So last year, I just used the computer quick pick method and won absolutely nothing.
So this year, I downloaded ESPN’s current ranking of the teams, and for week one, I simply picked the winners by how they rank on ESPN’s list - and for the other two I used quick pick.
I will be doing this every week for the entire season, and the goal is to win some money this time! The guy who works in the mail room at my office won $85,000 in this pool two years ago! He is, however, an avid football fan and agonized over every choice, every week, and knew which quarterback had chicken pox when he was 6 years old and which coach was suffering from migraines and whatever.
So, is my “system” of picking the winning teams, based on ESPN’s team rankings, a good idea? Or should I just let the computer pick the teams, although last year was a bust.
There’s a saying you’re likely to here every Sunday throughout football season.
Sure as a general rule you can look at two teams on paper and say yes this one here is clearly the superior team. However “on paper” doesn’t count intagibles. By the same token using the computer to quick pick is no better than throwing darts.
In short don’t bet any moeny you can’t afford to lose, you’ll never find a fullproof system.
I bet that the collective wisdom of the SDMB could beat the ESPN rankings or the computer week-to-week. The Wisdom of Crowds and so forth.
Incidentally, which rankings are those, the offseason “power rankings?” Those aren’t really intended to be predictive of any one matchup, especially because home field advantage and other such factors generally exert a tremendous amount of influence on individual outcomes.
Of course, I don’t bet on the NFL; I just watch the games, so feel free to disregard me.
As I said, tickets were free so thought I would see what you guys think.
Yeah, I sorta figured there wasn’t a foolproof method, or their wouldn’t be a point in having a pool.
I’ll keep downloading the NFL rankings every week and play one ticket using those, and then I will play quick picks for the other two tickets. Actually will be kind of interesting to see if there is any real difference at the end of the season.
I will get back to you all and let you know how I did.