2022 College Football Discussion & Pick'em Thread

[GeorgiaModerate]

Miami and Troy today

Too late for Miami, the Bahamas Bowl started at 11:30 EST.

[GeorgiaModerate]

With both New Mexico State and UConn in bowls this year, there's not much room to quibble about Utah State.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Monday, December 26th
New Mexico State vs Bowling Green

Tuesday, December 27th
Georgia Southern vs Buffalo
Memphis vs Utah State
Coastal Carolina vs East Carolina
Wisconsin vs Oklahoma State

Wednesday, December 28th
UCF vs Duke
Kansas vs Arkansas
#15 Oregon vs North Carolina
Texas Tech vs Ole Miss

Thursday, December 29th
Syracuse vs Minnesota
Oklahoma vs #13 Florida State
#20 Texas vs #12 Washington

Friday, December 30th
Maryland vs NC State
Pittsburgh vs #18 UCLA
#21 Notre Dame vs #19 South Carolina
Ohio vs Wyoming
#6 Tennessee vs #7 Clemson

Saturday, December 31st
Iowa vs Kentucky
#5 Alabama vs #9 Kansas State
#3 TCU vs #2 Michigan
#4 Ohio State vs #1 Georgia

Monday, January 2nd
#22 Mississippi State vs Illinois
#16 Tulane vs #10 USC
#17 LSU vs Purdue
#11 Penn State vs #8 Utah

[GeorgiaModerate]

PRE-CHRISTMAS BOWL RESULTS

NY Express took first place at 12-4, a game ahead of Dereich and me.  Full results:

12 NY Express
11 Dereich, GeorgiaModerate
10 Grumps, Illiniwek, JGibson
9 Donerail
8 Harry, Terry
7 ExtremeR

There were two unanimous picks:

Baylor-Air Force (wrong)
Houston-Louisiana

And four games with a single dissenter:

Southern Miss-Rice
Boise State-North Texas
Marshall-UConn
San Diego State-Middle Tennessee (dissenter was right)

Overall, Illiniwek has a 5-game lead going into the final slate (except for the championship game, which we will also pick).  Year to date (351 games):

230 Illiniwek   
225 GeorgiaModerate   
224 Dereich   
219 ExtremeRepublican   
218 Terry   
217 Donerail   
216 Harry   
202 Grumps   
198 NY Express   
197 JGibson   
144 ultraviolet   
117 CalamityBlue   
86 Thomas D   
54 Storr   
37 Ishan   
12 Orwell   

Just a reminder that last year at this point I was in fourth place, six games behind Donerail, and made up five games in the post-Christmas bowls.

[GeorgiaModerate]

#4 Ohio State vs #1 Georgia

No pick.

Also, NYE is once again missing a game.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Taking Tulane over USC (that's the one I'm missing, right?).

Yep.

[GeorgiaModerate]

I can't wait to watch that Wyoming and Ohio Bowl game.

They should have called it the Wyohio Bowl.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Would like to change my Ohio State-Georgia pick to Ohio State, been getting vibes lately

Done.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Crazy game!

[GeorgiaModerate]

Changing my pick to UCLA over Pitt.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Changing my pick to UCLA over Pitt.

I might regret not sticking to my first instinct here.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Meanwhile Michigan gets a bye week. TCU has absolutely no prayer

Another MillennialModerate special here!

I seriously thought about picking TCU solely on the basis of his track record.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Eat crow, Big Ten snobs! I never thought I'd cheer for TCU, but Max Duggan and the duopoly of haters has pushed me over the edge.

JJ McCarthy, may you find happiness some other year. Preferably sans Harbaugh. Great performance, young man.

Don't gloat just yet...

[GeorgiaModerate]

I'm exhausted just from watching this game!

[GeorgiaModerate]

Congrats to Terry on the TCU win, and Harry for being the only one to pick it!

[GeorgiaModerate]

OMG. I am bleeping exhausted!!!

