SBBPA

Well Sports Fans, we’ve come to the end of another spectacular prognostication season and, as usual, most of us are left to contemplate our lot as we wander aimlessly through the prognostication wasteland.

Speaking of wastelands, I imagine the SEC, its fans, and the suits at ESPN must feel hopelessly lost as that conference posted its worst Bowl Season record in the modern era winning just 4 of its 14 games, going 2-8 against non-SEC opponents, and losing its games by combined 303–217. Ouch, that’s gotta hurt!

And as Imperator Furiosa said, “Out here, EVERYTHING HURTS”

Meanwhile the ACC, yes THAT ACC, and the Big10 were the true “Ballers” of the 2025 Bowl Season; the ACC and Big10 tied for the most impressive overall bowl season records each going 9-4. And for the THIRD straight year, the Big10 won the National Championship with Indiana, yes THAT Indiana, posting one of the most impressively dominant seasons ever going 16-0.

Over here at the good ol’ SBBPA, we witnessed another unbelievable winning streak as Zack, a previous champion, led from the very start with an unbelievable 12 consecutive correct picks, and then followed that up with another mind-blowing string of 10 correct picks, building a lead that seemed insurmountable. Previous champions Danyelle and Pete challenged and faded. Wendy threatened briefly and skidded off course. SBBPA stalwarts Marc and Leo closed and battled each other for position…and stalled. And defending champion, Aden Simmonds, made a late surge, but was just a bit outside. Zack’s coronation as only the SECOND two-time SBBPA champion was inevitable!

Except, the TRUE BALLER of this year’s SBBPA Challenge said “Not So Fast My Friends!”

Daisy Temko, who stayed close for most of the action, drafting just behind all that jockeying, made the correct picks when it counted most and stunned Zack, the wire-to-wire leader, on the very last game…earning the 8 points for correctly picking Indiana to win it all! Daisy wins the 2025 SBBPA Challenge by 1 point, 38-37!!!

HUZZAH, DAISY!!!

So that’s a wrap on the 2025 SBBPA Bowl Prognostication Challenge! As usual, it’s been a lot of fun competing and reveling in the results with you all and we’re thankful that you show up to play every year!

Thanks, to all the previous champions who continue to show up: OG Ben Temko (2012), OG Sam Brady (2014), OG Peter Temko (2016), Zack Dannawi (2017), Danyelle Noortajalli (2018), Sonia “Mickler” Alvarez (2022), Kerren Berz (2023), and Aden Simmonds (2024).

We want to also recognize a few of the OG Prognosticators who have been with us since the very beginning in 2012 but have not won yet: Marc Seals, Janice Barnes, Robert “Gator” Ingman, Miles Williams, and Wanda Yang. Don’t worry, guys, we’re due! Next year’s our year!

And a special tip of the cap to Martha Jan Mickler, the only 2-time champion and OG’est of the OGs. We miss you, Mom.

Congratulations, Daisy! We look forward to seeing all of you next year!

This is pretty damned close to my reaction when Miami upset #2 Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl and relegated me to the Wasteland for ANOTHER YEAR, DADGUMMIT!

Well sports fans…it’s starting to feel like IU is the Thanos of the CFB Playoff: They just may be inevitable!

Love ’em or hate ’em, one has to admire IU’s ruthless efficiency in dispatching everyone they’ve faced in the playoff, especially that delicious ass-whooping of Oregon. Cignetti keeping his starters on the field for the entire semifinal game (it was well out of hand in the third quarter) was its own sort of statement!

Then there’s Miami; a team that hasn’t felt inevitable all season long has somehow played their way into the National Championship by beating the team that is almost impossible to like: Ohio State, and everyone’s favorite Cinderella, Ol’ Miss.

THREE TIMES this season we prognosticators as a whole WHIFFED on our picks…TWICE because of Miami! The first was Minnesota’s three-point win over New Mexico, which resulted in a PUSH. Miami’s inconceivable wins over Ohio State and Ol’ Miss were the other two. So where does that leave us?

As it stands, Zack, who has led wire-to-wire, has 37 points. Leo and Marc are tied for 2nd with 33. Danyelle and Wendy are tied for 3rd with 31. But here’s where it gets interesting…

The National Championship is worth 8 points. That means there are NINE prognosticators within striking distance of Zack. After Marc, Leo, Danyelle, and Wendy…Daisy (30), Alex (29), Kieran (29), Maxwell (29), and Pete (29) could either surpass or tie Zack at the end. This year’s challenge is not settled yet!

