# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/81 "2012-01-03T03:26:58Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Well even the lowly Pac-12… Them’s fightin’ woids. :mad: Although, to be fair, 2011-12 bowl games haven’t gone so great. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/82 "2012-01-03T06:45:31Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > \*and why the hell is that, anyway? By which I mean, how did we wind up with 3 matchups between the same 2 conferences? And how did they all end up on New Year’s Day? The SEC commissioner that set that up deserves a raise. By contrast, the old Pac-10 commish set up great deals like Pac vs MWC #3, or Pac vs WAC #1 before Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Wolverine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wolverine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/83 "2012-01-03T07:35:08Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > By which I mean, how did we wind up with 3 matchups between the same 2 conferences? And how did they all end up on New Year’s Day? The SEC commissioner that set that up deserves a raise. > > By contrast, the old Pac-10 commish set up great deals like Pac vs MWC #3, or Pac vs WAC #1 before Christmas. Looking at the Wikipedia pages for the 3 bowls [(Outback](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outback_Bowl), [Capital One](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_One_Bowl), [Gator](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gator_Bowl)), the Outback and Capital One (nee Citrus) started the SEC vs. Big Ten in mid-90s. Gator switched to its current format in 2010 season, 2011 bowl. Outback and Capital One both switched to a Jan. 1 date in mid-80s while Gator switched to Jan. 1 in 1996. Big Ten and SEC have been matching up on Jan. 1 for awhile. It’s the inclusion of the Gator Bowl that really highlights the clash. My biggest complaint is that all the games are at 1pm EST! Space them out a little please. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/84 "2012-01-03T15:14:37Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > **Oakminster** apparently has not adjusted the confidence picks of any games. He is going with the default. I’m pretty sure I did make a few changes. I’ve got games out of date order on my listing… ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/85 "2012-01-03T15:42:18Z")
I’m just getting hammered in this thing. I guess putting a lot of points on Oregon and Florida yesterday helped, but I have a lower number on LSU, and I’m not confident (despite the points given to them) in Michigan and Clemson. At least after yesterday’s SEC games, I came to my senses and switched from KSU to Arkansas. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/86 "2012-01-03T16:33:34Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Almost always is, right? I think there are 3 Big 10 - SEC\* matchups every year on New Year’s Day, and the SEC usually takes 2 out of 3 at least. > > \*and why the hell is that, anyway? Call me crazy, but home field advantage has a lot to do with it. The games are either in the home state of the SEC team or close to it. It’s a lot easier to get people to drive 300 miles to a game than 800 miles so they pack the stands with SEC fans. This year you have a lame duck coach at OSU so that has a little to do with their result, as the PSU scandal obviously hurt them in their bowl. I’d say it’s a wash this year, Nebraska legitimately lost their bowl, Michigan State had a glorious and courageous comeback to win theirs, and OSU has the coaching transition and was too distracted. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/87 "2012-01-03T18:32:43Z")
> [@](#): > > Call me crazy, but home field advantage has a lot to do with it. The games are either in the home state of the SEC team or close to it. There is a reason why big games aren’t played in Chicago, Pittsburgh and Cleveland. No one wants to go there on NY’s day. You have few indoor stadiums. Let the sponsors pony up some money and play in Indianapolis, or Minneapolis or Detroit. But what the heck are the fans going to do the other three or four days they are in the area? Play golf? Go to beach? Go to a theme park? ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/88 "2012-01-07T23:33:53Z")
Two more games left and only three potential winners of the Bowl Contest. THRILLHO has 504 points confirmed and a potential 518 points ((s)he has clinched at least a bronze medal) Fear the Turtle has earned 494 pts and a potential 513 points (clinched 4th place or better) And Me, I have banked 490 pts and a potential 514 points. (clinched 6th place or better) Wasn’t surprised SMU beat Pittsburgh badly today. The Pitt program is in disarray right now. ---
**Author:** ![BabaBooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dfb087/32.png) [@BabaBooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BabaBooey)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/89 "2012-01-08T06:18:42Z")
I need “feartheturtle” to lose one game that I win. UGA losing to Michigan State is really fucking me, otherwise I’d be running away with this. ---
**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:** [January 8, 2012, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/90 "2012-01-08T07:18:50Z")
AFA’s missed 2 point conversion and GT’s missed FG at the end of regulation are what’s killing me. The games where I just flat out picked the wrong team don’t bother me as much. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/91 "2012-01-08T15:59:03Z")
Wow, I suck at this. A chimp throwing darts would’ve done better. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/92 "2012-01-08T16:01:37Z")
FWIW: The top 3 all missed the Georgia Tech game, and I had 20 confidence points on UGA. **Bababooey (ThrillHO?)** had 21 points, therefore my relative position to ThrillHO would be about the same if the UGA won their bowl game. **FeartheTurtle** and I really missed the mark with our Clemson pick, with big confidence points, along with several other players. Moral, do not pick the ACC in BCS bowl games. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/93 "2012-01-08T16:02:42Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > A chimp throwing darts would’ve done better. I already got a job, thank you very much! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/94 "2012-01-08T16:13:04Z")
