First Impressions

I wanted to get these quick hit impressions knocked out before this weekend, but Florence prep had me going eight different directions.  So here's some lukewarm takes: College Edition.  I'll tackle the NFL later this week once I'm dry and the kids have their groove back.

CFP Rankings

• Five teams showed up on all the ballots.  Three usual suspects: Alabama, Clemson, and Oklahoma.  The recently dispatched from playoff contention: Wisconsin.  And a darkhorse ACC Champion contender: Virginia Tech
• Surprising omissions from the unanimous selections (omitting offender in parentheses): Georgia (Jack) and Ohio State (Joe)
• Seven teams made the cut as one-offs: 
• Florida - Josh, his alumni blood runs deep into The Swamp
• App State & Oklahoma State - Joe, I assume he's a Mountaineer or RockClimber or Moccasin or whatever App State's mascot is because no one in their right mind would include them over Ohio State unless they have multiple degrees and a hilltop bungalow in Blowing Rock.  His inclusion of the Pokes is looking like a masterstroke as they have looked good on both sides of the ball so far this season.  
• Iowa, NC State, & Utah - Adam, I didn't attend any of these schools so my inclusion of them as one-offs is simply an oversight on y'alls parts.  The Hawkeyes will ascend to mediocrity in a weak division, the Wolfpack are coming off an emerging season with a stud QB, and the Utes will likely disappoint.  2-out-of-3 ain't bad.  
• Michigan State - Chris, they've looked shaky & unreliable.  Maybe Chris gets lucky and catches them on the upswing at the end of the season and cashes in 20 pts.

CFP Playoff

• The playoff field is full of lots of overlap of Crimson Tide, Tigers, and Bulldogs, so there won't really be any separation here unless TCU (Sam) or Notre Dame (Adam) sneak in somehow.  Both are looking unlikely for different reasons.

National Champ

• Its a two-bandwagon race between Alabama (Jack, Larry, Josh, Joe, & Sam) and Georgia (Adam & Chris).  That's it.  If they meet for the rematch, we'll have 50 pts swinging back & forth all night.

Power 5

• ACC: Clemson (all of you) vs Virginia Tech (me).  Of course, it might just be Syracuse or BC vs VA Tech....hahahahahaha.  Probably not, we'll see on Dec 1.
• Big Ten: Ohio State (Jack & Sam) vs Wisconsin (Larry, Josh, Joe, Adam, & Chris).  The Big Ten is a mess after this weekend.  It could be Iowa vs Penn State come December, who knows.
• Big 12: Our first three-horse race with Oklahoma (Jack, Larry, Josh & Joe) vs TCU (Sam & Adam) vs West Virginia (Chris).  Oklahoma always looks like the Greatest Show on Turf right up until they see any semblance of a defense which is hard to come by in the Big 12 (unless OK State is fo real).  TCU and WVU certainly won't make it easy.  I assume all those games will be 56-49 track meets.
• Pac-12: Washington (Jack, Larry, Joe & Chris) vs Stanford (Josh, Sam, & Adam).  Sounds about right.  Although Oregon vs Stanford this Saturday night could tip the apple cart in Washington's favor (see what I did there???)
• SEC: Alabama vs Georgia.  Ditto from the Nat'l Champ section
• Group of 5 NY6: South Florida (Jack) vs UCF (Larry/Josh) vs Boise State (the rest of us).  Boise State is behind the 8-ball now and will be watching the showdown between the two Florida powerhouses on Nov 23 with great intrigue.  ASIDE: Its possible that UCF and USF are better teams right now than the Holy Trinity of FSU, UF,  and UM

Worst Team

• ACC: Virginia (Josh) vs UNC (all of us).  What the hell happened in Chapel Hill? I assume they've cooled it on the whole "Orange Peeling 101 sounds like a perfectly legitimate course" thing and that's torpedo'd any chance of recruiting decent talent to a basketball school.  
• Big Ten: Rutgers (Jack, Josh, Joe & Adam) vs Purdue (Larry) vs Illinois (Sam & Chris).  A vintage race to the basement.  Jeff Brohm likely steals a win or two in-conference, so Larry's out.  But Lovie Smith annnnnnnd Greg Schiano??? Butch Jones???? Ralph Friedgen??? Curt Flood???? who the hell is coaching Rutgers?? Sounds like that answers my quandary.  Rutgers likely wins the basement
• Big 12: I woulda sworn Kansas would get the clean sweep vote here, but Iowa State (Larry) and Texas (Josh) got some "love" here.  Texas looked strong against USC on Saturday night and Iowa State gave Oklahoma a minor scare for a few quarters yesterday, but the real news is Kansas (the rest of us) beat the shit out of that coach-less Rutgers team.  I'm beginning to doubt anyone gets points in this category.
• Pac-12: Oregon State (Jack, Joe, Sam, Adam & Chris) vs Arizona (Larry) vs UCLA (Josh).  Perennial doormat Oregon State (man, those Chad Johnson/TJ Houshmanzadeh years are a looooooonnng time ago) might have some competition from Chip Kelly's talentless Bruins.  Sorry, Larry, Khalil Tate can't suck all season.  He'll figure things out and win a game or two.  But the Beavers & Bruins could be sharing bunk beds in the cellar.
• SEC: Vanderbilt (Jack & Chris) vs Arkansas (Larry, Josh, Joe, & Sam) vs Missouri (Adam).  This HAS to be Arkansas' to lose, right?  They got absolutely crushed by North Texas on Saturday after getting beat by a meh Colorado State team the week before.  No chance they turn around and beat anyone on their conference schedule.  