Is Zack inevitable? Can Leo or Marc finally overtake him? Or will we all be bamboozled by someone deeper in the pack? Will Miami shock the world for the THIRD time? We’ll know a week from today! Stay tuned!

There’s a wonderful scene in Clint Eastwood’s underappreciated A Perfect World where Butch, the escaped convict, introduces Philip, the boy he’s kidnapped, to ideas of relativity and time travel. He explains that their car is a 20th Century Time Machine…behind them the past…in front of them the future…step on the gas to speed towards the future…apply pressure on the brake to slow it down…and apply the break to stop…that’s the present, which is inevitably, fleeting.

Here in this year’s SBBPA, we’re all Philip sitting in that stationary car, in our present, contemplating how we got to this moment in time and how our futures might unfold. How Zack has managed to lead wire-to-wire with multiple impressive streaks and an impressive 33 correct picks. How the hell did he do that? How, Leo and Marc (perennial mid-levelers) have been battling for a close second, switching positions multiple times and, yet, arriving at this moment tied for second with 29. How Danyelle and Wendy have been forever locked in a battle for third with 27. And how Daisy and Alex have continued to shadow the leaders in 4th or 5th place…wondering what might have been.

This is OUR present…

This is OUR future…

So, sports fans, we’ll have to wait until the Semifinal Games on the 8th and 9th to get a clearer picture of where this thing is headed. Already, though, I can hear the desperately whispered “Wait ’till next year, dadgummit!” from those of us who still harbor expectations, unrealistic as they may be, of someday winning this damned thing! But, as Butch so perfectly taught Terry Pugh, there’s a difference between a threat and a fact!

See you next all next week!

Some might see Uncle Billy as the “useful idiot” in Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life. He’s a bit gullible and prone to absent mindedness and serves as the catalyst for the events that lead to George Bailey’s downward spiral. But behind that affable, somewhat simple exterior is a person of deep loyalty to his family and a subtle but obvious love of life in all of its abundance. He loves animals and a good drink, he doesn’t take himself too seriously, and he’s critical to George’s redemptive arc.

What does this have to do with this year’s incredibly important prognostication challenge? Nothing, really. But it seemed important on this Christmas Day to say that we appreciate all of you and your eccentricities. I was once described as “a little weird.” That isn’t a bad way to traverse this strange life. May you all find and embrace your weirdness.

As for the challenge, Zack has finally come back to earth! He’s still sitting atop an impressive prognosticating stretch with 14 correct picks, but a few recent misses have allowed the pack to inch a bit closer as we near the quarterfinals. Marc, Wendy and Leo are close behind with 11. Danyelle, Kerren, Maxwell, and Pete are drafting with 10. Really, sports fans, no one is out of it yet. There are lots of games over the next few days so expect some shakeups!

Click HERE for a PDF

When Nigel Tufnel needs that “extra push over the cliff, ” he goes to 11…ONE LOUDER! There’s one prognosticator who seems to have taken that mantra to heart…actually…Zack has gone TWO LOUDER!

That’s right sports fans; previous champion Zack has shredded the astroturf by nailing 12 straight correct picks in a row to start this year’s challenge. He’s surpassed his own record of 10 correct picks in a row in an impressive start.

Now, the Board of Directors have considered sanctioning Zack as a result of Oklahoma’s inexplicable collapse against Alabama but can find nothing in the bylaws that suggests that a prognosticator can be penalized for the ineptitude of any one team in the challenge. Were there such a clause, we would feel justified in penalizing the entire field by not counting the games involving Tulane and JMU (to be fair…Oregon allowing JMU to score 34 points is also sanctionable). But, alas, we’ll count these wins and carry on!

We’re off to a great start this year with some familiar faces, a few past winners, many masters of the near-miss, a few champions of the almost, and more than a few of the reliably average! THE GOOD NEWS is that we’re all still in it. That is, unless Zack continues on his streak. But, unlike Nigel’s prized Les Paul, these streaks rarely sustain!

For a PDF version, CLICK HERE

Zack is leading the way with 12! Kudos to Leo and Wendy for hanging in there in 2nd place with 9. Past Champion Kerren, Marc, and Sheri are drafting close in 3rd with 8. Past champions Ben, Danyelle, and Pete are waiting in the wings with Daisy, Kieran, and Sam with 7. No one’s out of it, yet! A busy week and weekend await, so, stay tuned!

In the meantime, let’s take a moment to remember an honest to goodness mensch.

RIP Rob and Michele Reiner.

