GETTIN' SOAKED

Here are the scores after Nebraska manhandled Arizona, which comes from a 'powerhouse' conference.


Amanda 76, Troy 73, Josh 72, Sam Hirt 70, Larry 63, Scott Birk 63, Marilee 61, Alexis 57, Patrick 52, Ben Puffer 51, Dayne 49, Rick 44, Steve 44, Lance 44, Woodson 43, Huffs 42, Kent 41, Judy 32, Ben Carter 29, Jill 27, Butch 25, Christian 24, Giles -5



Sears 165/3=55.0

Puffer 316/6=52.67
Parker 348/9= 38.67

Seriously, after tonight's game, I realized that some conferences are bringing their game to their bowls, while others appear to have no game to bring. Here's a synopsis of what I'm talking about:

ACC: 1 win by 8 points, 3 losses by an average of 6.33
Big East: 2 wins, by an average of 11.5 points, no losses
Conference USA: 2 wins by average of 19.5 points, 2 losses by average of 15.5
Mountain West: 3 wins by average of 13.7points, no losses
PAC-10: 2 wins by average of 10.0 points, 3 losses by average of 22.3
SEC: 1 win by 24, 1 loss by 8
WAC: 1 win by 1 point, 2 losses by average of 21

Take note of those undefeated conferences...and they are winning by alot. What else stands out are those conferences who are losing games, and losing big. Like the WAC. Like the PAC-10 (those losses have been UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGLY!!!!). Those PAC-10 arguments just aren't holding water, it's shooting through like a firehose, so watch out. Kent, you got soaked.

Steve...way to stay in the game. Maybe someday Liz will let you stay for the other ones.

Goodnight to y'all.

Good evening folks:

Well, I’ll begin this one with an apology to Larry, Steve, and Giles. You 3 picked Kentucky to win, and for whatever reason, while scoring, I awarded you points as if you had selected Clemson. So now I’ve fixed that…and your scores were affected as a result. After the UG win over Texas A&M, here are the scores:

Marilee 61, Sam 50, Larry 47, Woodson 46, Amanda 44, Josh 41, Ben Carter 37, Huffs 36, Scott 35, Lance 34, Troy 33, Steve 29, Alexis 29, Judy 25, Ben Puffer 24, Patrick 22, Rick 21, Dayne 19, Christian 17, Jill 16, Butch 9, Kent 8, Giles -3

Family Averages

Sears 116/3= 38.67
Puffers 181/6= 30.17
Parkers 206/9=22.89

Not that I watch TV on Sunday...but did you see how that bottom-scraper SEC team (Kentucky) pushed that nearly-ACC-best Clemson team to the end of the game? Just goes to show what a superior conference Kentucky is from. It's really too bad that 'Bama is going to win it all, but maybe as a starter, the folks from lesser conferences could come out to SEC-land and get a taste for REAL tailgating. I think that could help jump-start football at your respective programs.


So after the 27th, here are the scores: Marilee 56, Larry 52, Amanda 47, Sam 45, Woodson 41, Ben Carter 40, Troy 36, Josh 33, Steve 30, Scott 30, Huff 30, Lance 29, Ben Puffer 27, Alexis 24, Dayne 22, Judy 20, Patrick 17, Jill 16, Rick 16, Giles 15, Christian 12, Butch 4, Kent 3



And the average family scores:


Sears: 111/3= 37 Way to pull your weight, Kent



Puffers 173/6= 28.83 Just wait



Parkers 194/9= 21.56 Well, the Parker conference, considered as a whole, is looking rather weak

New Leaders!

Today is a perfect example of how calling the spread correctly (or close) can really add to your points. The leaders have been changed up a bit as a result:


Marilee 50, Larry 42, Amanda 32, Sam Hirt 30, Josh 28, Troy 26, Woodson 26, Ben Carter 25, Steve 24, Lance 24, Ben Puffer 22, Scott 20, Alexis 19, Huffs 15, Jill 9, Christian 7, Patrick 7, Dayne 7, Judy 5, Rick 1, Giles 0, Butch -6, Kent -7


More to come!


