6th annual LRT Bowl Pick ’em Contest!

It’s that time of year again… time to get the 6th annual Living Room Times Bowl Pick’ em Contest underway!

[IMPORTANT NOTE: When you go to the signup page, you’ll first be asked to “Create Your Account” with officefootballpool.com, including creating a “Screen Name,” which you’ll use to log in. Then, on the next screen, you’ll be asked to enter a “Real Name.” Both of these “names” will be publicly visible. The “Real Name” page says, “The information you enter is for the pool manager only. Nobody else has access to the information you provide here.” but THIS IS NOT ACTUALLY TRUE. (Unfortunately, I can’t change the text.) Your “Real Name” will be publicly visible. Thus, although you must put something in the “Real Name” field, you are not absolutely required to use your true “real name,” first and last — though that is strongly encouraged. Instead, you may enter a nickname or pseudonym that’s easily recognizable on my blog and/or Twitter. What I really want to avoid is another situation where I have no idea who the winner is!]

As always, the contest is free to enter, and the winner gets acclaim, publicity, and eternal glory here on the blog — but no monetary prize. 🙂 All picks are due by Saturday, December 18 at noon Mountain Time (11am Pacific, 2pm Eastern).

Complete rules and information after the jump.

I’ve found a different host site for this year’s contest, which allows me to assign point weights per game, like in years 1-3. So, I’m no longer required to make the Rose Bowl worth the same number of points as the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Yay!

Also, unlike with ESPN, everyone’s picks will be visible from Day 1, so we don’t have to wait until kickoff of each game to know who’s still mathematically alive, etc. But this also means that, unlike the last two years, you won’t be able to change your picks for later games. ALL picks must be made before the New Mexico Bowl kicks off.

Anyway, to enter, you pick the winners of each bowl game “straight up” (NOT against the spread, although the spread is listed on the pick sheet for informational purposes only). Each correct pick is worth a predetermined number of points. A grand total of 60 points are possible, broken down as follows:

• 4 points: BCS National Championship Game
• 3 points each: All other BCS games
• 2 points each: All Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 non-BCS bowls, plus a half-dozen other games arbitrarily chosen by me: the Las Vegas Bowl (Dec. 22), Hawaii Bowl (Dec. 24), Alamo Bowl (Dec. 29), Music City and Holiday Bowls (Dec. 30), and Cotton Bowl (Jan. 7).
• 1 point each: All other bowls

In the event of a tie in point totals, tiebreakers are as follows:

1. Total number of games picked correctly (irrespective of # of points per game)
2. Correct pick of the BCS Championship Game winner
3. Closest to the combined total number of points in BCS Championship Game

I think that about covers it. Have fun! Sign up here!