Chris Wins Mamacita's Bowl 2008

My three-person college football pool, Mamacita's Bowl, ended earlier this month, but for all intents and purposes, it was over for Jim Schmidt and Mark C. sometime shortly after Halloween. As the winner, I'll be treated to dinner anywhere in Asheville and needless to say I will be going deep into the drinks and apps menus.

We picked 5 college games each week against the spread. Each win was worth a fictional $100. Final standings are as follows:

1st Place: BROTHER CHRIS (3-2 wk15; 50-25 overall, +$2500)

2nd Place: JIMBO (4-1 wk15; 39-36 overall, +$300)
3rd Place: MARK C. (5-0 wk15; 34-41 overall, -$700)

That's not a misprint my friends. 50-25! And yes, I've been wondering why I didn't place real money on these picks. It's a record not likely to be matched.

Picking college games against the spread this season changed the way I watched football. First of all, who won and who lost was of little relevance. Of course, it was all about the spread, who covered, who was likely to score another 11 points in the final 8 minutes of a game. An otherwise meaningless missed extra point, a mop-up TD, or a coach deciding to "take a knee" in the final seconds could become the defining moment of a game I had picked.

Against the Spread Rankings-- (Thanks Vegas Insider!)

ATS RANKINGS

Straight-Up Against The Spread Over/Under Team Total Home Away Total Home Away Total Home Away Air Force 8-4 3-3 5-1 10-4-0 3-2-0 7-2-0 5-4-0 4-1-0 1-3-0 Akron 5-7 1-4 4-3 6-6-0 2-3-0 4-3-0 3-1-0 2-0-0 1-1-0 Alabama 12-0 7-0 5-0 9-3-0 4-3-0 5-0-0 3-6-0 0-3-0 3-3-0 Alabama-Birmingham 4-8 2-3 2-5 6-4-1 2-1-1 4-3-0 3-4-0 1-2-0 2-2-0 Arizona State 5-6 4-3 1-3 4-5-1 2-4-0 2-1-1 4-5-0 3-2-0 2-2-0 Arizona 6-5 4-2 2-3 5-5-1 4-1-1 1-4-0 3-7-0 1-3-0 2-2-0 Arkansas 5-7 3-3 2-4 6-4-1 3-2-0 3-2-1 4-3-0 2-2-0 2-1-0 Arkansas State 6-5 4-1 2-4 3-7-0 2-2-0 1-5-0 1-1-0 0-0-0 1-1-0 Army 3-8 2-4 1-4 6-4-0 2-3-0 4-1-0 2-4-0 1-3-0 1-1-0 Auburn 5-7 4-3 1-4 2-9-0 2-4-0 0-5-0 2-5-0 1-1-0 1-4-0 Ball State 12-0 6-0 6-0 9-2-0 4-1-0 5-1-0

I've always been a fan of the college game, but getting involved in Mamacita's Bowl transformed my interest in Saturday football. For example, I found myself engrossed in Duke football on more than one occasion. I came to feel I truly understood the play of the last remaining independents, namely Army, Navy, and Notre Dame. On a week I picked a high score "under" watching, say Rice, Tulsa, or anyone in the Big 12 play defense became a gut-wrenching experience. Doesn't anyone wrap up anymore?

Unlike Jim and Mark C. who usually took points as a rule, I tried to find some balance in my five college picks each week. I liked at least one over/under game, one 'large spread' game, and a mixture of big and small conference games.

At the beginning of the season, I felt it was important to remain free of emotion or team loyalty when picking games. Stone-cold reason, statistics, and logic should rule each decision. That certainly didn't last. My fascination with Troy and teams in ESPN's Bottom Ten, as well as my skepticism of the Scott Van Pelt theory of always taking points resulted in some ill-advised choices come Saturday. And while my success (two 5-0 weeks!) bred confidence in each subsequent week's picks, it was really mostly about luck.
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Thanks again to Jim and Mark for inviting me to participate in Mamacita's Bowl this year and thanks to my sports-hating wife for listening to me ramble on about the minutia of the whole affair. Now, will it be Scratch, Table, or Cucina 24?