Heisman Trophy

• Too many names to mention, but if Tua keeps it up Larry, Josh, Sam & Adam will be sitting pretty.  
• I'm still liking my Kellen Mond one-off selection.  He could steal the show from Tua on Saturday in Tuscaloosa just like another shifty, athletic A&M QB a few years back.  
• Dwayne Haskins looks the part of a Heisman QB.  That dude is luh-git.  

Props: College

• Alabama Losses: Everyone (minus Chris) have Bama losing once.  Seemed reasonable before Tua showed off his skills in more than just one half of football.  Now?  Its dicey.  They will only get stronger and more unbeatable.  This one is gonna be close.
• Count 'Em Up: 
• Jack was savvy with his Kansas pick of 2 wins.  They've achieved that and still have a one-game margin of error which they don't need.  The rest of their schedule is unwinnable.  Put this one in the books for Jack.  
• Larry loves his Mississippi State Bulldogs and he's got them winning 10 this season.  Traveling to Baton Rouge & Tuscaloosa will be big-time games for them, not to mention home tilts against Auburn & Texas A&M.  Lose all four and Larry is playing for his 15 pts in the bowl game.  
• Josh's affinity for the Gators is the exact opposite feeling I have for them.  I'm Gator Bait, as they say in Gainesville.  Florida's schedule is a week-to-week headscratcher.  Does Dan Mullen's return to Starkville mean an emotional upset of the Bulldogs?  Is Vanderbilt D's gonna overwhelm the inept Gator offense?  Will FSU have figured things out by the end of the season?  Will Idaho shock Gator Nation with a 35-10 drubbing in The Swamp?  Josh might get 7 wins but they might not be the 7 wins he was expecting.  
• Joe (11), Adam (12), & Chris (12) all picked Georgia and its safe to say that barring injuries (yes, it has to be plural, "injuries", because they can beat you in various ways) they should coast into 12 wins.  Its all about the extra games.  That's where they'll earn those secret paychecks.  
• Sam kept the Super Fan 99 theme going with his selection of Tennessee and 6 wins which seems conservative & appropriate.  Each game will certainly matter when landing at a .500 conclusion.  Not much room for Jeremy Pruitt to get better throughout the season.  

Jayhawks

• Incredibly Rock Chalk Jayhawk has managed to score our first points of the season.  Larry, Joe, Sam, Adam, and Chris all locked up 15 pts when KU drug Rutgers behind the woodshed and beat them senseless.  Kudos to us (not you, Jack & Josh, you suck)

CFB Win Increase

• We selected twenty-three (23) unique teams from every FBS conference (plus Independent BYU) except for the ACC.  Not one team from the ACC seemed to be improved enough to catch anyone's eye.  I'm considering tracking their progress separately to see if we screwed the pooch.
• The Big Ten (5) and the SEC (4) got the most love.  I ain't so good at the math-uh-matics but something tells me they can't all improve.  Read: sad-faced emoji in a few months for some of you
• The most common selection was Baylor with five participants: Jack, Josh, Joe, Sam, and Chris
• The difference-makers will be the single-selection teams:
• UConn - Larry
• Rutgers - Larry
• Tennessee - Larry
• East Carolina - Sam
• Kentucky - Sam
• West Virginia - Joe
• Michigan - Joe
• Maryland - Jack
• Arkansas - Jack
• Rice - Adam
• Charlotte - Adam
• Hawaii - Adam
• Colorado - Adam
• Ball State - Chris
• BYU - Chris
• Oregon State - Josh
• I managed to corner the market on difference-makers with four (4) teams all to myself.  I'm truly in a ride-or-die situation.  Thus far its working; I'm leading the crowd.  Its gonna be tough to sustain, but I'm trying to be more optimistic these days.

I appreciate everyone taking the time to fill out the sheets.  I'll update the Tracker tab on the Google Sheet every week on days when my kids cooperate and let me have an hour to myself.  Enjoy the season and I'll see you soon for the NFL First Impressions.

