Bowl Prediction Contest

[BallaActuary]

I'll run it if there is interest.

Edits in bold.

The picks will be based on spreads (if someone knows the best site to use, let me know). I'll post the spreads when they come out. Once the spreads are originally posted, they will not change even if the Vegas line changes afterwards.
You will start with $100.
Picks must be in 5 minutes before game time.
Once you reach $0, you are eliminated from the game.
Minimum bet is 10% of your current bankroll.
You must bet on every game.
To make things interesting, you must bet everything you have at least once every 8 games in the 1st 8 up to Motor City, next 8 up to Insight, next 8 to Gator, and last 8 to Tostitos). If you do not bet all your money in the first 7 games, you will automatically be forced to bet all on that 8th game. You can bet all your bankroll as many times as you like in those 8 game periods - but it has to be at least once.
If others have rules they would like to suggest/change, I am open to suggestions. Let me know if there is interest.



San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia
TCU vs. Northern Illinois Dec. 19, 8 p.m.
San Diego ESPN2 HD Buy Tickets

Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas
BYU vs. Oregon Dec. 21, 8 p.m.
Las Vegas ESPN HD Buy Tickets

R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Rice vs. Troy Dec. 22, 8 p.m.
New Orleans ESPN2 HD Buy Tickets

Papajohns.com Bowl
South Florida vs. East Carolina Dec. 23, 1 p.m.
Birmingham, Ala. ESPN2 HD Buy Tickets

New Mexico
New Mexico vs. San Jose State Dec. 23, 4:30 p.m.
Albuquerque, N.M. ESPN HD Buy Tickets



Bell Helicopter Armed Forces
Tulsa vs. Utah Dec. 23, 8 p.m.
Fort Worth, Texas ESPN HD Buy Tickets



Sheraton Hawaii
Arizona State vs. Hawaii Dec. 24, 8 p.m.
Honolulu ESPN HD Buy Tickets



Motor City
Middle Tennessee vs. Central Michigan Dec. 26, 7:30 p.m.
Detroit ESPN HD Buy Tickets



Emerald
Florida State vs. UCLA Dec. 27, 8 p.m.
San Francisco ESPN HD Buy Tickets



PetroSun Independence
Oklahoma State vs. Alabama Dec. 28, 4:30 p.m.
Shreveport, La. ESPN HD Buy Tickets



Pacific Life Holiday
California vs. Texas A&M Dec. 28, 8 p.m.
San Diego ESPN HD Buy Tickets



Texas
Rutgers vs. Kansas State Dec. 28, 8 p.m.
Houston NFL Network Buy Tickets



Gaylord Hotels Music City
Clemson vs. Kentucky Dec. 29, 1 p.m.
Nashville, Tenn. ESPN HD Buy Tickets



Brut Sun
Oregon State vs. Missouri Dec. 29, 2 p.m.
El Paso, Texas CBS Buy Tickets

AutoZone Liberty
Houston vs. South Carolina Dec. 29, 4:30 p.m.
Memphis, Tenn. ESPN HD Buy Tickets

Insight
Texas Tech vs. Minnesota Dec. 29, 7:30 p.m.
Tempe, Ariz. NFL Network Buy Tickets

Champs Sports
Purdue vs. Maryland Dec. 29, 8 p.m.
Orlando, Fla. ESPN HD Buy Tickets

Meineke Car Care
Navy vs. Boston College Dec. 30, 1 p.m.
Charlotte, N.C. ESPN HD Buy Tickets

Alamo
Texas vs. Iowa Dec. 30, 4:30 p.m.
San Antonio ESPN HD Buy Tickets

Chick-fil-A
Georgia vs. Virginia Tech Dec. 30, 8 p.m.
Atlanta ESPN HD Buy Tickets

MPC Computers
Miami, Fla. vs. Nevada Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m.
Boise, Idaho ESPN HD Buy Tickets

