I couldn't be more pleased with this tweet. In just one short week I've completely debauched the Big East blogger community with the "Protect Your Unit" Game. And we only have 15 weeks of despair left to go!
DISCLAIMER: This contest is for entertainment purposes only. No actual wagering is being performed. I hope not, anyway.
Anyway, you want to know how we all did. Well, the short answer is -- we pretty much sucked. Everyone started with $1,000 in fake money, and here's where everyone stands now.
- Hoya Suxa - $1,065.91
- Sean Keeley, Troy Nunes Is an Absolute Magician - $1,043.18
- Kevin Meacham, The UConn Blog - $976.82
- Toro Grande - $966.40
- Ken DeCelles - $965.91
- Voodoo 5 - $961.91
- Scott, Bearcats Blog - $908.64
- WVUIE97, The Smoking Musket - $900.00
- Casual Hoya - $893.18
- Andrew Porter, The UConn Blog - $872.73
- Chas Rich, Pitt Blather - $850.00
- Chris Lane, The Nova Blog - $800.00
There are only two people in the black. Wonder what they had in common? Maybe this text message will answer it.
VOODOO 5: Only Glaude and Keeley came out ahead, and that's because they loaded up on Syracuse.
TORO GRANDE: Because that's a sound long term strategy.
You can find all of our Week 1 bets and how they turned out in this Microsoft Excel file. The tabs at the bottom list everyone's results together and individually, plus there's a graph tab that will only get funnier over the coming weeks as we see who makes it all the way down to (and then below) zero.
Also, every week I will choose what I think was the best and worst bet of the week, plus the most truly degenerate bet of the week -- the kind of obscure or crazy pick that cries out for the person placing it to call that Harrah's hotline for people who can't control their wagering. Here are my picks for Week 1:
BEST BET: I have to give it to myself because I was the only person to successfully pull off a tease or a parlay. I teased Missouri down to -6 and Notre Dame down to -5, which was perfect because I would have lost betting Missouri ATS (they were -12 and only won by 10), and Notre Dame would have pushed (favored by 11, won by 11).
WORST BET: Chris laying $100 on UAB -14 over FAU. Not only did the Blazers not cover at home, but the Owls ended up winning the game outright.
MOST DEGENERATE BET: Chris wins this for the exact same bet. It was the only bet of the entire week that didn't involve at least one BCS team. It really takes a special kind of degenerate to come right out of the gate and lay the wood on a bad C-USA team against a mediocre Sun Belt team. I salute you, Chris.
We'll be back Thursday night (or more likely Friday since I'm traveling to Tampa on Thursday night) with the Week 2 picks. Until then, always remember to protect your unit.