2018 Kickoff

Predicting stuff is always fun.  The Oscars, the names of royal babies, how long Taylor Swift's next relationship will last.  Its fun.  The Football Prediction Extravaganza takes that fun and extends it to the NFL and College Football seasons.  You should've received some PDFs with various spots to fill-in your own personal predictions of how you think the season will shake out.  Things like the Super Bowl Champ, the CFP Champ, the Heisman, and more.  Have fun with it, that's all its intended to be.  Take some time to fill out the sheets, scan them, and email them back to me by 11:59 PM EST on Tuesday, September 11, 2018 to qualify.  

Please note that this season each participant will put $20 in the pot.  2nd place gets their money back.  1st place takes the rest.  

Early entrants took part in our NFL Draft Prediction Kickoff back in April.  Here are the current standings:

Adam - 52 pts
Joe - 50 pts
Josh - 48 pts
Larry - 46 pts
Sam - 46 pts
Jack - 44 pts
Steve - 38 pts

Still anyone's game, even anyone who joins us for the Main Event.  If you're a new participant please get your $20 to me via check or PayPal by Tuesday, Sept 11 to qualify.  Our current pot stands at 1st - $200, 2nd - $20  (I put in some sweetener $$$).

Enough pomp & circumstance, let's go over the sheets to make sure everyone understands what the heck is goin' on.  

NFL Teams 2018
This one is fairly cut 'n dry.  Simply fill in the team you think will win each Division and Wild Card.  Then the teams that will appear in the Conference Title Games.  Then the Conference Champs.  Then the Super Bowl Champ.

Finally on this page is one of our first Prop sections: 10+ Losses and 10+ Wins.  Its just like it sounds.  Predict five (5) teams that will lose at least 10 games and five (5) teams that will win at least 10 games.  You'll receive the corresponding point value for each correct prediction.

CFB Rankings 2018
Mostly clean 'n simple, but let's go over it just in case.  There are fifteen (15) slots for teams that you predict will finish in the final College Football Playoff Ranking on December 2, 2018.  Little known fact: the committee ranks the entire Top 25 on that final day and teams are assigned to New Year's Six bowls accordingly.  You don't need to worry about the order of the teams, simply list 15 teams you think will finish in that final ranking and earn 20 pts for each correct team.

Next up, there are four slots for the CFP Final Four.  Predict which teams you think will make the Playoff.  Then predict the National Champ.

In the Power 5 section you'll need to predict which teams will win the Conference Championship Game in each of the Power 5 conferences.  The final slot is reserved for the team you think will be selected from the Group of 5 schools ("G5 NY6") to appear in the New Year's Six game.  Ex: 2014 - Boise State, 2015 - Houston, 2016 - Western Michigan, 2017 - UCF

The Heisman Trophy section has one slot for the Winner (W) and four other slots for players you think will get the invite to NYC for the ceremony.  

Finally on this page is the Worst Team according to their conference records only.  For example, the Tennessee Volunteers were the worst team in the SEC in 2017 going 0-8.  Yep, even Vanderbilt, Kentucky, and Arkansas managed to avoid the cellar thanks to the Vols.  In the event of a tie both teams will be awarded Worst Team distinction.  

FB Props 2018
Let's go left to right, top to bottom dissecting these various props.

First, NFL Win Increase.  You are responsible for selecting five (5) teams that you think will increase their win total from 2017 to 2018.  You'll need to write-in the 2017 Win Total in the space provided to confirm that we're dealing with the same baseline number.  Only regular season wins will count towards our totals.  I'll post a final Leaderboard after the regular season and award 30-20-15 points to the Top 3 finishers in this category.

Ditto, NCAA Win Increase.  Follow the same procedure when selecting your five (5) teams, however, there are two items worth noting.  1) Any team from D-1, FBS, Power 5 & G5 or whatever you're calling it these days is eligible.  2) ALL wins will count towards the end of season Leaderboard including bowls & Playoff wins.  Choose carefully and try to secure a spot in the Top 3 for 30-20-15 points.  

NOTE: For the following sections (where applicable), you'll need to clearly mark with an X, an initial, a checkmark, a bloody thumbprint, whatever to indicate you clearly choose that specific outcome.  

Alabama - Since 2010 Alabama's total losses look like this: 3-1-1-2-2-1-1-1.  Saban has himself a bonafide juggernaut churning out win after win after win down in Tuscaloosa.  But its gotta come crashing down at some point, right?  Does the bottom just fall out and he limps to a 6-7 season out of nowhere?  That's for you to decide.  Will Alabama lose 0-1-2+ games this season?  

Browns - The Cleveland Browns have won four games in three seasons.  The Philadelphia Eagles won five games last October.  Do you think the Browns come roaring out of a 4-44 funk and win 2+ games in 2018?  Check the appropriate box.

Count 'Em Up - This one comes courtesy of a defending champion participant from last year's contest (that's right, if you win you also earn the right to submit a prop for the next contest).  Its the Honda Civic LE in dull silver of prop bets.  Tried, true, reliable.  Simply pick a team and submit their 2018 win total.  You'll get a 1 game margin of error, so choose wisely to earn those 15 points.  

