RTT Locks Week 15 Recap

The regular season is over, and so is a frankly mediocre season for our lock-pickers. Here's how we did:

Week 15 Results

I_S: 5-1

Chris: 2-4

KidB: 2-4

Final Standings

I_S: 47-40-3 (54%)

KidB: 43-45-2 (49%)

Chris: 40-49-1 (45%)

For reference, if you were actually putting money on this (not recommended--both because it is illegal and because seriously look how well we've done), it would take 52.4% to break even at standard pricing. On the season, I_S finished up 3 units, KidB down 6.5 units, and Chris down 12.9 units, where a unit is the amount you wager on each game (in our case, 1 unit = 0 dollars).

Chris' Picks

BGSU +7 over Northern Illinois. Usually, the underdog in the MAC title game is money, but this year's MAC was significantly worse than the usual MAC, and Bowling Green didn't even put up a fight. Apropos of nothing, 51-17 sounds like a nice score for Tennessee's 2015 season opener. 0-1

UConn/SMU under 46. The under can be a good bet in a cripple fight, but SMU played two such games this season and scored 27+ in both games. In this case, it was enough to send the game a point over the total. 0-2

Oklahoma State/Oklahoma under 59. This game was at 42 going into the fourth quarter, but three touchdown drives sent it over the total, and then a punt return TD added insult to injury, sending the game into overtime, where it ended at 73. Counting on Oklahoma's defense against a major conference opponent other than Kansas, Iowa State, and Tennessee seems like bad strategy. 0-3

Missouri/Alabama over 48.5. For the second week in a row, Chris picks an Alabama over, and the Tide come within seven points of going over the total themselves for the second week in a row. Fortunately for Chris, Mizzou chipped in 13. 1-3

Ohio State +4 over Wisconsin. Chris had a rough year, but in the last week, he got what may be the biggest cover of the season, with the Buckeyes beating the spread by a whopping 63 points! 2-3

Boise State -20.5 over Fresno State. Fresno State has really been quite bad this season, especially on defense. Coupled with Boise's high-powered offense, we get. . . 28 points by the home team? What? 2-4

KidB's Picks

Arizona +14.5 over Oregon. The thing with Oregon, is that if they're not losing, they're housing you. 0-1

Iowa State +34 over TCU. Picking the underdog in a "name your score" game when TCU wanted a shiny blowout for the committee isn't a good strategy. For what it's worth, the shiny blowout didn't help. 0-2

Marshall -11.5 over Louisiana Tech. Surely this wasn't a worse game than SMU/UConn, but it was definitely the worst game anyone actually watched this weekend. 0-3

Florida State -4 over Georgia Tech. If Florida State is shaving points, they are among the best ever. Always enough to win, rarely enough to cover. Or it's possible that they are just not good enough to blow teams out but stole Auburn's rabbit's foot in Pasadena back in January. 0-4

Alabama -14.5 over Missouri. Yeah, this one was a mismatch. 1-4

SMU +12.5 over UConn. A rough week closes with an underdog winning straight up! Small consolation. 2-4

I_S' Picks

Temple/Tulane under 44. Not sure how I didn't discover Temple unders until the last two weeks. Or how they weren't set in the 30's. It wouldn't have mattered. This game didn't hit 14 points total. 1-0

Louisiana Tech +11.5 over Marshall. Not sure if Marshall gave away the cover or Louisiana Tech gave away the win, but either way, this game was horrendous. 2-0

UCF +7 over ECU. "Is it possible that ECU was never head and shoulders above the AAC, we just thought they were because they stayed within ten of an ultimately 6-6 South Carolina team, beat an ultimately 6-6 Virginia Tech team, and abused an ultimately terrible UNC defense?" I'm thinking yes. 3-0

Arizona +14.5 over Oregon. Didn't work out any better than it did for The Kid. 3-1

Temple -3 over Tulane. This was more of a sweat than the total, but I_S manages the double in New Orleans. 4-1

SMU +12.5 over UConn. A fine week closes with an underdog winning straight up! 5-1

We'll be back for the bowls. As usual, tailing is not recommended. Any of y'all come out ahead this season?