Congratulations to Matt Snare for winning this year’s bowl pool! Matt was the only entry to pick all of the New Year’s Six games and the National Championship game correctly.  He used that strong finish to win the pool based on the closest tiebreaker.  Nicholas Monaco, a Clemson grad who was in Tampa for the dramatic National Championship game, tied Matt with 27 points, but had to settle for 2nd place based on the tiebreaker.  Francis Martin, who led the pool with a few games remaining, fell to 3rd place after Penn State and Alabama lost.  Micki Schwartz will get her money back for finishing last.

The final results and standings can be seen here:  “2016 Standings”

Completed Games:
National Championship Game – 1/9/17
Clemson 35, Alabama 31

Thanks to everyone for playing!

All four favorites won yesterday, including a wild comeback win by USC in the Rose Bowl, and 5 entries remain alive in the bowl pool.  Francis Martin continues to lead the pool with 26 points.  Four entries are tied for second place with 24 points – Kylie Snyder, Lowell Snare, Nicholas Monaco, and Matt Snare.  The results of the National Championship game will determine the winner, as outlined below.

If Alabama wins,

• Francis Martin would win the pool.
• Kylie Snyder (tiebreaker = 52) and Lowell Snare (tiebreaker = 41) would tie for second place.  The entry with the closest tiebreaker score would claim 2nd place, while the other entry would claim 3rd place.

If Clemson wins,

• Nicholas Monaco (tiebreaker = 44) and Matt Snare (tiebreaker = 48) would tie for first place.  The entry with the closest tiebreaker score would claim 1st place, while the other entry would claim 2nd place.
• Francis Martin would claim 3rd place.

Click the “2016 Standings” link for the latest updates.

Completed Games:

Outback Bowl – 1/2/17
Florida 30, Iowa 3

Cotton Bowl – 1/2/17
Wisconsin 24, Western Michigan 16

Rose Bowl – 1/2/17
USC 52, Penn State 49

Sugar Bowl – 1/2/17
Oklahoma 35, Auburn 19

Upcoming Games:
National Championship Game – 1/9/17 – 8:00 pm ESPN
Alabama vs. Clemson

With 5 games left in the pool, there are 32 possible outcomes.

17 entries remain alive to finish in the money (Top 3), including 5 entries that could win the pool.  The current leader, Francis Martin, is in the driver’s seat.  He wins the pool in 62.5% of the possible scenarios, and he has an 84% chance of finishing in the money.  Other potential winners include Nicholas Monaco (18% chance to win, 39% chance in the money), Rick Grubb (13% chance to win, 29% chance in the money), Matt Snare (5% chance to win, 26% chance in the money), and Stephanie Everett (2% chance to win, 7% chance in the money).

While Kylie Snyder can’t finish ahead of Francis, she has the highest odds of finishing in 2nd or 3rd place (50% chance).  Raj Basavaraju (14% chance), Lowell Snare (12% chance), Sherryl Snare (9% chance), Brendan Galligan (6% chance), and Tom Hank (6% chance) all have a greater than 5% chance to finish in the money.  Six other entries (Jason Edelen, Andrew Lessner, Jeff Parker, Miriam Snare, Tony Chan, and Jeff Roberta) are long-shots, but are still mathematically alive.

And plenty of entries are still alive for last place 😉

Enjoy the games on January 2nd!