Alabama - lost to #11 Oklahoma 4 Michigan State - beat #5 Stanford 5 Stanford - lost to #4 Michigan State 6 Baylor - lost to #15 Central Florida 7 Ohio State - lost to #12 Clemson 8 Missouri - beat #13 Oklahoma State 9 South Carolina - beat #19 Wisconsin 10 Oregon - beat unranked Texas 11 Oklahoma - beat #3 Alabama 12 Clemson - beat #7 Ohio State 13 Oklahoma State - lost to #8 Missouri 14 Arizona State - lost to unranked Texas Tech 15 UCF - beat #6 Baylor Will 3 teams drop out of the top ten? Will 3 move into it? What about Stanford, how far will they fall? And should Oregon feel like they were screwed? ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/51 "2014-01-04T16:37:04Z")
I don’t see a thread where we talk about the games themselves, so I’ll just post here: In the OSU-Clemson game, after the excessive celebration penalty, OSU had two timeouts, there were 31 seconds left, and it was second down with the clock stopped. They could have used those timeouts, and if they prevented a first down, they could have got the ball back with maybe 20 seconds left. Clemson wasn’t expecting them to call a timeout, so they would only have had third down to try to get 20+ yards. 20 seconds was enough time to complete a pass or two and be able to throw a hail Mary to the end zone. Instead, Urban Meyer just gave up. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/52 "2014-01-04T16:58:37Z")
> [@For You](#): > > I made a pretty (painful) little color-coded list of the BCS top fifteen teams so far, can anyone tell me what kind of movement this is likely to amount to? > > 1 Florida State > 2 Auburn > 3 Alabama - lost to #11 Oklahoma > 4 Michigan State - beat #5 Stanford > 5 Stanford - lost to #4 Michigan State > 6 Baylor - lost to #15 Central Florida > 7 Ohio State - lost to #12 Clemson > 8 Missouri - beat #13 Oklahoma State > 9 South Carolina - beat #19 Wisconsin > 10 Oregon - beat unranked Texas > 11 Oklahoma - beat #3 Alabama > 12 Clemson - beat #7 Ohio State > 13 Oklahoma State - lost to #8 Missouri > 14 Arizona State - lost to unranked Texas Tech > 15 UCF - beat #6 Baylor > > Will 3 teams drop out of the top ten? Will 3 move into it? What about Stanford, how far will they fall? And should Oregon feel like they were screwed? I really like what you did here, and it gave me the idea to add some data to make it a little easier to predict where things will go in the AP Poll after the dust settles. I’ve incorporated your work into the stuff I got from > **[NCAAF College Football 2024 Standings](https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football/standings/)** > > Sports News, Scores, Fantasy Games > **[College Football Schedule - 2025 Season - ESPN](https://www.espn.com/college-football/schedule)** > > The complete 2025 NCAAF season schedule on ESPN. Includes game times, TV listings and ticket information for all College Football games. ```auto Standings Bowl Subdivision Florida State (1) 8-0 13-0 Monday, Jan 6 8:30 PM No. 1 Florida State vs. No. 2 Auburn BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Michigan State (4) 8-0 13-1 4 Michigan State - beat #5 Stanford Auburn (2) 7-1 12-1 Monday, Jan 6 8:30 PM No. 1 Florida State vs. No. 2 Auburn BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP UCF (15) 8-0 12-1 15 UCF - beat #6 Baylor Louisville (18) 7-1 12-1 No. 18 Louisville 36, Miami (FL) 9 Ohio State (7) 8-0 12-2 7 Ohio State - lost to #12 Clemson Missouri (8) 7-1 12-2 8 Missouri - beat #13 Oklahoma State Northern Illinois (23) 8-0 12-2 Utah State 21, No. 23 Northern Illinois 14 Alabama (3) 7-1 11-2 3 Alabama - lost to #11 Oklahoma Baylor (6) 8-1 11-2 6 Baylor - lost to #15 Central Florida South Carolina (9) 6-2 11-2 9 South Carolina - beat #19 Wisconsin Oregon (10) 7-2 11-2 10 Oregon - beat unranked Texas Oklahoma (11) 7-2 11-2 11 Oklahoma - beat #3 Alabama Clemson (12) 7-1 11-2 12 Clemson - beat #7 Ohio State Fresno State (20) 7-1 11-2 No. 25 USC 45, No. 20 Fresno State 20 Stanford (5) 7-2 11-3 5 Stanford - lost to #4 Michigan State Oklahoma State (13) 7-2 10-3 13 Oklahoma State - lost to #8 Missouri LSU (16) 5-3 10-3 No. 16 LSU 21, Iowa 14 UCLA (17) 6-3 10-3 No. 17 UCLA 42, Virginia Tech 12 Arizona State (14) 8-1 10-4 14 Arizona State - lost to unranked Texas Tech Duke (24) 6-2 10-4 No. 21 Texas A&M 52, No. 24 Duke 48 USC (25) 6-3 10-4 No. 25 USC 45, No. 20 Fresno State 20 Wisconsin (19) 6-2 9-4 No. 9 South Carolina 34, No. 19 Wisconsin 24 Texas A&M (21) 4-4 9-4 No. 21 Texas A&M 52, No. 24 Duke 48 Georgia (22) 5-3 8-5 Nebraska 24, No. 22 Georgia 19 =================================== Ball State 7-1 10-2 Sunday, January 5 9:00 PM Arkansas State vs. Ball State GODADDY BOWL East Carolina 6-2 10-3 Marshall 7-1 10-4 Rice 7-1 10-4 Bowling Green 7-1 10-4 ``` If I had anything to do with it, I’d drop Wisconsin (19) , Texas A&M (21) and Georgia (22) and move up three (don’t care much which) from the 10-x batch not already ranked. How things will get shuffled in the 10-x group (and up) already in the Top 25 is anybody’s guess. But we could have some fun playing with it here if y’all want to. ---
**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 4, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/53 "2014-01-04T20:38:50Z")
Unfortunately, only two teams immediately ahead of UCF lost, so I can’t see us getting ranked any higher than #11. ☹ ---
**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 7, 2014, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/54 "2014-01-07T05:07:02Z")
4 out of 5! What an incredible championship game. The best teams played, and the best team won fair and square. Roll Tide ---
**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 7, 2014, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/55 "2014-01-07T05:08:35Z")
WOOT! ETA: I went 1-4 here but ffs I got the important one right! WOOT! ---
**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 7, 2014, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/56 "2014-01-07T05:12:28Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > WOOT! > > ETA: I went 1-4 here but ffs I got the important one right! WOOT! You and me both brother!!! It weren’t pretty but it counts. Go 'Noles! ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/57 "2014-01-07T05:12:55Z")
Just like I know I can’t be perfectly right, I can’t be perfectly wrong. Missed the first four, but I did pick Auburn to lose. I had mixed emotions. Happy for the ACC to win a BCS, but I do have some allegiances to Auburn, my favorite SEC team. Great Game. ---
**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 7, 2014, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/58 "2014-01-07T05:14:40Z")
Wow! What a finish! Too bad I wasn’t rooting for anybody ---
**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 7, 2014, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/59 "2014-01-07T05:19:43Z")
[Rick Reilly is prolly happy](http://espn.go.com/college-football/bowls13/story/_/id/10237600/rick-reilly-sec-overrated). I can’t wait to read his column in the morning. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368/60 "2014-01-07T05:25:17Z")
The scores: ```auto ====================================================================================== ========================================= Stanford Baylor Alabama OhioSt Auburn ========================================= Rex Goliath 4/5 Stanford Baylor OhioSt Auburn DMC 2/5 Alabama Auburn Jackknifed Juggernaut 2/5 Stanford Auburn Jman 2/5 Stanford Auburn Munch 2/5 OhioSt Auburn Nauplius 2/5 OhioSt Auburn NoClueBoy 2/5 Alabama Auburn Sterling Archer 2/5 Stanford Auburn Typo Negative 2/5 Stanford Baylor USCDiver 2/5 OhioSt Auburn Zeldar 2/5 Stanford Alabama armedmonkey 1/5 OhioSt For You 1/5 Stanford JohnT 1/5 OhioSt notfrommensa 1/5 Auburn Oakminster 1/5 OhioSt Snowboarder Bo 1/5 Auburn swampbear 1/5 Stanford Yorikke 1/5 Stanford Zakalwe 1/5 Auburn zoog 0/5 ========================== ============================================= 21 33/105 9 2 3 7 12 33/105 ====================================================================================== ``` Fun BCS Bowls. Even the Champ game. Thanks to all for playing! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bcs-bowls-5-games-10-teams-pick-teams-to-lose/677368.md?page=4)