DISCLAIMER: As always, this contest is for entertainment purposes only. No actual wagering is being performed. Although I would have liked to lay the wood on Baylor in real life if I had been some place where that was legal.
Kevin's idea to sit this week out wasn't a bad one. Only four of the 11 players who decided to play came out ahead. (Including me, and if every quarterback on Houston's roster hadn't suffered some kind of catastrophic injury against UCLA I would have gone 4-for-4 and pulled off a stunning worst-to-first one-week rally. Damn you Neuheisel. Damn you.)
For the first time this year, no one finished the week over the $1,000 starting point, which means we're quickly proving our point here. Long-term professional gambling is a brutal way to make a living and is not to be attempted without some serious chutzpah and a really big bankroll. Here are the current standings, and I'll start adding the weekly gain or loss to the mix this week as well:
- Chas Rich, Pitt Blather - $961.37 (+$43.18)
- Toro Grande - $946.30 (-$9.10)
- Scott, Bearcats Blog - $938.64 (-$105)
- Hoya Suxa - $911.36 (-$4.55)
- Ken DeCelles - $872.71 (+$61.35)
- Voodoo 5 - $862.36 (+$90.45)
- Kevin Meacham, The UConn Blog - $861.82 ($0)
- Casual Hoya - $855.90 (+$21.81)
- WVUIE97, The Smoking Musket - $836.36 (-$56.82)
- Sean Keeley, Troy Nunes Is an Absolute Magician - $790.91 (-$200)
- Andrew Porter, The UConn Blog - $661.37 (-$154.54)
- Chris Lane, The Nova Blog - $590.91 (-$250)
Here's the Microsoft Excel file showing everyone's week-to-week "progress", along with the increasingly funny line graph for you visual learners.
One important note before we get to the best, worst, and degenerate bets. Casual Hoya included a bet on North Carolina against Georgia Tech. However, when the lines locked at noon on Thursday, that game was not on the Sportsbook.com board. So that bet was invalidated, which was actually lucky for them because Georgia Tech won by 6 and they would have lost another $100.
Best/worst/degenerate after the jump.
BEST BET: I thought Chas was absolutely nuts betting on San Diego State to cover 12.5 points against Missouri. I've read a couple rumors where the school is thinking about dropping football completely, and the Aztecs haven't been good in ages. So naturally they go to Columbia, cover easily, and damn near win the game outright (in fact they probably should have won). As the Mad Dog might have said, "That's a good job by you Chas!"
WORST BET: Andrew, repeat after me. Never load up on your own team, especially on the logic of "I'm making a stand." It just makes losing even more painful. He lost $200 in fake money betting UConn to cover 6.5 against Temple, then watched them soil themselves in a 30-16 loss to the Owls.
MOST DEGENERATE BET: I don't know what was more awesome about Ken's bet of California/Nevada going over 66 - that someone actually bet on a game between those two teams, or that it came through easily.
BONUS CATEGORY - MOST GUTTING LOST BET: I can't give this one out every week, but there were so many brutal losses this week that this had to be awarded.
I could go with Sean's pick of East Carolina +19.5 against Virginia Tech going up in flames after the Pirates led the Hokies for most of the first half. Or anyone who picked the Irish (particularly on the money line) and then watched that fail when Michigan State pulled out a heart-attack-inducing fake field goal to win it. But I think the winner here is Chris, who had $75 on USC to cover 12 points against Minnesota, but lost when the Trojans won by only 11. Why did they only win by 11? Because fuckface Lane Kiffin kept going for two for absolutely no reason after USC scored, turning a 35-21 win into a 32-21 win. Kiffykins better make sure he doesn't get dumped out of a moving car somewhere near Zzyzx this week.