Ben

Christmas Eve Scores

The 1980 Holiday Bowl matched up an 11-1 BYU team against 8-3 SMU. BYU, who had never won a bowl game previously, looked to have yet another bowl loss. They trailed 45-25 in the 4th quarter, and most BYU fans had left the game (much to Jim McMahon's chagrin, who chided fans as they left their seats and told them the game was not over). BYU score 21 points in the final 2:33 of the game, winning 46-45. This bowl has been called the "Miracle Bowl" and is arguably the best football bowl-game comeback of all time.

So what the heck does this have to do with this post? SMU played tonight, thrashing Nevada 45-10. For the 3 folks (Scott Birk, Sam Hirt, Lance Puffer) that picked SMU, this could mark the beginning of a miracle comeback. Here are the scores after tonight:

Amanda 27, Troy 21, Marilee 20, Sam Hirt 20, Ben Carter 15, Alexis 14, Lance 14, Woodson 14, Steve 13, Josh 13, Ben 12, Larry 12, Scott 10, Jill 4, Dayne 2, Huffs 2, Giles -1, Patrick -3, Christian -3, Judy -3, Rick -11, Butch -11, Kent -16

Folks, here are the scores after Utah's win over Cal. And by the way, the Mountain West Conference is looking very good. If Air Force can pull off the win against Houston, the MWC may well go undefeated in this years bowl games. GIve us our automatic bid!

Scores: Amanda 37, Troy 31, Marilee 30, Ben Carter 25, Alexis 24, Woodson 24, Josh 23, Steve 23, Ben Puffer 22, Larry 22, Sam 15, Jill 14, Huffs 12, Dayne 12, Giles 9, Lance 9, Christian 7, Patrick 7, Judy 7, Butch -1, Rick -1, Kent -6

Average family scores:

Puffers: 19.0

Sears: 15.333

Parkers: 11. 89

Kent, you're supposed to pick the winning team!

RAH! RAH! RAH! RAH! RAH! Gooooooooo COUGARS!!!

Sorry for posting this the day after, but I was having too much fun on espn.com and on oregonlive.com, where I could post some remarks about BYU's win. Especially enjoyable on oregonlive's website. So anyways...Scores after BYU/Oregon State:

Woodson, Josh 18

Troy, Alexis 24, Larry, Amanda, Ben P. 17, Steve 15, Sam, Marilee, Ben C. 10, Jill 9, Huffs, Dayne 7, Christian 5, Lance, Patrick, Giles 2Rick, Judy -1,

Kent,Butch -6.

Kent, way to keep Butch good company.

Hey, BYU may have the worst fight song in the country, but even today, I'd be proud to stand up and go "RAH! RAH! RAH! RAH! RAH! GOOOOOOOOOO COUGARS! (Minus the 'do-as-I'm doing' hand gestures).

So, how are those PAC-10 fans feeling?

Ben

It's ok Giles, you'll get into positive #'s someday

Today I'm feeling sorry for Giles Parker. He so confidently picked his teams, but so far has yet to break into the positive #'s. He's a real trooper. I just know, deep down inside, he'll get into the positive #'s soon enough.

So here are the scores after day 2:

Troy, Alexis 19

Josh, Woodson 13

Ben, Amanda, Larry 12

Steve, Huff Bros. 10

Sam Hirt, Ben Carter, Marilee 5

Jill 4

Rick, Judy, Dayne 2

Patrick, Kent, Lance, Giles, Christian, Butch -3

And the family averages:

Puffer Avg.: 8.67..........cream rising to the top

Sears Avg.: 4.67........hey, c'mon up, the weather's great up here!

Parker Avg.: 4.33........it's not whether you win, it's how you play the game, right?

Scores after day 1

My apologies, as the scores listed in last night's email were incorrect. Guess that's what you get when you're trying to tally scores w/ your left hand and keep a 1-month old asleep with your right. A couple people were given points for a win they didn't have, as well (sorry Sam & Steve). Updated spreadsheet is attached, both in new and old versions of Excel

After 1 day:

Troy & Amanda: 12

Woodson, Steve, Sam Hirt, Marilee, Larry, Josh, Huff Bros., Ben Carter: 5

Jill, Ben Puffer, Alexis: 4

Dayne Godbold: 2

Rick, Patrick, Kent, Lance, Judy, Giles, Christian, Butch: -3

Avg. Family Scores:
Puffers: 3.16
Sears: 2.33
Parkers: 1.375

We don't need no stinkin' Beavers!!!