Jayhawks - Meet the Kansas Jayhawks, the Cleveland Browns of college football.  Since 2010 their win totals look like this: 3-2-1-3-3-0-2-1.  The Athletic did a great piece explaining why their whole program went to absolute shit courtesy of Charlie Weis' love affair with JUCO transfers.  Its worth the read.  Meanwhile, you'll need to decide whether David Beaty (he's their coach, and Bill Self's personal valet) can turn the program into a 2-time winner of a football game. 

Battle of Cali - Things get a little tricky here.  I'm gonna ask you to do some math (BOOOO!!!!).  Your tasked with tallying up the predicted win totals of the Southern California NFL teams (Rams & Chargers) versus the Bay Area NFL teams (Raiders & Niners).  Do you prefer your California sipping wine in the lush green earthquake-riddled rolling hills of Silicon Valley or the trudging through the congested highways surrounded by rusty brown jagged mountains locking in decades of LA pollution?  Or do they PUSH?  Your call.

Beast of the East - We switch coasts and make this a weak-kneed Civil War rematch of Florida vs New York.  Will the Bucs, Dolphins, and Jaguars out-win the Giants, Jets, & Bills?  You tell me.

Finally, we close out the sheets with a good ol' fashioned prediction of Fewest Wins (NFL) and Most Wins (NFL).  If multiple teams finish with the same Fewest or Most wins, all of those teams will be awarded credit.  

A couple of final notes:

• Please write legibly.  Its makes everything easier
• You won't be penalized for what I'm calling "over-predicting".  If you predict Oakland to win the AFC West but they only win the Wild Card, you will still earn Wild Card points.  This principle will be applied in common sense situations.  
• Why September 11? The deadline for submission occurs at the conclusion of NFL Week 1 because I like to give all participants a small window of time to knock the rust off and get up to speed (relatively speaking) with the season.  Again, your submission must be time-stamped via email before 11:59 EST on Tuesday Sept 11, 2018
• "But Adam, I only follow one & not the other" - That's cool, my recommendation is A) find a buddy who knows the other half and go in halfsies and split your earnings or B) totally wing it and/or call my Mom for tips; your odds end up in about the same place.
• "I don't have a scanner, what should I do?" - Drop them in the snail mail blue box outside the local Piggly Wiggly and mark the left side of the box in yellow chalk with an X and await further instructions.  Or just email me and I'll give you my new address (we recently moved) and you can send them over.  Your submission must be postmarked by Tuesday, Sept 11, 2018
• Any questions? Email me at amullen14@gmail.com

Final 2017 Standings

Super Bowl LII is quickly becoming a distant memory and Pitchers & Catchers report in a few days, so I thought it was fitting to put a bow on the 2017 Football Prediction Extravaganza.  

Not too much changed on the Leaderboards, just some repositioning in the lower halves.  The only points that got punched was "AFC Champ" who shall remain nameless (at least in this house).  

I'll be sending a crisp twenty dollar bill to Jack & Nish while Josh will get a big fat stack of fifty singles (ignore the glitter and the smell of strawberry lotion; how I earn my mad money is my business).  

Thank you so much for participating in the Beta Test.  I think it went well.  I'll hopefully get a survey put together in the coming weeks, but if you have any feedback please send it my way via email.  The only thing I'm certain to change is combining both games into one large Football Ganza.  Managing both Leaderboards was more tedious that I was prepared for.  

Enjoy the offseason.  The Combine, Free Agency, Pro Days, the Draft, and OTAs string together to get us to the preseason.  See you somewhere along the way.  

Leaderboard Update - Jan 10

All stats are as of entering NFL Divisional Round Weekend

The cement is curing on the final Leaderboards.  Let's take a look at them one-by-one.

College Football

Whoa! What a game! Too bad the wrong guys won.  Sigh.  I'm not a UGA fan, per se, but I sure ain't an Alabama fan.  Ugh.  I definitely suffer from 'Bama Fatigue, Yankee Fatigue, Patriots Fatigue (those effin' guys), and Seahawk Fatigue.  I like churn.  I like to see new faces in familiar places.  It was refreshing to see the Astros in the World Series.  I, of course, loved to see the Falcons in the Super Bowl last year.  I'm always advocating for the middle-of-the-pack little guy (ex: Oklahoma State, Wake Forest, Kentucky, etc.) to make the come-up.  And while I don't think UCF deserved a spot at the Playoff Table this year (especially since the 4-seed won the whole thing), a team like that at least deserves better consideration from those elitist big whigs on the Committee.  I saw that six members are leaving and they'll be looking at replacements in the coming weeks.  Hopefully they give a spot or two to an AD or old coach from the Group of Five.  

