# Oak's College Pick'em **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 20, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-college-pickem/550808 "2010-08-20T00:31:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-college-pickem/550808/1 "2010-08-20T00:31:27Z")
I don’t remember there being a college pick’em league last year, so I’ve started one at Yahoo. Oak’s College Pick’em Group ID# 10141 The password is cecil. We’ll be using confidence points, with tie-breakers to resolve weekly standings. We’ll be picking the default games selected by Yahoo, all games involving top 25 ranked teams, and all SEC games (It’s good to be the Commish :D) If you sign up, I strongly suggest you not check the “allow commissioner to edit my picks” option, because I ain’t gonna. Ever. For any reason. Deadline to submit picks is 5 min before game starts. The Grand Prize is an official Oak’s Bag of Air\*. - bag not included. Use at own risk. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-college-pickem/550808/2 "2010-08-20T01:16:26Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > I don’t remember there being a college pick’em league last year, so I’ve started one at Yahoo. > > Oak’s College Pick’em > Group ID# 10141 > > The password is cecil. > > We’ll be using confidence points, with tie-breakers to resolve weekly standings. > We’ll be picking the default games selected by Yahoo, all games involving top 25 ranked teams, **and all SEC games** (It’s good to be the Commish :D) > > If you sign up, I strongly suggest you not check the “allow commissioner to edit my picks” option, because I ain’t gonna. Ever. For any reason. Deadline to submit picks is 5 min before game starts. > The Grand Prize is an official Oak’s Bag of Air\*. > > - bag not included. Use at own risk. Is there a website that will keep us up to date on all the academic casualties, the conduct suspensions, those who are getting money under the table, and who’s in jail? That would be necessary. ---
**Author:** ![drgnrdr07](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/71e660/32.png) [@drgnrdr07](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drgnrdr07)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-college-pickem/550808/3 "2010-08-20T01:57:10Z")
What about USC? They won’t be in the top 25 (due to not being ranked), but I think they are still one of the better teams in the nation. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-college-pickem/550808/4 "2010-08-20T03:04:42Z")
USC should be playing against the Chicago Bears and the Dallas Cowboys. The Rams ought to be playing the the PAC-10. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-college-pickem/550808/5 "2010-08-20T15:04:37Z")
When I configured the league, you could check “all yahoo default games” and “all top 25 games”, but only choose one conference to go with the other categories. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-college-pickem/550808/6 "2010-08-20T19:12:16Z")
You had me at “SEC”. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Universe_Lashes_Out)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-college-pickem/550808/7 "2010-08-21T05:22:03Z")
You guys are dead in the water (assuming the Florida Gators win all their games, because I am a massive homer.) ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-college-pickem/550808/8 "2010-08-21T17:06:28Z")
> [@HowieReynolds](#): > > You guys are dead in the water (assuming the Florida Gators win all their games, because I am a massive homer.) You know y’all have to play in Tuscaloosa this year, right? I figure whoever looses that game is probably going to be out of the SEC Championship game, which should open the door for somebody else… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Universe_Lashes_Out)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-college-pickem/550808/9 "2010-08-21T17:23:07Z")
Yes, that should be an epic game. We will probably be slight dogs, but there’s no reason we can’t win there. Even if we lose, it won’t do too much damage to our standing in the SEC East. As long we can beat Georgia in Jacksonville and beat South Carolina at home, one loss to a West team won’t hurt us. Of course if we lose to Bama, then lose at home to LSU the next week, we could potentially beat Georgia and still lose the East to them. I would put our chances of winning the East around 75-80% which is probably higher than Bama’s chances of winning the West. They have more potential contenders to deal with. LSU is obviously talented, Auburn and Arkansas both could be a lot better this year, and Mississippi State is the type of team that could pull an upset against a top team. But the most likely scenario in Atlanta is another Florida-Alabama matchup. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-college-pickem/550808/10 "2010-08-23T02:11:20Z")
I’m in under the Bleeding Blaze Orange handle ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-college-pickem/550808/11 "2010-08-23T02:48:03Z")
Not sure if I want any of Oak’s great big bag of Hot Mississippi Air, but I’m in. Under the **Ramblin Wrecker** moniker. Go Jackets. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-college-pickem/550808/12 "2010-08-25T23:36:44Z")
Six people signed up so far. Room for plenty more. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-college-pickem/550808/13 "2010-08-25T23:44:00Z")
Im gonna sit out ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-college-pickem/550808/14 "2010-08-26T00:23:55Z")
> [@drgnrdr07](#): > > What about USC? They won’t be in the top 25 (due to not being ranked), but I think they are still one of the better teams in the nation. USC is ranked #14. They just aren’t bowl eligible. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-college-pickem/550808/15 "2010-08-26T04:01:26Z")
I suspect the other USC would probably be included most weeks in the default yahoo games, even if they fall out of the rankings. They have a huge fan base. The REAL USC, of course, is included in the SEC games. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-college-pickem/550808/16 "2010-08-28T16:58:21Z")
I joined the group as Beasley. Terry Beasley. Auburn WR who was Pat Sullivan’s main target. Any clues on what a newbie to Pick’em needs to know? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-college-pickem/550808/17 "2010-08-28T18:24:52Z")
We’re using confidence point scoring. This means you pick a winner, and then assign a point value based on how confident you are about the pick. Example: If there are 20 games to pick for a given week, you assign 20 confidence points to the game you are absolutely certain about…IE, Major Conference School vs Powder Puff School, 19 points to the next sure thing, then 18, etc…all the way down to 1 point for a game that you think could go either way. You can only use each value once in a given week–ie, only one 20 point game, one 19 point game, etc. Your score for the week is the total of confidence points assigned to games you picked correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-college-pickem/550808/18 "2010-08-28T18:36:18Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > We’re using confidence point scoring. This means you pick a winner, and then assign a point value based on how confident you are about the pick. > > Example: If there are 20 games to pick for a given week, you assign 20 confidence points to the game you are absolutely certain about…IE, Major Conference School vs Powder Puff School, 19 points to the next sure thing, then 18, etc…all the way down to 1 point for a game that you think could go either way. You can only use each value once in a given week–ie, only one 20 point game, one 19 point game, etc. > > Your score for the week is the total of confidence points assigned to games you picked correctly. Thanks. Looks fun. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-college-pickem/550808/19 "2010-09-01T22:50:29Z")
We’re up to seven players now. Still plenty of time to sign up. Picks for Week 1 can be submitted anytime up to 5 min prior to the start of the game. There are 35 games to pick this week. I think the earliest game we’re picking starts at 11:00 AM Saturday, but I may have overlooked something. Oak’s Upset Special this week is Virginia Tech (10) over Boise State (3). Tech is at home, and I think Boise State is way overrated. Get those picks in, and invite any interested people to sign up and join us. As Senator John Blutarksy once observed, it don’t cost nothing. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-college-pickem/550808/20 "2010-09-01T23:33:21Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > We’re up to seven players now. Still plenty of time to sign up. > > Picks for Week 1 can be submitted anytime up to 5 min prior to the start of the game. There are 35 games to pick this week. I think the earliest game we’re picking starts at 11:00 AM Saturday, but I may have overlooked something. > > Oak’s Upset Special this week is Virginia Tech (10) over Boise State (3). Tech is at home, and I think Boise State is way overrated. > > Get those picks in, and invite any interested people to sign up and join us. As Senator John Blutarksy once observed, it don’t cost nothing. We got to pick all 35 games? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oaks-college-pickem/550808.md?page=2)