This is what happens when Beavers attack. Sheffields, you've been warned.

Yes, this is the blog.

Thanks for checking out the blog. I never touch this thing except for when bowl games are upon us. Then I spend pretty much all my time creating entries and trying to rile people up enough to leave comments for each other. Check back once the bowl games begin...or if you like, leave a comment now for others to see. And get those entries in by Dec. 19th!!!

How very, very, VERY sweet it is!!!

Right now I'm just a proud dad. I mean, when your daughter beats EVERYONE in the bowl game showdown, how can you not be proud? By the way, Alexis and Quinn's selection of the BCS championship game went something like this:

Ben: Do you guys want Florida or Oklahoma?
Quinn: Oklahoma! Oklahoma! Oklahoma!...
Alexis: Florida! Florida! Florida!....
Ben: Well, we've got to pick one. Oklahoma has tornadoes, and Florida has Disneyworld....

Alexis and Quinn (in unison): "Florida!!! Florida!!! Florida!!!"

Then they picked the spread. (They were only off by one)

So there you have it. Scientific research that led to the bowl game showdown win. You Oregonians need to congratulate Quinn when you have a chance.

And here are the ending scores:

Alexis and Quinn 175
Rick 169
Giles 165
Kent 159
Troy 138
Ben 137
Steve 114
Marilee 94
Jill 92
Paul 92
Judy 88
Lance 84
Scott 80
Christian 76
Jim 71
Robbs 60
Carma 59
Liz 59
Amanda 57

I lost to Troy by one measly point!!!
Robbs, congratulations, you pulled ahead of a few folks in the end.
Amanda, what gives? Behind Liz?

Scott and Lance did a good job of pulling into the middle of the pack, despite both having a terrible start. (Scott started 0-8.....that's Washington/WSU territory!)

The SEC showed that they are the power conference. I'm not saying Utah doesn't have a legitimate claim to the national championship, just saying that SEC is the best conference, top to bottom. Don't even start the PAC-10 talk, it's not the same, folks. Big 12? Nope. Big Ten? Pleeeeeeease!

And for some fun last stats:

Average Parker Score: 111.8
Average Puffer Score:101.7
Average Sears Score:126.5
Average Male Score:116.82
Average Female Score:72.71 (Alexis/Quinn not considered in this number)
Average Male Puffer Score:111.17 " "
Average Male Parker Score:126.33
Average Female Puffer Score:58.3 (Alexis/Quinn not considered in this number)
Average Female Parker Score:90.0

Whew! I am done! And I'm really tired of watching football and updating this blog!

Which, by the way, brings us to March Madness. In all sincerity, I know this semester (which is going to gear up next week) is going to kick my butt....so I'll/we'll need someone else to step up to the bat for March Madness. Troy? Kent? Giles? I know you can do it!

All right, it's been good. Y'all take care and we'll be in touch....War Eagle! BP

What does this all mean?

Kent will win if Oklahoma wins by exactly 3.
Giles will win if Oklahoma wins by any number other than 3.
It doesn't look as though Rick can win.
Alexis and Quinn will win if Florida wins.

I'll pass up Troy if Florida wins by 12-14 or if Oklahoma loses by 26 or more.

And the rest, well there's just too many scenarios. It's midnight and I have my first day of school tomorrow. Goodnight.

One game left

Don’t hold me to this (there’s a lot of adding here, so I’m not asserting that everything below is exactly right)

Folks who chose Florida: Alexis & Quinn, Ben, Christian, Judy, Liz, Paul, Rick, Robbs, Scott, Steve

Folks who chose Oklahoma: Amanda, Carma, Giles, Jill, Jim, Kent, Lance, Marilee, Troy

If Florida wins, all Florida folks get 6 points (5 win points, 1 ranking point). But depending on the spread:

Florida by 1

Scott gets 7, Judy gets 10. Carma, Kent, Marilee, Troy get 2 points only (and no win points)

Florida by 2

Steve gets 7, Scott gets 8, Judy gets 11, Scott gets 8, Steve 7. Carma, Kent, Marilee, Troy get 1 point only (and no win points)

Florida by 3

Steve gets 8, Scott gets 9, Judy gets 16.