As for our College Football Prediction Extravaganza, Jack is our winner.  He was untouchable after Oklahoma was eliminated.  Larry made it respectable but it was too little too late.  Congratulations Jack.  I'll get your crisp $20 bill in the mail soon.

Here's a breakdown of each category.  I encourage you to check out the Google Doc for a closer look at who & what.

I'll send out a survey looking for feedback once the Super Bowl concludes, so start thinking of things you liked and didn't like and ways to improve our game for next season.

NFL

Only one scoring change to report and it was an error on my part.  Somehow I shorted Thomas 7-pts somewhere along the way.  I've since corrected that oversight, conducted a complete audit of the scoring up to this point, and compiled a category breakdown.

Its obvious that Week 8 QBs is a bit too heavily weighted.  I like the concept and will make some tweaks next season like moving it to later in the season (Week 12??) and definitely reducing the point values.  I'm also expanding the Individual Stats categories to eight players for 100 total points and scrapping the "never done it before" component.  Otherwise I think the Individual Stats was a challenging success.

Selecting the playoff field was brutal, particularly in the NFC.  We selected 13 unique teams in the AFC and 12 in the NFC.  And while there were certainly some crazy gambles (Houston, Indianapolis, Cleveland!!!!), the points took a colossal dump when perennial contenders (Dallas, Seattle, Green Bay) fell from greatness.  In a testament to the NFL's beloved parity two teams (Buffalo & New Orleans) made the field that none of us saw coming.  In fact, the NFC boasted five new playoff teams with only Atlanta making the field again from last season.  That's your rationale for picking San Francisco, Tampa Bay, and Washington next season. 

I've put together a chart that hopefully makes sense of what's at stake these last three weeks of the NFL season.

For the NFL prize money ($20), its a three-man race (sorry Josh) between Nish, Thomas, and myself.  I want to take this opportunity to offer a sincere thanks to everyone who participated and we'll see you next season.

What happens if.....

• ..Atlanta is eliminated?  Nish rejoices and walks away with a $20 bill
• ..Pittsburgh is eliminated? Thomas is bummed and Nish is relieved with only one participant nipping at his heels
• ..Minnesota is eliminated? Thomas & I puff our chests and wait for the Saints rubber match in the NFC Title Game
• ..New England is eliminated?  Thomas prays Dick LeBeau hasn't been plotting his revenge these last few years with a "Kill All Steelers" defensive playbook.  

Enjoy the Divisional Weekend!! Lots at stake.

Combined Totals

Uh oh, Jack's secret rooting for Alabama (oh wait, that was a secret....oops) backfired as Josh took an 8-pt lead on the Combined Leaderboard with the Tide's dramatic OT walk-off.  Sam also moved into contention for the $50 prize along with another unlikely participant.

 

 

Jack & I are effectively eliminated with no way to catch Josh.  But there is still some drama all the way down in 6th place.

What happens if....

• ..Pittsburgh is eliminated?  Josh walks it off like a faceless, random Tide wide receiver and collects his $50.
• ..Pittburgh wins the AFC and faces anyone other than Atlanta?  Sam puts his fresh new $50 bill in his brand new daughter's (CONGRATS!!!!) fresh new bank account and lets it appreciate 68 cents in the next 18 years.
• ..Pittsburgh faces Atlanta in the Super Bowl and loses?  Thomas comes roaring up from 6th place with 175 pts in the final two weeks to claim the $50 prize.
• ..Pittsburgh faces Atlanta in the Super Bowl and wins?  Thomas pulls up short and Josh wins the $50.

NFL Regular Season Recap - Individual Stats

All stats are as of the conclusion of the 2017 NFL Regular Season

Predicting four categories of stats seemed simple enough back in August, but come January things proved not to be so easy after all.  Let's take a look at how well (or poorly we did) and maybe learn a thing or two about our mistakes and oversights.

Passing Yards

Eight QBs got past the 4000 yds threshold and we got six of them.  Not bad.  The only whiffs were Kirk Cousins (3rd consecutive season) and Alex Smith (his first career 4k season after 12 years in the league).  Injuries were devastating across the entire league and the QBs were no different.  Carson Wentz & Aaron Rodgers were victims of good ol' fashioned football while Carson Palmer entered the peanut brittle stage of his career and Sam Bradford proved to be made of balsa wood and paper mache.  

The real headline here was the complete absence of a Golden Ticket being punched.  Of those eight 4000+ hurlers only Alex Smith would've qualified for 15 pts.  The closest anyone got was Nish with sophomore stud Jared Goff; too bad he took over clipboard duties from Sean Mannion in Week 17 and fell 196 yds short.  

Receiving Yards

Somebody's gotta catch all those thousands of yards that the signal callers are chucking down the field.  Nine wideouts made it over the 1100 mark and we got eight of them.  Eight out of nine ain't too shabby.  We all overlooked DeAndre Hopkins who just posted his third career 1100+ season.  