I knew back when **Beasley** was coasting along at #1 for several games that it wouldn’t last because I had already blown a few of my high-confidence games. But to have remained in the top half sure beats being at the bottom of the stack as I was in the regular season. My hat’s off to **THRILLHO** and **RamblinWreckageRegSeasonChamp** for being the best at picking winners, without regard to the points. Here’s the momentary Top Five: ```auto 1 THRILLHO Sim 25 of 33 504 518 2 Fear the Turtle Bill Sauerwald 23 of 33 494 513 3 RamblinWreckageRegSeasonChamp WilliamW 25 of 33 490 514 4 Frosty's Rutgers RAH!!!! Frosted Glass 22 of 33 464 493 5 Beasley Beasley 21 of 33 448 451 ``` ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/95 "2012-01-08T17:02:51Z")
Just because I have shitload of time with nothing to do, I started to analyze the confidence picks. Pivotal games in our pool turned out to be: WVU/Clemson (89 For WVa, -357 against Clemson) Utah/GT (114, -255 SMU/Pitt (197, -238 Cincy/Vandy (131, -214) MiSt/UGA (220, -210) USCe/Nebraska (257,-198) Toledo/Air Force (73, -182) ULLafayette/San Diego (22,-167) Marshall, FIU (4, -98) Ohio, Utah St (34,-67) And the Boise St, Arizona St game won the meaningless game of the bowl season. Everyone picked Boise at an avg of 32 confidence points. Our fearless leader missed the boat on this pick, only putting 6 confidence points on Boise ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/96 "2012-01-08T17:45:10Z")
\*\*\* OFF TOPIC \*\*\* Since this thread has been attended by most of SDMB’s hard-core college football fans, and since I have had some bad luck with new threads on the subject lately, I’m wondering if it’s worth a new thread to discuss some “new ideas” about the FBS conference situation. ======================================= As background, you might look at any of these sources: [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/fbc11.htm](http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/fbc11.htm) Sagarin’s Conference Rankings [http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1300178](http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1300178) Rivals FBS 120 Ranked > **[American College Football: Pre-season vs. Post-season Rankings](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=564147)** > > Do you know of a service, a website, or a publication that has historical analysis of these measures of football programs’ strengths? So far, the best I have found is Preseason Prediction Accuracy (1993-2009) Last year’s accuracy table at Preseason... American College Football: Pre-season vs. Post-season Rankings [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704009804575308782794344398.html](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704009804575308782794344398.html) Here’s How to Fix College Football # [Let's make a new SUPER college conference - The Game Room - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=563510) Let’s make a new SUPER college conference I know there are older SDMB threads as well. Anyway, the idea I would like to discuss is the possibility of making “conferences” just be ranking-based or even W-L-Record-based groupings of a short-term nature. Using some subdivision number of teams of the 120 in the FBS there might be as few as 4 30-team, 3 40-team, or 10 12-team groups with roughly the same “strength level” and each group would have a round-robin to come down to a champ of that group. Some later “playoff” scheme might get to a “National Champ” of some sort. If this idea is worth more discussion, maybe one of y’all might start a thread on the issue? ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/97 "2012-01-09T02:20:08Z")
Penultimate Game. [GoDaddy.com](http://GoDaddy.com) ThrillHo has Arkansas St for 5 points (9 pointer left for BCS game Turtle has No Illinois for 12 points (7 pointer left for BCS Game I have Arkansas St for 14 points (10 pointer left for BCS game ThrillHo has a 9 points on the BCS game. Turtle has a 7 points on the BCS game. I have 10 points on the BCS game. The only way I can win is for Arkansas State to win tonight, and ThrillHo to pick the team that I didn’t pick in the BCS game and for my team to win. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/98 "2012-01-09T03:24:52Z")
Not a distinguished performance for your fearless leader this year. If Bama wins, I still have a small chance of cracking the top 10, otherwise I’m down at the bottom of the heap. Not dead last, but…not good. Oh well. Still fun to play. Looking forward to what pro wrestling announcer Jim Ross would call a real slobberknocker tomorrow night. \*\* ROLL TIDE!\*\* ---
**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:** [January 9, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/99 "2012-01-09T17:13:44Z")
Prior to the bowls, I entered a bowl pool that ended up with 87 entrants. $20 a person. This pool DOES take point spreads into account. Going into this weekend, I was all set to win the whole damn thing. I had SMU. Based on my closest competiton, the outcome of Arkansas St./N. Illinois was immaterial. And I’ve got LSU. I’m pretty sure LSU will win, so I can start counting my $1,100+ win, right? No. Kansas St. killed me. I don’t know _what_ I was thinking picking them last month (and once picked, we’re locked). Why would I pick against the SEC? But all they had to do is keep it within 8 points. Why couldn’t they have scored 1 measly TD in the last 10 minutes or so? Hell, they had a final drive going that would have cut it to 6. Just put the damn ball in the end zone! Arkansas won’t care! The game’s in the bag! But no–sack, sack, sack. And goodbye $1,100. I’m still set to take 3rd place. $170. Wheeeeee. (Note: the above is moot/null/void if LSU loses Monday night.) I’m not sure why I posted this. Just to vent a bit I guess. And to show that I’m not as bad a college football picker as the results of our little game here would suggest. 3rd out of 87, not bad! ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034/100 "2012-01-09T17:35:32Z")
Well damn, third place is the best I can do. 4th place is clinched. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-bowl-pickem-2011/605034.md?page=6)