[This post was originally published on The Living Room Tumblr.]
College football’s bowls start Saturday, and that means it’s time to play “Are You Smarter Than A Second Grader,” a.k.a. the 10th annual Living Room Times Bowl Pick ‘em Contest!
Sign up now! Try to do what nobody managed last year: defeat my 6-year-old!
As always, the contest is free to enter. There’s no monetary prize, but the winner gets acclaim, publicity, and – at least here on my Tumblr, and on Twitter – eternal glory!
All picks are due before the New Orleans Bowl kicks off on Saturday, December 20 at 9:00 AM Mountain Time (8am Pacific, 11am Eastern).
You pick the winners of each bowl game “straight up” (NOT against the point spread – the spread is displayed on the pick sheet for informational purposes only).
You can log back in & change your picks at any time before the deadline – but all picks are “locked” once the New Orleans Bowl kicks off.
Also, there are no “confidence points,” like in some other Pick ‘em contests. Instead, each correct pick is worth a predetermined number of points. A total of 65 points are possible, broken down as follows:
• 5 points: National Champion
• 4 points each: Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl
• 3 points each: Peach Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl
• 2 points each: Sun Bowl, Holiday Bowl, Russell Athletic Bowl, Music City Bowl, Belk Bowl, Outback Bowl, Citrus Bowl, Alamo Bowl
• 1 point each: All other bowls
In the event of a tie in point totals, tiebreakers are as follows:
1. Correct pick of the national champion
2. Closest to the combined total number of points in the championship game
3. Total number of games picked correctly (regardless of how many points each game is worth)
Astute long-time readers may notice that I’ve switched the tiebreakers around this year. The third tiebreaker was formerly the first tiebreaker; the first and second tiebreakers have moved up correspondingly. I made these changes because starting with the “total number of games picked correctly” tiebreaker has a tendency to decrease the level of suspense late in the contest, since many potential ties have predetermined outcomes. That should be less true under the new system.
Anyway, the contest is now underway at OfficeFootballPool.com, which is hosting my Pick ’em for the fifth straight year.
If you entered my 2010, 2011, 2012 or 2013 Bowl Pick ’em contest(s), you can log in with your pre-existing username and password for OfficeFootballPool.com. (Forgot your username and/or password? Retrieve them here.)
If you did not enter my 2010, 2011, 2012 or 2013 contest(s), click here and you will be prompted to create a “Screen Name” – I encourage using Twitter handles as Screen Names (for those who tweet, obviously) – and a Password, and also your E-mail Address, “First Name,” “Last Name,” and (again) “Twitter Handle.”
NOTE: You are not required to put your full, real name in the “First Name” and “Last Name” fields (though it’s encouraged), but please give me some idea of who you are. I just want to avoid another situation where I have no clue who the winner is!
So, there you go. Again, sign up here! Have fun! Good luck! Fight on Trojans & Go Irish! 🙂
P.S. If you prefer, you can enter by clicking here and then manually entering the Pool ID (67297) and the Pool Entry Code (7winsteve).
P.P.S. Speaking of “eternal glory”… here are the past winners:
2005-06: Brian Dupuis
2006-07: Ben Sloniker
2007-08: Seth Carmack
2008-09: Amy Booth
2009-10: Doug Mataconis
2010-11: Randy Styles
2011-12: @Nyghtewynd
2012-13: Ryan Morgan
2013-14: Loyette
2014-15: TBD. It could be you! Enter now!