Eight QBs threw for 4000+ yds.....nine wideouts got 1100+....five QB-WR duos made the cut.  I want to make some insightful analysis here but I really can't tell if there's anything worth mentioning. 

What IS worth mentioning is the divergent tales of AJ Green & Marvin Jones.  Green entered Sunday averaging 63 receiving yards his last 4 games and needed 39 to eclipse 1100 and give Jack, Josh, Nish, and Sam 10 pts.  Targeted 10(!!) times Green hauled in 2 catches for 17 yards and doesn't deserve any of the Buffalo chicken wings headed to Cincinnati today.  Jones, meanwhile, entered Sunday needing 80 yds for his first career 1100 yd season.  With 10:48 remaining in a snoozefest against Green Bay and needing just 7 yds, Jones snatched his last catch of the season for 8 yds and Larry punched his Golden Ticket.  

We punched every possible Golden Ticket.  I'm bizarrely proud of that.  Good job, gentlemen.

Rushing Yards

We nailed seven of nine 1000+ yd rushers.  Mark Ingram & C.J. Anderson were the only oversights.  Anderson was also the only Golden Ticket we missed out on.  Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 200 yds in his final two games; unfortunately he needed 217 yds.  

Lots of usual suspects on this list; no real surprises.  

Sacks

Collectively, we're the Texas Tech of predictions: light up the scoreboard on offense and get mangled beyond recognition on defense.  Sacks was a bloodbath.  We picked more unique players than any other category (22), had the fewest correct (6), but had the most opportunity (18 players notched 10+).  This category might get the biggest overhaul in the offseason.  It certainly proved the most challenging.  

Here's a quick glance at the names we missed

• Chandler Jones - league-leading 17 sacks
• DeMarcus Lawrence - likely the biggest FA defender to hit the market this offseason
• Everson Griffen
• Cameron Jordan
• Ryan Kerrigan
• Cameron Heyward
• Ezekiel Ansah
• Yannick Ngakoue - he'll be the one laying on top of Tyrod Taylor this weekend
• Julius Peppers - JULIUS PEPPERS!!!!??? he's my age! proof that I could still get 10 sacks in the league if they hadn't run me off in my prime (note: my prime was the dream I had that one night in 6th grade where I stopped eating a Fudge Round long enough to run some laps)
• Aaron Donald - admittedly his contract dispute scared all of us away
• Cameron Wake - basically anyone named "Cameron" should've be picked
• Melvin Ingram

Leaderboard Update - Entering NFL Playoffs

All stats as of entering Wild Card Weekend

Happy New Year to all and to all a hearty congratulations on making it through the Holiday Whirlwind with only minor bruising.  I'm very much looking forward to having my house back to its regular semi-clean state and sleeping in my own bed for three consecutive nights.  

I regret not putting together a Week 17 "What to Watch" post, but it just wasn't gonna happen.  But I'm back now so let's play catch up as we wind down the football seasons.  

Here's a look at your individual scorecards.  The lighter shaded areas are the most recent entries.  

Nish - NFL
Pittsburgh	AFC North Champ	30 pts
New England	AFC East Champ	30 pts
Kansas City	AFC West Champ	30 pts
Tennessee	AFC Playoff Berth	15 pts
Minnesota	NFC North Champ	30 pts
Philadelphia	NFC Playoff Berth	15 pts
Atlanta	NFC Playoff Berth	15 pts
Wk 8 QBs	5 correct	125 pts
Pittsburgh	10+ Wins	15 pts
New England	10+ Wins	14 pts
Kansas City	10+ Wins	12 pts
Minnesota	10+ Wins	9 pts
Atlanta	10+ Wins	8 pts
Tom Brady	4000+ Pass Yds	10 pts
Matthew Stafford	4000+ Pass Yds	8 pts
Drew Brees	4000+ Pass Yds	7 pts
Keenan Allen	1100+ Rec Yds	15 pts
Julio Jones	1100+ Rec Yds	8 pts
Antonio Brown	1100+ Rec Yds	7 pts
Kareem Hunt	1000+ Rush Yds	15 pts
Todd Gurley	1000+ Rush Yds	10 pts
LeSean McCoy	1000+ Rush Yds	8 pts
Le’Veon Bell	1000+ Rush Yds	7 pts
Calais Campbell	10+ Sacks	15 pts
Terrell Suggs	10+ Sacks	8 pts
Von Miller	10+ Sacks	5 pts

