# Oak's Bowl Pick'em 2011 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 4, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034 "2011-12-04T16:23:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/41 "2011-12-16T23:34:01Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > But let’s just look at the bottom line again: 12-11 since 2000. Looks like a pretty good match up to me. That’s a long time to be counting, especially considering the SECs domination of the BCS recently. I’d be interested in seeing the breakdown for 2000-2005 and then 2005-Present. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was something like 8-2 and then 4-9 or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Frosted\_Glass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frosted_glass/32/3926_2.png) [@Frosted\_Glass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frosted_Glass)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/42 "2011-12-16T23:53:22Z")
Rutgers RAH!!! is in. I’ve only made a few picks so far though. I’ll take care of this weekends tonight. Looking ahead, I plan on catching about 10 of the games but I know I’ll have a few on while doing other things. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/43 "2011-12-16T23:59:43Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > That’s a long time to be counting, especially considering the SECs domination of the BCS recently. I’d be interested in seeing the breakdown for 2000-2005 and then 2005-Present. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was something like 8-2 and then 4-9 or something like that. You could click the link… ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/44 "2011-12-17T00:25:53Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > You could click the link… I’m at work so I didn’t have a chance until now, but I was pretty close: 2000-2005 Pac-10 had a 7-3 lead. Since then 2006-2011 SEC has had 8-5 lead. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/45 "2011-12-17T02:25:05Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > One of those wins depended on Oregon State missing a last second chip shot FG, though, so I count that as a toss-up. 🙂 It was worse than that. It was a missed Extra Point in overtime that was the difference. Oregon State had scored a TD on 4th down, all they needed was the extra point to send it into a second overtime. Of course, it was the THIRD extra point that game the Oregan State kicker missed. Yes, I was watching the game and let’s just say my reaction was rather…\*jubilant \*when that last extra point went wide right. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/46 "2011-12-17T14:26:16Z")
Just for the fun of it I looked back at the threads I was involved in a year ago and found > **[Oak's Bowl Pick'em](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=588175)** > > Come one, come all. Test your bowl game prognostication against your fellow Dopers. I’ve set up a group at yahoo. Signup info: Group ID# 7400 password: cecil We’ll be using confidence point scoring, just like we did in the regular season group.... Oak’s Bowl Pick’em Started 12-06-2010, 01:27 AM by **Oakminster** and making it to Post #132 on 01-12-2011, 11:58 PM The participants last year were: ==================================== Who Posted? Total Posts: 132 User Name Posts gonzomax 27 notfrommensa 20 USCDiver 12 Zeldar 10 Oakminster 10 jsc1953 9 Rucksinator 7 Nars Glinley 7 Oredigger77 4 divemaster 3 TheFifthYear 3 Frosted Glass 3 MOIDALIZE 3 Gray Ghost 3 flickster 2 Wolverine 2 Fear the Turtle 2 leander 1 quixotic78 1 Drygon 1 Spoke 1 The Universe Lashes Out 1 Show Thread & Close Window ======================================== Compare this year so far: Who Posted? Total Posts: 45 User Name Posts Zeldar 10 notfrommensa 7 jsc1953 6 mkecane 4 Oakminster 4 USCDiver 3 divemaster 3 Gray Ghost 2 Mince 2 Karen Lingel 1 flickster 1 Knorf 1 Frosted Glass 1 # Show Thread & Close Window ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/47 "2011-12-17T15:28:00Z")
In last year’s thread there was some discussion of the by-conference breakdown of the bowl games starting with [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13311494&postcount=103) > [@](#): > > #103 01-03-2011, 08:01 AM > Zeldar > Guest Join Date: Jun 2003 > > Quote: > Originally Posted by notfrommensa > 10th place. with a possible 375. Made a comeback yesterday with the Big 10 sucking eggs yesterday, although I did pick Wisconsin to beat TCU. > > I predict that my possible 375 won’t happen. And I picked Wisconsin, too, based on the hype on how dominant their O line was. It takes more to win games apparently and I was as thrilled with TCU’s win as I was with any SEC win that day. I must say second place in the thrills zone was the drubbing that the state of Michigan took. > > For a neat comparison by conference, see [2010–11 NCAA football bowl games - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010-11_NCAA_football_bowl_games) > and [Bowl Challenge Cup - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowl_Challenge_Cup) > > If anybody knows where the “official” ESPN standings for this Cup are posted, please link to that. Right now it appears that Sun Belt and Mountain West are in the lead. ======================================= This year’s counterpart wiki page is [2011–12 NCAA football bowl games - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011-12_NCAA_football_bowl_games) and it would be reasonable to assume a similar feature will be added this year. The question is: do we want to create a separate thread to guess which conference will have the best percentage wins this year? ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/48 "2011-12-17T17:15:45Z")
