"Tell them … tell the team to bear down"

Memo Buelna and Ben cap competition with 22-12 records

BOWL BONANZA I FINAL RESULTS

By Javier Morales

No truth to Memo Buelna being one of the culprits who drenched Alabama coach Nick Saban with the Gatorade punch toward the end of the Crimson Tide’s BCS title victory over Texas.

Memo was there in spirit, however, as Alabama’s 37-21 victory at the Rose Bowl enabled him to capture our first Bowl Bonanza title. Memo and Ben finished with 22-12 records and it was Memo with the better predicted outcomes between Arizona-Nebraska and Alabama-Texas that turned the tide to his favor.

Memo had a point-differential of only 41 between the two games while Ben had 69. Memo predicted that Alabama would beat Texas 35-24, a point differential of only five because of the Tide’s 37-21 victory. Ben predicted Texas to win 27-24, so his point differential was 19.

In the Holiday Bowl, won by Nebraska 33-0 over the Wildcats, Memo predicted Arizona to win 17-14 (a differential of 36) while Ben picked Arizona to win 34-17 (a differential of 50). A combination of the point-differentials puts Buelna at 41 while Ben finished at 69.

We want to congratulate Memo and Ben for a fine showing in our first Bowl Bonanza and thank all of the respondents for their participation. The strong participation makes you wonder how special our first March Madness picks competition will be in only a couple of months.

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BCS championship game significant for two participants

BOWL BONANZA STANDINGS (PRE-BCS TITLE GAME)

By Javier Morales

Thirty-three bowls completed and still no winner in our first Bowl Bonanza.

With one bowl remaining, the competition is down to two participants — Ben and Memo Buelna. They are separated by one game and each picked a different winner in the BCS championship game tonight at the Rose Bowl.

Ben, the leader with a 22-11 record, predicts Texas to win 27-24. Memo, alone in second at 21-12, picks Alabama to roll over the Longhorns 35-24.

It’s simple: Texas wins and Ben captures the Bowl Bonanza title. If Alabama wins, Memo has a chance depending on the point-differential of the picks combined with their Arizona-Nebraska predicted score.

Arizona lost to Nebraska 33-0 in the Holiday Bowl (which, by the way, is the only shutout this bowl season). Memo’s point-differential from that game is 36 as he predicted Arizona to win 17-14 (17-point difference from Arizona’s score added to the 19-point difference from the Nebraska score). Ben predicted Arizona to win 34-17, which is a differential of 50 points.

Some interesting tidbits:

• Only two of 48 participants picked Nebraska to beat Arizona in the Holiday Bowl.
• Ben is among the minority picking Texas to beat Alabama. Out of 44 respondents in our Bowl Bonanza, 37 believe Alabama will defeat the Longhorns.
• Only 11 of 43 respondents thought Boise State would beat TCU in the Fiesta Bowl. The Broncos defeated TCU 17-10.
• The Oregon Ducks were overwhelming favorites among 41 people who picked the game (34 people took the Ducks over the Buckeyes). Ohio State won the game 26-17. More Pac-10 bias: Out of 46 respondents, 40 took Oregon State over BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl. The Cougars routed the Beavers 44-20.
• It was a rough bowl season for most participants. Teams picked by more than 80 percent of the respondents went only 9-8. Those that were picked by more than 90 percent by our respondents (Arizona 96 percent, Fresno State 91 percent against Wyoming, USC 95 percent against Boston College, Auburn 95 percent against Northwestern and Central Michigan 93 percent against Troy) went 3-2 with two of the wins coming in overtime (Auburn and Central Michigan). Alabama is favored by 84 percent of our respondents.

BOWL BONANZA LEADER BOARD (PRE-BCS TITLE GAME)

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Only seven of 46 respondents have winning records

By Javier Morales

Time for an update for our Bowl Bonanza (as I hope our participants and the Pac-10 turn it around this bowl season) …

• 46 people responded (we want to thank you for that)
• JT Montgomery, who finished a fraction behind Jimmy for the regular-season title, is tied for first with a 6-3 record along with David Benson and Ben
• Four are at 5-4: Go UACats, Donald Armijo, Kevin Richter and Ernest Gradillas.
• The 39 other participants have sub-.500 records. They know how Cal and Oregon State feel this holiday season. But unlike the Bears and Beavers, those struggling with their picks have another day.
• Reminders: If you have not picked the Arizona-Nebraska game and score, please do so as soon as possible. We had four of the 46 fail to make picks in the second segment of selections, which started with USC’s win over Boston College last night. Please make your selections as soon as possible. Every missed pick is considered a loss.
• If you are not one of the 46 who started in the process, and you still want to make selections, you can. However, you will start with an 0-9 record (the amount of games played thus far).
• Now on to the standings (and links to the remaining picks if you have not made selections yet):

BOWL BONANZA LEADER BOARD (PRE-BCS TITLE GAME)

BOWL BONANZA STANDINGS (AFTER NINE GAMES)

REHASH OF THE WILDABOUTAZCATS BOWL BONANZA RULES:

• The poll will not close. If you miss a pick, you lose that game. The PollDaddy software tracks the time the picks are made, so I can tell if you selected the bowl after it started. Those picks will go into the loss column.
• As you will notice, I separated the picks into six segments: Holiday Bowl (Arizona-Nebraska), BCS title game (Texas-Alabama), and four separate links for the other bowls. The reason why I separated them like this is because PollDaddy allows only a certain amount of survey entries at a time.
• The Arizona-Nebraska game and BCS game are on their own because each requires a tie-breaking score. At the end, the scores of those two games will be combined. If there is a tie, the person who picks the scores the closest wins.
• If you have any questions, e-mail me at wildaboutazcats@gmail.com

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Fans can match wits with 34 games to pick

By Javier Morales

No prize was dangled for Jimmy and JT and the eight other regulars (other than Anthony Gimino and myself) who stuck it out for a whole season worth of picks.

I sent a congratulatory message to Jimmy and JT for finishing in the top two by a slim margin — Jimmy’s 76.2 percentage of accuracy against JT’s 76 percent. But the more I thought of it, the more I wanted to thank them for participating although they knew all they could achieve was more self pride.

So, because Jimmy and JT finished so close at the top, I rewarded both of them, not only Jimmy. I ordered a UA t-shirt to be sent to them. I could tell by their return e-mail that they were excited and appreciative. That was all I needed to realize running the picks was worth the hour or so each week to keep it updated.

I want to also thank the others who maintained their picks to remain in the season standings. As for everyone else, your participation is certainly appreciated as well. And now you get another chance to beat the next person.

The bowl season is among us, only three days away (Dec. 19). It’s also time for the 2009 WILDABOUTAZCATS BOWL BONANZA. Here’s a list of the rules:

• The poll will not close. If you miss a pick, you lose that game. The PollDaddy software tracks the time the picks are made, so I can tell if you selected the bowl after it started. Those picks will go into the loss column.
• As you will notice, I separated the picks into six segments: Holiday Bowl (Arizona-Nebraska), BCS title game (Texas-Alabama), and four separate links for the other bowls. The reason why I separated them like this is because PollDaddy allows only a certain amount of survey entries at a time.
• The Arizona-Nebraska game and BCS game are on their own because each requires a tie-breaking score. At the end, the scores of those two games will be combined. If there is a tie, the person who picks the scores the closest wins.
• If you have any questions, e-mail me at wildaboutazcats@gmail.com

Good luck to everyone who decides to participate. Should be an interesting 2-3 weeks of football. Can somebody let Charlie Weis know of this competition? He has nothing else going on.

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