See if you can guess, judging by the looks on their faces, what Gale and Evelle Snoats have just witnessed:

• FSU embarrassing Alabama in the first game of the season
• FSU embarrassing their next three opponents by scoring 143 points against their opponents 13 in their next two games
• FSU embarrassing themselves by losing their next 4 games to Virginia, Miami, <checks notes> Pitt, and <checks notes> Stanford, and finishing with a losing record…AGAIN.
• Georgia embarrassing Alabama in their last game of the season
• The Playoff Committee embarrassing itself by keeping 3-loss Alabama in the playoff and leaving Notre Dame out
• The Playoff Committee embarrassing themselves further by creating a system where the 12-team playoff drops the 11th and 12th ranked teams in the final playoff rankings and, instead, includes <checks notes> the #20 and #24th ranked teams.
• ALL OF THE ABOVE?

Yep, I reckon the Snoats brothers, were they not the strange byproduct of some wicked chemical reaction in Joel and Ethan Cohen’s blood streams, would be plain stupefied by the state of college football in this post-BCS era. We here at the SBBPA are still smarting from the disastrous process a few years ago that eliminated an undefeated and conference champion FSU from the playoff in favor of Alabama. Who knew that, in 2025, the NCAA would say…“hold my beer!” and double down to screw a superior Notre Dame team by gifting Alabama with another underserved playoff spot!!!

Something stinks about the whole damned thing.

If it’s all the same to you, honey, I think I’ll skip this little get together, slip out with the boys, and knock back a couple of Coca Colas.”
– Notre Dame Captains after being snubbed by the NCAA/ESPN

Well, let’s not let the stench of the NCAA and ESPN’s fecklessness ruin our moods as we anticipate this 14th SEASON of the SBBPA Bowl Pick’em Challenge! We’ve got a new champion to crown and another trophy to award!

Here’s a refresher for how the challenge is organized.

There are TWO DIVISIONS:

The VEGAS Division
The CHAMPIONS Division

The VEGAS Division (non-playoff games)

Division 1: The VEGAS DIVISION covers the Division 1 non-playoff games. In the first section, pick the team that you believe will win the game. HOWEVER, you will only win the point IF your team covers the spread. In this year’s form, the favored team will have a negative number by their name. For example:

Sam Houston State (-6.5)

This means that Sam Houston State is favored to win by more than 6.5 points. In order to “win” against the spread, we take 6.5 points AWAY from Sam Houston State’s final score, and THEN we compare the score against their opponent. If it’s still GREATER THAN their opponents score, then Sam Houston State beat the spread! 

But a tie, well, bad news –  a tie against the spread is a LOSS!

So, if you pick the favorite but that team does not win by more than the spread, you do not get the point and anyone who picked the losing team WILL get the point. 

If a team wins by exactly the spread, that’s a PUSH and no point is awarded.

If you pick the underdog (the team without the negative number) and that team wins, you get the point. If you pick the underdog and your team loses by LESS than the spread, you still win the point.

The Champions Division (playoff games)

Division 2: The CHAMPIONS DIVISION covers the 12-team playoff games. Points won in Division 1 are carried forward into this section. There is no spread, no Over/Under challenge. Players will simply pick the winner of EVERY playoff game for the entire playoff bracket. This means that those Round 1 picks are extremely important as the winners advance to the quarterfinal round. Miss a few picks in the first round and your bracket could be blown! Point awards for each round are weighted:

Round 1 = 1 point
Round 2 (quarterfinals) = 2 points
Round 3 (semifinals) = 4 points
Round 4 (championship) = 8 points

Remember that you must stay consistent with your picks through the entire bracket. Unfortunately, this form does not allow us to enforce your pick consistency, so you’ll have to manage this on your own this year. If we see that you were not consistent, we’ll try to contact you to correct your picks before the deadline.

Now remember, there are a few additional rules:

• All picks must be complete and submitted by 12:00pm, Saturday December 13.
• You have to provide an email so your picks can be sent to you by the form.
• You have to make a pick for every game.
• Once you submit your picks, they are locked. no changes, unless we note an inconsistency with your playoff bracket.
• We do not track player opt-outs or coaching changes. If your picked winner suffers massive player opt-outs or loses a coach or two, that’s too bad. You are stuck with that pick!
• Your pick for the National Champion must be an SEC team….wait…that’s not right. Your pick must be one of your projected winners of the semifinal games.

GOT IT? Well, let’s get to pickin’!

Use THIS LINK to make your picks and be sure the get them in before Saturday, December 13th at Noon EST.