I got my picks in, but damn it was hard to decide on the points for each game, so I just moved a few around that I was definitely sure/unsure of. I remember doing this in 6th grade (20 years ago) when my teacher organized it for the class (NFL each week, plus cfb bowls…I’m not sure what lesson he was teaching, looking back), and it was a lot easier with just 15-20 bowls. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/49 "2011-12-17T18:34:45Z")
35 games is cumbersome. I would rather go with the mostly bigger games. I have no idea about Temple and Wyoming later today, and made my pick with few confidence points I like the “confidence” theory, but IMO it doesn’t reward correct picks as much as it should. If I were to design a system, I would only put about 2/3 of the bowl games (25 sounds like a good number) and the points would be 21-45 confidence level. That way one game is not 35x as valuable as another game ( 2.25x) and the value of picking winners is rewarded. In the current (35 game) system, Player A who correctly picks Confidence 1-7 games and misses Confidence #30, will score less points than a player who misses Games 1-7 but correctly picks Game 30. the formulas are too sensitive to the confidence numbers. IMO, it should be factored in, but not that much. [/rant] These are the bowl games that I would potentially exclude from the pool: Poinsettia Louisiana Tech vs 16 TCU Hawaii 22 Southern Miss vs Nevada Armed Forces Tulsa vs BYU Military Air Force vs Toledo New Orleans LA Lafayette vs San Diego St. [GoDaddy.Com](http://GoDaddy.Com) Northern Illinois vs Arkansas St. New Mexico Wyoming vs Temple Little Caesars Purdue vs W. Michigan Idaho Potato Utah St. vs Ohio Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bow Marshall vs Florida Intl. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/50 "2011-12-17T22:52:41Z")
> [@Mince](#): > > Nevermind. I discoverd the “classic” method. You didn’t pick either of the first two games. Either did **Excavating**. Not sure who that is. remember everybody, to save your picks!!! Oh, I am 1-0!!! (only 3 confidence points) well behind **Gone Mental** who had 30 pts worth of confidence in Temple. **Gone Mental**?, could that be **Mental Guy**? ---
**Author:** ![BabaBooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dfb087/32.png) [@BabaBooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BabaBooey)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/51 "2011-12-18T11:54:13Z")
3 of 3, sons! Only problem is I had each of those games at the very bottom of my confidence points. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/52 "2011-12-18T12:02:09Z")
Your fearless leader is 0-3 at the moment. Fortunately, those three games had the lowest confidence points available assigned thereunto, so there still a chance to be competitive going forward… ---
**Author:** ![Wolverine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wolverine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/53 "2011-12-18T13:01:46Z")
I think we’re tied. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/54 "2011-12-18T15:43:25Z")
Ugh, SDSt killed me! I had 24 points on them! ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/55 "2011-12-18T16:04:27Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > Ugh, SDSt killed me! I had 24 points on them! Me too! Serves us right, picking a PAC-12 region school against an SEC region school. and Yes **JSC1953** , that was a dig!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/56 "2011-12-18T16:39:49Z")
Checking the standings, there are 5 people who didn’t adjust the confidence points at all, including our fearless Administrator. Guys and Gals, you do realize that those games can be adjusted?😃 ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/57 "2011-12-18T18:22:13Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Me too! Serves us right, picking a PAC-12 region school against an SEC region school. > > and Yes **JSC1953** , that was a dig!! 😃 OK, if I have to carry San Diego State around, then you have to carry…oh, I dunno…UAB. 🙂 So after the 1st round, I’ve got 1 point. 1? Seriously??? (the good news is that I only lost my 2 and 3 pt games) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/58 "2011-12-18T18:52:54Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > Ugh, SDSt killed me! I had 24 points on them! So does anyone know what “Illegal Spinning” means? That’s what they called on SDSt’s defense when an offensive Cajun moved. The defensive linemen were moving, but none where in the neutral zone. - A quick Google search indicates the call was actually “Illegal Stemming”, the defense trying to draw the offense offsides. I thought as long as they weren’t in the nuetral zone - anything went. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/59 "2011-12-18T21:37:04Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > You didn’t pick either of the first two games. > > Either did **Excavating**. Not sure who that is. > remember everybody, to save your picks!!! I didn’t forget, I decided to do it later and lost interest. There’s not much incentive for me. If I messed anything up, I apologize. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/60 "2011-12-18T21:52:53Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Checking the standings, there are 5 people who didn’t adjust the confidence points at all, including our fearless Administrator. > > Guys and Gals, you do realize that those games can be adjusted?😃 I thought I made a couple of changes…don’t remember now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034.md?page=4)