Adam - NFL
New England	AFC East Champ	30 pts
Pittsburgh	AFC North Champ	30 pts
Jacksonville	AFC South Champ	30 pts
Kansas City	AFC Playoff Berth	15 pts
Minnesota	NFC North Champ	30 pts
Los Angeles (R)	NFC West Champ	30 pts
Atlanta	NFC Playoff Berth	15 pts
Wk 8 QBs	4 correct	100 pts
Pittsburgh	10+ Wins	15 pts
New England	10+ Wins	14 pts
Atlanta	10+ Wins	10 pts
Kansas City	10+ Wins	9 pts
Minnesota	10+ Wins	8 pts
Matthew Stafford	4000+ Pass Yds	8 pts
Matt Ryan	4000+ Pass Yds	7 pts
Michael Thomas	1100+ Rec Yds	7 pts
Antonio Brown	1100+ Rec Yds	8 pts
Melvin Gordon	1000+ Rush Yds	15 pts
Leonard Fournette	1000+ Rush Yds	10 pts
Le’Veon Bell	1000+ Rush Yds	7 pts
Jordan Howard	1000+ Rush Yds	5 pts
Calais Campbell	10+ Sacks	15 pts
Khalil Mack	10+ Sacks	8 pts
Joey Bosa	10+ Sacks	7 pts
Von Miller	10+ Sacks	5 pts

Josh - NFL
New England	AFC East Champ	30 pts
Pittsburgh	AFC North Champ	30 pts
Jacksonville	AFC South Champ	30 pts
Kansas City	AFC Playoff Berth	15 pts
Tennessee	AFC Wild Card	15 pts
Atlanta	NFC Playoff Berth	15 pts
Wk 8 QBs	6 correct	150 pts
New England	10+ Wins	14 pts
Pittsburgh	10+ Wins	7 pts
Atlanta	10+ Wins	10 pts
Kansas City	10+ Wins	9 pts
Drew Brees	4000+ Pass Yds	7 pts
Matt Ryan	4000+ Pass Yds	5 pts
Tyreek Hill	1100+ Rec Yds	15 pts
Antonio Brown	1100+ Rec Yds	7 pts
Julio Jones	1100+ Rec Yds	5 pts
Leonard Fournette	1000+ Rush Yds	15 pts
Todd Gurley	1000+ Rush Yds	10 pts
Le’Veon Bell	1000+ Rush Yds	7 pts
LeSean McCoy	1000+ Rush Yds	5 pts
Calais Campbell	10+ Sacks	15 pts
Joey Bosa	10+ Sacks	7 pts
Khalil Mack	10+ Sacks	5 pts

Thomas - NFL
Pittsburgh	AFC North Champ	30 pts
New England	AFC East Champ	30 pts
Jacksonville	AFC South Champ	30 pts
Minnesota	NFC North Champ	30 pts
Philadephia	NFC East Champ	30 pts
Atlanta	NFC Playoff Berth	15 pts
Wk 8 QBs	4 correct	100 pts
New England	10+ Wins	15 pts
Atlanta	10+ Wins	14 pts
Pittsburgh	10+ Wins	10 pts
Minnesota	10+ Wins	9 pts
Philadelphia	10+ Wins	8 pts
Jacksonville	10+ Wins	7 pts
Tom Brady	4000+ Pass Yds	10 pts
Matt Ryan	4000+ Pass Yds	8 pts
Philip Rivers	4000+ Pass Yds	5 pts
Adam Thielen	1100+ Rec Yds	15 pts
Larry Fitzgerald	1100+ Rec Yds	10 pts
Antonio Brown	1100+ Rec Yds	8 pts
Leonard Fournette	1000+ Rush Yds	10 pts
LeSean McCoy	1000+ Rush Yds	7 pts
Kareem Hunt	1000+ Rush Yds	5 pts
Calais Campbell	10+ Sacks	8 pts

Sam - NFL
Pittsburgh	AFC North Champ	30 pts
New England	AFC East Champ	30 pts
Kansas City	AFC West Champ	30 pts
Tennessee	AFC Playoff Berth	15 pts
Atlanta	NFC Playoff Berth	15 pts
Wk 8 QBs	6 correct	150 pts
Pittsburgh	10+ Wins	14 pts
New England	10+ Wins	12 pts
Atlanta	10+ Wins	9 pts
Tom Brady	4000+ Pass Yds	10 pts
Drew Brees	4000+ Pass Yds	7 pts
Matt Ryan	4000+ Pass Yds	5 pts
Julio Jones	1100+ Rec Yds	8 pts
Leonard Fournette	1000+ Rush Yds	15 pts
Todd Gurley	1000+ Rush Yds	10 pts
Le’Veon Bell	1000+ Rush Yds	8 pts
LeSean McCoy	1000+ Rush Yds	5 pts
Von Miller	10+ Sacks	8 pts
Khalil Mack	10+ Sacks	5 pts