Outback
Tennessee vs. Penn State Jan. 1, 11 a.m.
Tampa, Fla. ESPN HD Buy Tickets

AT&T Cotton
Auburn vs. Nebraska Jan. 1, 11:30 a.m.
Dallas FOX Buy Tickets

Toyota Gator
West Virginia vs. Georgia Tech Jan. 1, 1 p.m.
Jacksonville, Fla. CBS Buy Tickets

Capital One
Arkansas vs. Wisconsin Jan. 1, 1 p.m.
Orlando, Fla. ABC HD Buy Tickets

Rose Bowl presented by Citi
USC vs. Michigan Jan. 1, 5 p.m.
Pasadena, Calif. ABC HD Buy Tickets

Tostitos Fiesta
Boise State vs. Oklahoma Jan. 1, 8 p.m.
Glendale, Ariz. FOX Buy Tickets

FedEx Orange
Louisville vs. Wake Forest Jan. 2, 8 p.m.
Miami FOX Buy Tickets

Allstate Sugar
Notre Dame vs. LSU Jan. 3, 8 p.m.
New Orleans FOX Buy Tickets

International
Cincinnati vs. Western Michigan Jan. 6, Noon
Toronto ESPN2 HD Buy Tickets

GMAC
Ohio vs. Southern Miss Jan. 7, 8 p.m.
Mobile, Ala. ESPN HD Buy Tickets

Tostitos BCS Championship Game
Florida vs. Ohio State Jan. 8, 8 p.m.
Glendale, Ariz. FOX Buy Tickets

[The Drunken Actuary]

I'm so in.

[Happy Eellike Prodigality]

Any spreads out yet?

[rekrap]

Originally Posted by Happy Eellike Prodigality

Any spreads out yet?

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/odds/

[yankeetripper]

I'm in.

I've had bad luck w/ Yahoo. I find their spread the least reliable. CBS sports line or USA today usually have decent info on lines.

[BallaActuary]

Since I don't want to revise the spread every time it changes, should I wait to post the spreads or just do it now?

Consensus?

[BuckyBadger]

Post spreads from www.pinnaclesports.com tomorrow.

[BuckyBadger]

To make things interesting, you must bet everything you have at least once every 8 games in the 1st 8 up to Motor City, next 8 up to Insight, next 8 to Gator, and last 8 to Tostitos). If you do not bet all your money in the first 7 games, you will automatically be forced to bet all on that 8th game.

With these rules, it is a live possibility that everyone will finish with nothing.

Personally, I like the idea of this rule, but I would scale it back a little. Perhaps you have to bet a total of 2x your bankroll every 8 games (so you could bet everything one game and close to the minimum in the other 7, or you could, say, bet a quarter of your bankroll in all 8.

[BallaActuary]

Originally Posted by BuckyBadger

With these rules, it is a live possibility that everyone will finish with nothing.

Personally, I like the idea of this rule, but I would scale it back a little. Perhaps you have to bet a total of 2x your bankroll every 8 games (so you could bet everything one game and close to the minimum in the other 7, or you could, say, bet a quarter of your bankroll in all 8.

But how would you measure what "2x your bankroll is". Wouldn't that mean only a total of $200 for the first 8 games? Explain a little more.
I am open to suggestions...
I like contests for the bowl games because it makes the meaningless bowls more interesting.

[BuckyBadger]

Yeah, no kidding... I need a reason to watch some of these horrible games!

If you require everyone to put everything at risk at least 4 times, most people are going to go broke well before New Years day. To keep people in the game longer, but still ensure that a lot of money is flying around, simply say there is some factor (I said 2, but you could put it higher if you wanted) of your starting balance at the beginning of each quarter that you must bet in the 8 games that make up the quarter.

For example, if the factor was set to 2.5, you would have to bet at least $250 total in the first 8 games or you would be DQed. Say you did really good and you made it up to $300. Then you would have to bet $750 in the next 8 games and so on. If you did this, you probably wouldn't even need the "must bet on every game rule" as there would be plenty of money flying around. What it would do is prevent someone from getting a big lead and then just sitting there... they would have to put all their money at risk twice over... but this way they could diversify and put it on a few different games.