Florida by 4

Steve gets 9, Scott gets 10, Judy 11

Florida by 5

Paul, Rick, Liz get 7, Judy and Steve get 10, Scott gets 11.

Florida by 6

Paul and Rick get 8, Judy gets 9, Steve gets 11, Scott gets 16

Florida by 7

Alexis/Quinn, Judy get 8, Paul, Rick, Liz get 9, Scott 11, Steve 16

Florida by 8

Ben & Judy get 7, Alexis/Quinn 9, Paul, Rick, Liz, Scott get 10, Steve 11

Florida by 9

Robbs 7, Ben 8, Scott 9, Steve, Alexis/Quinn 10, Paul, Rick, Liz 11

Florida by 10

Robbs, Scott, 8, Steve, Ben 9, Alexis/Quinn 11, Paul, Rick, Liz 16

Florida by 11

Scott 7, Steve 8, Robbs 9, Ben 10, Paul, Rick, Liz, 11, Alexis/Quinn 16

Florida by 12

Steve 7, Robbs, Paul, Rick Liz, 10, Ben, Alexis/Quinn 11

Florida by 13

Rick, Paul, Liz 9, Alexis 10, Ben 16

Florida by 14

Rick, Paul, Liz 8, Alexis 9, Ben 11, Robbs 16

Florida by 15

Rick, Paul, Liz, Christian 7, Alexis 8, Ben 10, Robbs 11, Oklahomas lose 2

Florida by 16

Alexis 7, Christian 8, Ben 9, Robbs 10, Oklahomas lose 2

Florida by 17

Ben 8, Christian 9, Robbs 9, Oklahomas lose 2

Florida by 18

Ben 7, Robbs 8, Christian 10, Oklahomas lose 2

Florida by 19

Robbs 7, Christian 11, Oklahomas lose 2

Florida by 20

Christian 16, Oklahomas lose 2

Florida by 21

Christian 11, Oklahomas lose 5

Florida by 22

Christian 10, Oklahomas lose 5

Florida by 23

Christian 9, Oklahomas lose 5

Florida by 24

Christian 8, Oklahomas lose 5

Florida by 25

Christian 7, Oklahomas lose 5

Florida by 26-30:

Oklahomas lose 10 points

Florida by 31 or more:

Oklahomas lose 15 points

If Oklahoma wins:

All Oklahomas would get 5 points. But depending on the spread:
OK by 1

Judy gets 2 points (no win points). Amanda, Jill 6, Carma, Kent, Marilee, Troy get 9 points.

OK by 2

Judy gets 1 point (no win points). Amanda, Jill 7, Carma, Kent, Marilee, Troy 10

OK by 3

Lance 6, Amanda, Jill 8, Carma, Kent, Marilee, Troy 15

OK by 4

Lance 7, Amanda, Jill 9, Carma, Kent, Marilee, Troy 10

OK by 5

Lance 8, Carma, Kent, Marilee, Troy 9, Amanda, Jill 10

OK by 6

Carma, Kent, Marilee, Troy 8, Lance 9, Amanda, Jill 15

OK by 7

Carma, Kent, Marilee, Troy 7, Amanda, Jill, Lance 10

OK by 8

Carma, Kent, Marilee, Troy 6, Amanda, Jill 9, Lance 15

OK by 9

Jim, Giles 6, Amanda, Jill, 8, Lance 10

OK by 10

Amanda, Jill, Giles, Jim 7, Lance 9

OK by 11

Amanda, Jill 6, Lance, Jim, Giles 8

OK by 12

Lance 7, Jim, Giles 9

OK by 13

Lance 6, Jim, Giles 10

OK by 14

Jim, Giles 15

OK by 15

Jim, Giles 10, Floridas lose 2

OK by 16

Jim, Giles 9, Floridas lose 2

OK by 17

Jim, Giles 8, FLoridas lose 2

OK by 18

Jim, Giles 7, Floridas lose 2

OK by 19

Jim, Giles 6, Floridas lose 2

OK by 20

Floridas lose 2

OK by 21-25

Floridas lose 5

OK by 36-30

Floridas lose 10

OK by 31 or more

Floridas lose 15

It's anyone's game

So here we are, down to the grand daddy. As I had hoped, Alexis and Quinn are poised to take it all, trailing Giles by one measly point. Here are the scores:

