Diggler on top despite picking Oh-oh State

Compared to most Knows Bowls, XXIII went pretty much according to Hoyle – until the finale, that is.  The blackeyed Buckeyes in the national championship, a Knows Bowl favorite at an 89.8% clip, became just the fourth major upset (less than 30% of selections) in this year’s 25-game schedule.  In all, only six underdogs that received less than 50% of ‘knowspicker’ selections managed to triumph.  Typically, dawgs tend to win ten or more of the games on any given Knows Bowl schedule.

Florida’s deflowering of the Buckeyes in the Tostitos Bowl by a 41-14 [27] margin caught all but 10.2% of knowspickers by surprise.

Although Diggler (Dirk Williams) was among deer in the headlights with Ohio State by 13 in the finale, he had the top spot wrapped-up before the opening kickoff was ironically returned to paydirt by the Buckeyes.  Diggler gained control in the Sugar Bowl when second place Ken Montgomery #2 and third place Bushwood (Ed Paine) inexplicably took a flyer on Notre Dame – an overrated team that had stumbled in eight consecutive postseason contests.  Williams co-led the pool by correctly picking the winner in 20 games, but was right on the nose just once with Texas Tech by 3 in the Insight Bowl.

Second place John (Manhart) Marauder shot up from 54th place at the end of the third quarter and into contention after a perfect pick of Wisconsin by 3 in the Capital One Bowl.  Another important selection in his closing sprint to the wire was tabbing Louisville by 14 (actual-11) in the Orange Bowl.  Marauder crawled over the top of Witsssss in the finale and into second by virtue of a 7 to 14 losing margin.  He co-led the pool with 20 correct and had two immaculate picks (Independence & Capital One).

Witsssss (Doug Dewitt) fell back from second to third after the Tostitos Bowl, but was really hurt most as a result of picking Oklahoma by 4 in the Fiesta Bowl – a game, as we all know, won by Boise State, 43-42, in overtime.  Witsssss completed the schedule with 19 correct along with three on the nose (Independence, Alamo & Cotton).

Fourth spot went to Kelly Sylvester, daughter of none other than the human Q-tip.  Kelly blasted out of the blocks with six correct picks, including the Florida State over UCLA upset in the Emerald Bowl.  She squeezed into fourth after incorrectly circling Ohio State, but by only 8, in the title game.  Despite being a pool co-leader with 20 correct, Kelly’s placing was hindered without any perfect picks.

The Geek (Joe Gaspers) and jay mcpherson knotted at minus 71, but Gaspers got the fifth place nod in the Tostitos tiebreaker by undercutting McPherson by a tick, 5 to 6.  The Geek, a grad of the University of Idaho, benefited from spud connections by hitting the MPC Bowl (played in Boise, Idaho) right on the money and also picking Boise State to upset Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.  All we can say to The Geek at this point is, “This spud’s for you.”  In all, Gaspers had 19 correct with one immaculate pick (MPC).  Gaspers was also in the money last year with an eighth place finish.

jay mcpherson lost fifth and settled for sixth by a gnat’s butt after closing with 11 correct, including a perfect Auburn by 3 in the Cotton Bowl, prior to the Tostitos debacle.  McPherson, though, got off to a slow start and was in 107th place at halftime.  He had 19 correct selections with one on the schnoz (Cotton).

Joe #2 (DeFina) tumbled from fourth to seventh as a result of the finale and a Buckeyes by 14 pick.  He was a frontrunner from the outset by making an immaculate selection of Hawaii-17 as well as prognosticating Florida State’s upset win in the Emerald Bowl.  DeFina completed the schedule with 19 correct winners and one perfecto (Hawaii).

The final eighth place ‘buck stops here’ spot went to Kirk Tuttle who crept up three places to get into the breadline as a result of the Tostitos Bowl.  He finished with 18 winning selections including two that were immaculate (Sun & Gator).

Judge Smells (Craig Kunz) ‘knowsed’ out Rick Colwell as the 23rd Bagboy – or, more precisely, the Knows Bowl picker left holding the bag just out of the money.  Smells earned the distinction after picking Oh-oh State by 7 compared to Colwell’s 8 in the Tostitos tiebreaker.

Here’s something to ponder – consider what the top 10 final standings would look like if the results of the two overtime games (Insight & Fiesta) were reversed – Results Guy (Rod Steele) – (47), Dewitt/Spaeth (Doug Dewitt/Kevin Spaeth) – (59), jay mcpherson – (67), Judge Smells – (70), Witsssss – (71), Joe #2 - (76), Kirk Tuttle - (78), Danny Noonan (Craig Kunz) – (78), Rick Colwell – (79) and Diggler – (79).

Leaders’ Tales