Aside from these guys, a lot of people had the game at 34, and most of those picked Oklahoma over UConn as their 35. Here's how the standings look with Boise St. in the books:
As you see, Shane Ryan is still the leader, and after several hours of research, experts have determined that he'll be nearly impossible to unseat. It might be wise to just pay him the first place money now. We'll take a vote on that shortly.
Feature time.
You Kids Have It Easy
Last year, in a wild and wooly bowl season when favorites were getting treated to hard times by the underdogs on the regular, 16 of 32 entries finished with a record below .500. But so far this year, things are falling out with a bit more predictability. After 5 games, only 4 of 43 entries are below .500. But when the going gets tough, the newcomers better believe we second-years will have an advantage. Surviving that pitiless inaugural year gave us an internal steel you can never match. And believe me, the going will get tough. Speaking of which...
Old School v. New School
I just counted, and there are 21 returning players against 22 newcomers. Let's average it out and see who's got the better form.
Old School Average: 67.9
New School Average: 78.2
That's some typical new school BS. Come out strong, showboat, and play to the crowd. It takes the old schoolers a while to get warm. We'll see what happens when the New Year comes. You know how football teams hold up four fingers when the fourth quarter starts? We hold up a 1 for January 1st.
The Undefeated Club
All 8 members of the undefeated club picked Boise State to win, so the membership remains the same:
Shane Ryan (woo!), Will Byrum, Richard Sarver, Greg Blanco, Dan Ryan, Sean Marshall, Fred Cacchione, and Kyle Seymour.
The Schneid Watch
Poor, poor Emily. She finished last season in 2nd-to-last, and now she's making a run at the Schneid. As one of only two entries to pick Utah (and keep in mind, her picks were actually made by my younger brother and sister who know little of football), she's alone in the basement with a 1-4 record and 25 points.
The "I'm Glad He Already Paid Me" Award
This one goes to Erik Grell. I hate to keep picking on him, but it has not been a great start for Mr. Grell. After losing his 35-priority pick when Ohio fell to Troy, he somewhat inexplicably put 34 points on Utah to beat Boise State. He was the only contestant with knowledge of football to pick Utah to win, and tonight he paid dearly for it. You hate to be negative, but if this was a hospital and you all were the anxious family, I'd be the somber doctor coming out the door. "It doesn't look good."
Helter Skelter vs. Dirty Vegas vs. Shouting Siblings
This is the one where we use three contestants to determine whether it's better to make your picks using a coin and a hat, picking by the spread, or relying on random outbursts from teenagers. After Boise, the latter took a huge hit.
Helter Skelter: 82
Dirty Vegas: 79
Shouting Siblings: 25
Young vs. Old
Now we pit the youngest contestant, Spike Friedman (25), against the oldest, Tom Cowell (77).
Spike widened his lead slightly with a 34-priority pick of Boise, while Cowell kept pace with a 30 Boise pick. After the victory, Spike showed his youthful disdain for America when he couldn't identify the state where Boise is located. When asked the same question, Cowell responded, "trick question. It's not in a state...it's in the Idaho territory."
Eric(k)s vs. Toms vs. Females
There's three of each. You know how it works. After Emily and Erik both picked Utah, it's no surprise to learn that the Toms are dining out. But it's neck and neck for second.
Toms: 192
Eric(k)s: 169
Females: 168
Family Time
This is where we see how the pairs of kin are holding up. With two 35-Boise picks, John and Phil Kairalla made a huge move up to a tie for second place. The Currys are holding on by a thread.
Curry (Mike & Patricia, husband/wife): 186
Kairalla (John & Phil, father/son): 182
Zehringer/Sarver (father/son-in-law): 182
Ryan (Dan & Steve, brothers): 176
Shane Ryan/Radford (couple): 140
McLaughlin/Moore (cousins): 137
Cacchione (Fred & Tom, father/son): 137
Cowell/Fisch (father/son-in-law): 125
Mooney (Brendan & Dan, brothers): 122
Fan Favorite
Today, the fan favorite is none other than Will Byrum. He's yet to surge to first place, but he's hanging steady in second like a persistent biker drafting off the leaders. The man is experiencing no wind resistance, and woe to us when he makes his move.
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