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!!!
Daisy made 25 correct picks out of 47 for an overall 53.2% correct. While Zack’s overall correct pick percentage, 70%, was incredibly impressive, Daisy outperformed him 21 to 10 in the Champions Division and will receive the 2025 MJM Award for Excellence in Prognostication (as soon as we can coax it out of the SBBPA fab shop)!
Overall, this was an especially challenging bowl season. For the first time that we can recall, there were three games where everyone got it wrong. One of those was due to an early PUSH and the other two were because NOBODY believed that Miami deserved to be there! Oh well!
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 done committee. It was fun even though statistically there has to be some Gator bias. Gator derangement syndrome? So once again, ‘Wait till next year’! I have a whole new strategy already planned out.🐊