ESPN Pick’ems Week 13 Review
Admit it, this is what we’ve been waiting for all year. Week 13 was full of great games, some upsets, and some teams barely surviving in order to get into the playoff. LSU, Ohio State, and Clemson just might be the three top teams that get in, but there’s a battle for that fourth spot.
For a while, it appeared Ohio State was going to run away from Penn State…until it didn’t. Up 21-0, the Buckeyes were in full control of the game…and then Penn State scored the next 17 points. However, Ohio State turned the lights out on Penn State with one more touchdown drive to win the game 28-17. For the first time, the Buckeyes looked mortal. This week, Ohio State travels to Michigan.
Georgia appeared to sleep-walk in their 19-13 win over Texas A&M. Sure, A&M has improved over the season, but they were one possession away from upsetting the Bulldogs. Georgia will be facing LSU in the SEC Championship game in two weeks. A loss there will surely put them out of the playoff picture. A win though, will send them into the playoffs.
The one BIG upset occurred when Oregon traveled to Arizona State. The Sun Devils shocked the Ducks 31-28 in a thriller. Combined, both teams scored 39 points in the 4th quarter. Oregon has already clinched a spot in the PAC-12 Championship game and will either be facing Utah or USC. However, if Utah wins their game against Colorado this Saturday, they’ll punch their ticket into the championship game against Oregon, who will likely play the spoiler role.
The ‘other’ upset that occurred was FIU dropping Miami 30-24 for the first time in program history. Needless to say, a lot of Miami fans and alumni are not happy.
Oklahoma needed everything in the bag to survive TCU 28-24. Like Ohio State, the Sooners appeared to be cruising but things got interesting as TCU tacked on scores and held Oklahoma to only 7 points in the second half. The Sooners go on the road this week to take on Oklahoma State. After that, they’ll face Baylor in a rematch for the Big 12 Championship Game.
Other musings that I didn’t feel like writing about…
Texas just may be the best 6-5 team in the country…
FSU is bowl eligible now…yippee
Minnesota is one win away from clinching the Big 10 West…
On to Pick’ems…
Nothing changed at the top except that I now enjoy a comfortable 12 point lead over second place. Mom hee’d and haw’d about reclaiming the top spot but she’ll have to wait at least another week.
However… Mom, like a bad case of herpes, is not going away anytime soon as she reclaimed second place in a tie with Cindie. Cindie kind of gagged on her Oregon pick by putting 8 points on the Ducks.
OOOHHHHH whoop-ity-doo Wendi! You gained ONE point on me. At this rate, you’ll pass me up in the year 2040.
Adam was attempting to swing for the fence with some upsets and whiffed both times. Not only did he lose his Texas pick, but the Utah State pick didn’t pan out either. Ironically, the one upset he did miss on was Arizona State shocking Oregon where he lost another 7 points. Down 19 points from the top, look for a desperate Adam in the next two weeks.
Outside of Adam, absolutely NO ONE was taking a chance of picking any upsets. I figured Cindie, Wendi, or Mom would take a shot in order to close the gap some but nope. This week may be a different story though.
Teddy either forgot to make his picks or just simply gave up. But to be fair, he only did slightly worse than what he would have done if he had made his picks.
It seems like Mike has been in 6th place for the past two years. I think it’s pretty obvious that nobody wants THAT spot for whatever reason.
Nobody has noticed…or even cared… but Dave has not placed any higher than 6th place all year! And Brendan chimes in with, "Oh yeah? I haven’t been any higher than 10th place all year!”
Seriously, how bad do you have to be in picks to have not been ranked any higher than 10th place?!?!?! Even Megan was in 3rd place at one time before she decided to go all out Megan. But no matter how bad Brendan has been, he’s only 7 points away from catching Marc.
Most points for the week: It’s Wendi’s turn to get in on the fun after snagging 50 points. And yes, she’s gloating about gaining one point on me.
Least Points for the week: Technically, Teddy scored the least with 0 points, but it appears he’s already
mailed it in. However, Adam, Marc, and Dave all scored 45 points which were lowest on the week.
Best Pick of the week: For the first time, we all made good picks, but let’s go with Mike rolling the dice with 10 on Michigan. Things got a little dicey in the first half but he never doubted.
Worst Pick of the week: You can only ride the Texas train for so long until it derails. It had derailed long before both Marc and Adam picked Texas over Baylor. Heck, even Dave didn’t touch Texas!!!!
Who needs the $120 this week? Cindie’s on yet another vacation starting today, but this time in California. She could use some extra cash this week as we all know California is not a cheap place to vacation.
Here’s how we rank going into week 14:
1. David – 573 points
2. Mom – 561 Points
3. Cindie – 561 Points
4. Wendi – 557 Points
5. Adam – 554 Points
6. Mike – 535 Points
7. Kim – 533 Points
8. Megan – 526 Points
9. Marc – 515 Points
10. Brendan – 508 Points
11. Dave – 507 Points
12. Teddy – 446 Points
If you haven’t signed up for Bowl Mania, now would be a good time. Bowl season is just around the corner. Good luck in Week 14.