Giles 165
Alexis & Quinn 164
Kent 159
Rick 153
Troy 138
Ben 128
Steve 105
Marilee 94
Jill 92
Lance 84
Judy 82
Paul 76
Scott 72
Jim 71
Christian 70
Carma 59
Amanda 57
Robbs 52
Liz 43

Congratulations to the Robbs who have pulled ahead of Liz.

And by the way, though no spread points were awarded this game, I think I deserve something for calling Tulsa by 24.....I called the blowout, folks! (Can you imagine how silly Ball State would have looked in a BCS game? Thank goodness they weren't there)

I'll put up a posting at a later point that will detail who ends up where, depending on the final score of the championship game. BP

David Johnson!!!! Tulsa in the lead!!!

Many of you may know that Amanda's 'cuss word' is David Johnson. As in, she gets blocked while playing Settlers, and blurts out, "David Johnson!" Or, the all-out, down and dirty version when she is really ticked, "David freakin' Johnson!!!" For years I have wondered who this guy is, whether a former boyfriend that she never got over, or some innocent dude who breaks into convulsions every time his name is said. Well, today I found out that he is Tulsa's quarterback, and he's doing a good job taking it to Ball State (Amanda chose Ball State, by the way, but I'm still scratching my head at why she seemed so interested in this rather meaningless game. She almost seemed giddy today. Huh.). Anyways, the fact that Ball State (I told you they were overrated!) is getting pummeled is great, because Giles and Rick chose Ball State, and that could bring them down a bit to Alexis/Quinn's and Kent's level, making it a possibility that any one of those 4 could win at the end of things.

So Amanda's secret is out.

But I'm still wondering....Kent, why didn't you pick Ball State?

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORING!!!!!!

Hey, maybe the last 1:30 of Texas vs. Ohio State was exciting, but other than that, this was the most boring game of the year. Well, there was that Oregon State game.....

Rick made good progress today and is within striking distance on Giles. Alexis and Quinn remain within striking distance as well, but probably need both the last 2 remaining games to swing their way in order to secure an upset. Kent is a long shot -- probably needs a blowout by Tulsa and then he has to get the spread right in the championship game.And the rest of us our vying for our individual spots. (Gonna pass you up, Troy!!!)

Giles 180
Rick 168
Alexis and Quinn 156
Kent 151
Troy 130
Ben 120
Marilee 109
Jill 107
Lance 99
Judy 97
Steve 97
Paul 91
Scott 87
Jim 86
Christian 85
Carma 74
Amanda 72
Liz 58
Robbs 44

Shelby, you're losing to my mom, and that's just wrong. I guess it all goes to show that it's all luck (especially all those PAC-10 wins).

Average Parker score: 124.8
Average Puffer score: 102.1
Average Sears score: 130.00 (I don't want to hear it.)

Uconn beats Buffalo

Giles is continues to enjoy his lead after Buffalo lost to Connecticut...can anyone overtake his lead? The time is winding down....

Troy, I'm nipping at your heels. I'll be ahead of you before you know it.

Jill is coming out of obsurity to rank decently, while Lance was making a run of things up until Jan. 2nd, where things have tapered off. Dad Puffer, at one point, shared the lead with Giles. The 2nd half of the bowl season, however, has taken him out of contention. And Scott, who was way out there, had come back nicely, but things have since slowed down.

Well, you can all look at your scores and see who you might be able to tease once you beat them. Even the Robbs can still beat somebody, so there's always hope. Here are the scores, with 3 games remaining:


Giles 173
Rick 153
Alexis and Quinn 151
Kent 146
Troy 125
Ben 115
Marilee 104
Jill 102
Judy 97
Lance 94
Steve 92
Paul 86
Jim 81
Christian 80
Scott 77
Carma 69
Amanda 67
Liz 53
Robbs 39

PAC who?