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/RedditCFB/status/1609419954474082305

[GeorgiaModerate]

A last note before bed, as I'm finally winding down after the emotional rollercoaster:

Oddly, the current pick'em situation is almost identical to last year's at this point, with Illiniwek leading instead of Donerail.  I've picked up 3 games this week and trail by 2; everyone else has been eliminated.  There are 4 games left (not counting the championship) and we have different picks in 3 of them (Miss. State, Tulane, and Penn State for me; Illinois, USC and Utah for him).  The scenarios are:

If Illiniwek wins at least 2 of those 3 games, he wins the pick'em outright.

If I win 2, he clinches at least a tie, but I have a chance to tie with the championship pick (this was the scenario last year).

If I win 3, I clinch at least a tie, but he has a chance to tie with the championship.

Really regretting changing my pick in Pitt-UCLA now.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Wow USC choked hard, I was at the game! I was in the end zone seats, which means I got to see the muffed punt by USC at 1, the safety, and the Tulane TD!

I gave up at the start of the fourth quarter and went for a walk with my wife, so I missed it!  Got home and couldn't believe the final score.

ETA: The very first bowl game I ever attended in person was also a Tulane upset.  We were visiting family in Memphis and my uncle got tickets to the Liberty Bowl between Tulane and Colorado.  Google says that was the 1970 game.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Assuming that Georgia comfortably beats TCU, here would be my final Top 10 ballot:

If Penn State wins:
1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Tennessee
4. Ohio State
5. TCU
6. Michigan
7. Penn State
8. Florida State
9. Washington
10. Utah

If Utah Wins:
1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Tennessee
4. Ohio State
5. TCU
6. Michigan
7. Utah
8. Florida State
9. Washington State
10. Clemson

Why should a team that made the national championship game fall 2 spots??

I was wondering that too.  Even I'm not that much of an SEC homer.

[GeorgiaModerate]

POST-CHRISTMAS BOWL RESULTS

I'm flabbergasted.

18 GeorgiaModerate
15 Dereich, Terry
13 Donerail, ExtremeR, Harry
12 Illiniwek, JGibson, NY Express
11 Grumps

With a Tulane-like comeback (picking up six games to wipe out a five-game deficit), I now lead by a game.  The overall standings, with only the championship game left (376 games played):

243 GeorgiaModerate   
242 Illiniwek   
239 Dereich   
233 Terry   
232 ExtremeRepublican   
230 Donerail   
229 Harry   
213 Grumps   
210 NY Express   
209 JGibson   
144 ultraviolet   
117 CalamityBlue   
86 Thomas D   
54 Storr   
37 Ishan   
12 Orwell

I've clinched at least a tie, with Illiniwek having a chance to tie with the championship pick.  I'm sure it will surprise nobody that I'm picking Georgia.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Congratulations GeorgiaModerate on winning two years in a row!!!!

I didn't win last year; I was a game behind going into the championship (exactly the reverse of this year -- I had a 6-game deficit and made up 5).  Donerail picked Georgia, so I had to pick Alabama to have a chance to tie even though I expected UGA to win.  But I was more than happy to lose on that one.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/ByPatForde/status/1612633232398487552

[GeorgiaModerate]

I think this is the first time I’ve ever actually felt bad for an opponent.

[GeorgiaModerate]

*** FINAL PICK'EM RESULTS ***

After a tight contest most of the season, I eked out a win in this year's pick'em.  The following people correctly picked Georgia in the championship game:

Dereich
Donerail
ExtremeR
GeorgiaModerate
Grumps
JGibson
NY Express

This made the final standings (377 games picked):

244 GeorgiaModerate
242 Illiniwek
240 Dereich
233 ExtremeRepublican, Terry
231 Donerail
229 Harry
214 Grumps
211 NY Express
210 JGibson
144 ultraviolet
117 CalamityBlue
86 Thomas D
54 Storr
37 Ishan
12 Orwell

In the weekly picks, Dereich won or shared first four times to my three, while ER, Harry, Illiniwek, and NYE did it twice.  The best performance in a regular season week was Harry at 21-4 (.840) in week 3, followed by Illiniwek and me at 20-5 (.800) the same week (it was a very chalky week).  Honorable mention also goes to Dereich for an impressive 11-1 (.917) during championship week, but that was a much smaller set of games.

Thanks to everyone for playing!  We'll be back next season.