OK, OK
So, College Bowl season is upon us...and there are 40 of them.
A simple “ confidence pool” would require that one assigns a “ value” to their “confidence” among all 40 games’ outcomes, with a value of “ 40” assigned to the team you believe most likely WILL OUTRIGHT WIN THEIR BOWL GAME, and moving on down the ladder, one will end up having to chose among all 40
games , in advance of 12/15 , with a point value of descending amount....which will express that person’s belief in their respective opinion as to which team will emerge the victor of each and every bowl game
Example A:
40- Alabama
39- Ohio State
38- SanDiego State
37- Georgia Tech
Etc, etc...( all the way down to ...)
2- Toledo
1- Hawaii
Example B:
(A bit more complicated...)
Rank the same games by which team one believes will most likely “ cover the spread” ...win or lose...for all 40 games
- we did this for about 3 games each week during the regular season...now one only has to do it for all 40, in advance...
Easier said, than done...
( just an example here)
40- Wake Forest + 5
39- Cincinnati -5
38- Alcorn State + 7-1/2
Etc, etc....(all the way down to )
2- Troy +2-1/2
1- California PK’em
This requires a bit more effort than just picking which team will win their games...In this example...anybody chose Wake Forest +5 as #40 , and they infact cover that spread, they get 40 points!
- Somebody else chooses Wake +5, say...as their 13th most confident pick, they get 13 points.
- or, somebody chooses Memphis -5, say...as their 28th most confident pick, and Memphis “ covers the spread” and Memphis wins by at least 6 points, they get 28 points, and anybody chose Wake Forest +5 ( for that game) gets 0 points...
- A score of , say...33-28 means nobody gets any points for that game , beacuse that would be considered a TIE
Still transparent...still an NCAAFB game-picking“ contest”
(A) or (B).....regular tracking of the games, add up the poins over each week’s games...or the bowl games...MOST POINTS WINS!
BTW,
there is absolutely NO GAMBLING,
NO MONEY,
NOTHING ILLEGAL
involved in a “ confidence pool”, vs. a straight “ pick the winner “ of each game challenge!
It’s no different than picking who will gain the most yards in a game,
which QB will have a higher completion percentage,
Or even, who will win the coin toss,
..............whatever(!?)
It is still all-for-fun, just generally requires a longer spell with the thinking cap on...and a bit more record keeping...
BUT THE EXCITEMENT STAYS WITH THE POOL , and PLAYERS FOR THE WHOLE YEAR...because like a horse race, every horse has at least some chance all the way until the end of the race...and each week, the lead can change hands...
PS- I am not advocating we must do this for this years bowl games, or that we couldn’t wait until next year to implement for each week ( like 15 games will require a ranking of 15, 14, 13....2,1 = a total possible score of 120 points)
- Say , for example, that BW and Skunky tie for 10 wins that week...a confidence pool could mean BW might could get 105 points, and Skunkape only got 55 !!)...But-they both had 10 wins that week...
- Moreover, Kurt only picked the spread on 6 games correctly, but he ends up with 62 points !
So, most “ pick’em contests” involve some version of a confidence pool, and pretty sure is more likely to garner more interest from more players...because they are used to this methodology...and thinking they have a more “ vested interest” in making their picks...
( plenty of stuff one can “ research” re: sports confidence pools
In the meantime, on to the Bowl season!
Kevin Achatz
Mkyle8385@gmail.com
850-687-3128