I am putting up this blog due to my brother-in-law being completely delusional and misguided as to the PAC-10 'strength'. True, they've got a good USC team, but when the rest of the conference is lame, how hard can it be to run the board?

On that note, I've compiled below a comparison of PAC-10 teams, MWC teams, and SEC teams. It's obvious where the better teams play. Even on an off year, the SEC simply has the better teams. Just imagine what it would be like if storied programs (Auburn, Tennessee...heck, even LSU and Georgia had off years and still pounded their bowl game opponents) had a good year? Which is why it's so difficult to play in the SEC....they all beat up on each other, while a team like USC doesn't play anyone, and then claims to be the national champions. Yeah, right.
Teams in the SEC actually have to bring it...all season long.

USC	Utah	Florida
Oregon	TCU	Alabama
Cal	BYU	Ole Miss
Oregon St.	Air Force	Georgia
UCLA	New Mexico	LSU
Arizona St.	UNLV	Vanderbilt
Stanford	San Diego St.	Kentucky
Washington St.	Wyoming	Auburn
Washington	San Diego St.	Arkansas
		South Carolina
		Tennessee

By the way, Kent, where does your USC devotion come from? How come we never hear you say anything about WSU? WSwho? Wuss-U?

And while I am stating here that the SEC is the best football conference, I'm not taking anything away from the MWC. I'm only saying that the PAC-10 is the PAC-1, and that team really only has to play mediocre football, then gear up for a bowl game, and everyone on the west coast joins the bandwagon. Like my brother-in-law.

MWC rocks....even the SEC....WOW!!!

Sorry Kent, but USC played a weak Penn State team. They should have played a real team, like Utah. Utah simply looked great today, beating a very, very good Alabama team. And it wasn't even really in question at any point during the game. Utah put the Smackdown on 'Bama.

Personally, I don't know whether to cheer or be sad. When both of your alma maters' arch-rivals play, who do you cheer for? It's like seeing 2 jerks beat each other up, and not knowing what you're supposed to do.

Anyways, congrats to those who picked Utah. I didn't see that one coming at all.

Giles	168
Alexis and Quinn	153
Rick	148
Kent	141
Troy	120
Ben	110
Marilee	99
Jill	97
Judy	92
Lance	89
Paul	88
Steve	87
Scott	79
Jim	76
Christian	75
Carma	71
Amanda	69
Liz	55
Robbs	41

Kentucky beats ECU!!! Alexis & Quinn on the rise!!!

While Giles is out in the front once again, Alexis and Quinn have continued to inch their way ever closer to the lead. They were the only ones to pick Kentucky to win, which was big for them.

Now if Alabama wins their game, they'll be in the lead. Although the way Utah is playing, I don't know that is going to happen. With 4 minutes left in the 1st quarter, Utah is up 21-0. And they look awesome.

Scores:

Giles	161
Alexis and Quinn	153
Rick	148
Kent	141
Ben	110
Troy	103
Judy	85
Marilee	92
Jill	83
Lance	82
Steve	80
Jim	76
Scott	72
Paul	71
Carma	71
Christian	63
Amanda	62
Robbs	41
Liz	38

The win heard around the Puffer Showdown

Folks, this one changes things. The unthinkable happened in Ole Miss putting the Smackdown on Texas Tech. Then again, the thinking should have reminded you that this is SEC football. Even on an off year for the SEC, they've produced two championship-worthy teams in Florida and Alabama, in additiona to LSU (having a poor year) hammering Georgia Tech, Georgia (having a disappointing season) soundly beating Michigan State, and even conference low-life Vanderbilt beating storied Boston College. While some other conferences may not get as much attention as they deserve (MWC is the prime example), there is just no way around it -- SEC football is the best in the nation.