Jack – NFL
New England	AFC East Champ	30 pts
Pittsburgh	AFC North Champ	30 pts
Kansas City	AFC Playoff Berth	15 pts
Tennessee	AFC Playoff Berth	15 pts
Minnesota	NFC Playoff Berth	15 pts
Carolina	NFC Wild Card	15 pts
Atlanta	NFC Playoff Berth	15 pts
Wk 8 QBs	4 correct	100 pts
New England	10+ Wins	14 pts
Pittsburgh	10+ Wins	12 pts
Atlanta	10+ Wins	9 pts
Kansas City	10+ Wins	7 pts
Ben Roethlisberger	4000+ Pass Yds	10 pts
Drew Brees	4000+ Pass Yds	7 pts
Matt Ryan	4000+ Pass Yds	5 pts
Adam Thielen	1100+ Rec Yds	15 pts
Antonio Brown	1100+ Rec Yds	8 pts
Julio Jones	1100+ Rec Yds	5 pts
Melvin Gordon	1000+ Rush Yds	10 pts
LeSean McCoy	1000+ Rush Yds	8 pts
Le’Veon Bell	1000+ Rush Yds	7 pts
Calais Campbell	10+ Sacks	15 pts
Von Miller	10+ Sacks	8 pts

Derrick – NFL
Pittsburgh	AFC North Champ	30 pts
New England	AFC East Champ	30 pts
Minnesota	NFC Playoff Berth	15 pts
Jacksonville	AFC Playoff Berth	15 pts
Tennessee	AFC Wild Card	15 pts
Los Angeles (R)	NFC Playoff Berth	15 pts
Wk 8 QBs	4 correct	100 pts
New England	10+ Wins	15 pts
Pittsburgh	10+ Wins	12 pts
Kansas City	10+ Wins	7 pts
Matt Ryan	4000+ Pass Yds	7 pts
Drew Brees	4000+ Pass Yds	5 pts
Todd Gurley	1000+ Rush Yds	10 pts
Le’Veon Bell	1000+ Rush Yds	7 pts
Terrell Suggs	10+ Sacks	10 pts
Von Miller	10+ Sacks	8 pts
Khalil Mack	10+ Sacks	5 pts

Larry - NFL
New England	AFC East Champ	30 pts
Pittsburgh	AFC Playoff Berth	15 pts
Jacksonville	AFC South Champ	30 pts
Philadelphia	NFC Playoff Berth	15 pts
Atlanta	NFC Playoff Berth	15 pts
Wk 8 QBs	3 correct	75 pts
New England	10+ Wins	14 pts
Atlanta	10+ Wins	10 pts
Tom Brady	4000+ Pass Yds	10 pts
Matt Ryan	4000+ Pass Yds	8 pts
Marvin Jones	1100+ Rec Yds	15 pts
Antonio Brown	1100+ Rec Yds	8 pts
Julio Jones	1100+ Rec Yds	7 pts
Calais Campbell	10+ Sacks	10 pts
Von Miller	10+ Sacks	8 pts

Chris - NFL
Pittsburgh	AFC North Champ	30 pts
New England	AFC East Champ	30 pts
Kansas City	AFC West Champ	30 pts
Tennessee	AFC Wild Card	15 pts
Atlanta	NFC Playoff Berth	15 pts
New England	10+ Wins	15 pts
Pittsburgh	10+ Wins	12 pts
Kansas City	10+ Wins	9 pts
Tom Brady	4000+ Pass Yds	10 pts
Drew Brees	4000+ Pass Yds	8 pts
Matt Ryan	4000+ Pass Yds	7 pts
Julio Jones	1100+ Rec Yds	8 pts
Melvin Gordon	1000+ Rush Yds	10 pts
Le’Veon Bell	1000+ Rush Yds	5 pts
Mario Addison	10+ Sacks	10 pts
Von Miller	10+ Sacks	7 pts

And with College Football Bowl Season one game from conclusion, our Win Increase points have been awarded.  Jack earned 40 pts (that he didn't really need) to put him well out of reach with the title game looming on Monday night.  

Here's that Leaderboard

And we had some moving around the Grand Total Board.  The Top 4 spots are now separated by 74 pts.  

Only conference, national, and Super Bowl champs remain on the Possible Points Remaining list.  Take a look at your chances and figure out what chips need to fall just the right way to make your move. 

Conference Champ = 50 pts

Super Bowl Champ = 75 pts

College Football Champ = 50 pts

SB Matchup	AFC	NFC	Champ	PPR
Chris	New England	Dallas	Dallas	50
Derrick	Pittsburgh	Dallas	Pittsburgh	125
Jack	Oakland	Atlanta	Atlanta	125
Josh	Oakland	Atlanta	Atlanta	125
Nish	New England	Minnesota	New England	175
Sam	Pittsburgh	Green Bay	Green Bay	50
Larry	New England	Dallas	Dallas	50
Thomas	Pittsburgh	Atlanta	Atlanta	175
Adam	Kansas City	Atlanta	Atlanta	175

CFP Title	Champ	PPR
Chris	Alabama	50
Derrick	Oklahoma	0
Jack	Oklahoma	0
Josh	Alabama	50
Sam	Alabama	50
Larry	Alabama	50
Thomas	USC	0
Adam	Oklahoma St.	0