Protect Your Unit Week 1 Results

(DISCLAIMER: This contest is for entertainment purposes only. No actual money is being wagered.)

Howard University is a historically black university in Washington, D.C. It is probably the Harvard of HBCUs. It is considered Tier 1 and a research university; has a wide range of programs; a highly-rated law school; and produces more than its share of Rhodes, Fulbright, and other scholars. Its famous alumni range from jurist Thurgood Marshall to the excitable announcer Gus Johnson.

What it’s not known for is athletic accomplishments. Until this week. On Saturday, Howard scored the biggest point spread upset in college football history, defeating UNLV 43-40. The point spread was 44.5 points; a money line bet was +55000 at some books (though, unfortunately, it didn’t turn up in PYU).

Other games of interest this week:

• Texas +300, which looked very favorable, turned out to be not such a good bet as Maryland rolled over the ‘horns 51-41.
• This would have been a great example of hedging, as explained by Jamie in his GAMBOLLLLLL glossary. Anyone who bet Texas +300 could have later bet Maryland at +1000, guaranteeing themselves a big win no matter the game’s outcome.
• In the San Jose State game, USF defensive end Kelvin Pinkney had a scoop-and-score overturned when the quarterback was ruled down. This impacted almost every bet on the game, as the six points would have been enough to affect all the point spread and over-under bets. EastCoastBull in particular lost $170 fake dollars, having bet both over 69.5 and USF -21.
• Everyone got Navy-FAU right. And thanks to Lane Kiffin’s stubbornness, the game didn’t end early, allowing all those bets to pay off. The rule is that 55 minutes or more must play; the Navy-FAU game resumed after a third lightning delay early in the fourth quarter, and played to completion.
• FSU-Alabama and Temple-Notre Dame were popular plays, but Snafu13 was the only one to bet on the Tide, and only ucscott won the latter game, taking the Irish to cover.
• Collin bet the maximum amount on Michigan to cover against Florida, and takes an early season lead.
• The Houston-UTSA game was postponed due to the effects of Hurricane Harvey.

Some rules and procedural notes:

• Remember, you must bet at least 3 games, including 1 AAC game, each week to be eligible for the end-of-season prizes.
• I have posted the new season’s official rules in a separate post. There’s not much new this year, except I clarified a couple things. See that post for details.

This week’s awards:

Floyd’s Money Team Degenerate Bet of the Week goes to the surprisingly large number of people who bet Hawaii-UMass. What was your angle on this one? Hawaii is terrible on the mainland, UMass is terrible everywhere, and it’s an opening game to boot. Plus, Hawaii had a 5,000-mile trip east. Imagine how jet-lagged USF would be, trying to play a game in Prague. mwllz80, GibbsAK, ulhothot, lrdnorman, accept your plaudits. Honorable mention to AndrewPina for playing UMass against Coastal Carolina, a team in its first FCS game.

Randolph and Mortimer Spite Bet of the Week goes to DaGata, for betting 19.80 against Georgia. I see what you did there. Lindsey Scott sends his regards. Honorable mention to ULhothot and dsidwell31 for betting on their school’s opponent to win outright.

You know, people don’t really do the $1 dick bet thing. We’re a pretty friendly bunch, so it’s hard to award this sometimes.

Standings:

Week 2 attractions include: The always painful USF-UConn game, now with more Randy Edsall; other conference games in Tulane-Navy and Memphis-UCF; East Carolina-West Virginia, which should be good for a laugh after FCS James Madison crushed the Pirates (and were actually favored by 7); Louisiana-Lafayette at Tulsa; Cincinnati-Michigan: North Texas-SMU; Villanova-Temple; and Houston-Arizona.

National games of note: Oklahoma-Ohio State; Stanford-USC; Auburn-Clemson; Pittsburgh-Penn State; Nebraska-Oregon; Utah-BYU in a rare early-season slot; Georgia-Notre Dame. And finally, the horrifying but entertaining Iowa-Iowa State rivalry game.