So there was a shakeup at the top after the 1st game today:

Giles	161
Rick	148
Alexis and Quinn	146
Kent	141
Ben	110
Troy	103
Judy	85
Marilee	84
Jill	83
Lance	82
Steve	80
Jim	76
Scott	72
Paul	71
Carma	71
Christian	63
Amanda	62
Robbs	41
Liz	38

Alexis and Quinn are drawing ever closer to the crown. Go kids!!!

Lame!!!

You guys, I can see when you get on the blog. You leave comments about 1/10th of the time. Lame-os!!!

Down to the wire

The scores: Rick 148, Kenty-boy 141, Giles 138, Alexis & Quinn 118, Troy 103, Ben 87, Judy 85, Marilee 84, Jill 83, Lance 82, Steve 80, Jim 76, Scott 72, Paul 71, Carma 71, Christian 63, Amanda 62, Robbs 41, Liz 38.

Here we are with just 7 games left (and after tomorrow there will only be 4 remaining games). Rick, Kent and Giles appear to be headed for a photo finish. Personally, I'm rooting for Alexis and Quinn for the win from behind. They are within striking distance and it would be hilarious to see them take the cake. Troy remains a contender as well.

The rest of us appear to be headed towards bragging rights. That's not to say that we don't have a chance, it's only to say that there would have to be some very crazy things happening to pull the leaders down. It'd take too long for me to summarize the possibilities for everyone, but I'll try to summarize things for the top 5 contenders (what could happen tomorrow):

Utah beats Bama (it's not gonna happen): A Utah win is good for Giles and Troy, bad for Kent, Rick, Alexis/Quinn. But folks, Utah is not going to win this game. As much as I'd like the MWC to get more respect, Bama is a lot better than Utah this year.

Mississippi vs. Texas Tech: A Mississippi win is very, very good (worth at least 23 points) for Giles and Alexis, whereas the other leaders have chosen Texas Tech. Giles, I think this is your riskiest pick of the showdown ((I predict this game will either be tight, or it will be a blowout by Texas Tech. I picked Mississippi, too, but I ain't gonna win this thing)

East Carolina vs. Kentucky: Only Alexis/Quinn have chosen Kentucky. And if Kentucky wins, I'm going to have a really good laugh.

I'll start teaching Alexis how to talk trash. Perhaps the Puffer brothers can help Quinn do the same. I'd like to see him strut, too.

Scores after USC game

So USC won their game. Whoop-dee-doo. If you didn't see that one coming, then I'm sorry, you haven't been watching football. The Big Ten always sports lousy teams that can't cut it.

So after USC's game, Rick is in the lead with 148, Kent has jumped into 2nd with 129, Giles has 123, Troy has 103, Alexis and Quinn have 101, Ben 87, Marilee 84, Lance 82, Steve 80, Jim 76, Scott 72, Paul 71, Jill 71, Judy 70, Christian 63, Amanda 62, Carma 54, Liz 38, and Robbs 29. It appears that the Puffers are poised to retake the throne on the Puffer Bowlgame Challenge.

123, 103, Jill 71, Judy 70, Christian 63

And in the Parker/Puffer challenge, the average Parker score is 86, while the average Puffer score is 79.9. Thanks, Liz.

1/2 way thru Jan. 1st -- the scores

We're 1/2 way through the Jan. 1st games (still have USC/Penn State and Virg. Tech/Cincinatti to be played). Some of you are pulling away from the rest of us. With 8 games left to play, anyone who is going to win (my guess) will likely need to have 100 points or more right now. Perhaps a stunning upset could be pulled by someone in the 75-100 area, but anything less than that I really don't see happening. But you can all vie for your individual spots around those who find themselves near you. Here's where we're at right now:

Rick 143 (your pick on Georgia was huge), Giles 123 (3-for-3 today), Kent 114, Troy 103, Alexis/Quinn 96 (I promise they picked these teams and the spreads themselves), Steve 80, Lance 75 (winning it all could possibly be in reach), Ben 72, Scott 72, Jim 71, Paul 71, Judy 70, Marilee 69, Jill 66, Christian 63, Amanda 62, Carma 54, Liz 38, Robbs 24

By the way, none of the top 7 people have the same teams selected for the remaining 2 games to be played today. I expect there will be some more shuffling by the end of the day.