Sports

College Bowl Pick'em Challenge Standings

Patch's Fairfax County Sports Editor is taking the lead

Updated December 31:

Editor's Note: Thursday was a rough day for our competitors, as South Lakes' Andy Hill's 2-2 record allowed him to pick up a game on everyone else. Patch Sports Editor Michael Beller still holds a 2-game lead over Centreville's Chris Haddock for first place in the Patch Bowl Game Pick'Em Challenge. Lake Braddock's Jim Poythress is tied with Hill two games behind Haddock.

The end of December may mark the holiday season for some people, but the real presents for a college football fan are the 35 bowl games packaged neatly on a television near you. To celebrate, Patch Sports Editor Michael Beller and three area high school football coaches, Lake Braddock's Jim Poythress, Centreville's Chris Haddock and South Lakes' Andy Hill, predicted the winners for each game. We'll have updates after each game to keep track of the standings, and you can chime in too with your picks. Who do you think will end up as the best bowl prognosticator?

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First, let's meet the contestants.

Jim Poythress – Poythress has been the coach at Lake Braddock for the last seven years. This season, he led the Bruins to their second-straight Patriot Distirct and Division 6 Northern Region championships before losing to Battlefield in the state semifinals.

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Chris Haddock – A longtime head coach at Fairfax High School, Haddock took over at Centreville this season and immediately turned the Wildcats around. After going 3-7 a year ago, the Wildcats went 8-2 this season and advanced to the Division 6 Northern Region semifinals, where they lost to Chantilly.

Andy Hill – Hill took over at South Lakes this season after five years at Park View in Sterling, where his teams made the playoffs four times and won two district titles. Hill turned the Seahawks from 5-6 in 2009 to 7-3 this year and the semifinals of the Division 5 Northern Region tournament, where they lost to state runner-up Stone Bridge.

Michael Beller – Your trusty sports editor played baseball and basketball through high school. He has a really good arm and his range starts the moment he steps foot in the gym.

And now, the picks.

Date Bowl Poythress Haddock Hill Beller Result Dec. 18 New Mexico Bowl: BYU vs. UTEP BYU BYU BYU BYU BYU 52, UTEP 24 Dec. 18 uDrove Humanitarian Bowl: Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State Fresno State Fresno State Fresno State Northern Illinois NIU 40, Fresno State 17 Dec. 18 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Ohio vs. Troy Ohio Ohio Troy Troy Troy 48, Ohio 21 Dec. 21 Beef 'O' Brady's St. Petersburg Bowl: Southern Mississippi vs. Louisville Louisville Louisville Southern Mississippi Louisville Louisville 31, Southern Miss. 28 Dec. 22 MAACO Las Vegas Bowl: Utah vs. Boise State Boise State Boise State Boise State Boise State Boise State 26, Utah 3 Dec. 23 S.D. County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl: Navy vs. San Diego State Navy Navy Navy San Diego State San Diego State 35, Navy 14 Dec. 24 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl: Hawaii vs. Tulsa Hawaii Hawaii Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa 62, Hawaii 35 Dec. 26 Little Caesars Bowl: Florida International vs. Toledo Florida International Florida International Toledo Toledo FIU 34, Toledo 32 Dec. 27 AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl: Air Force vs. Georgia Tech Georgia Tech Air Force Georgia Tech Air Force Air Force 14, Georgia Tech 7 Dec. 28 Champs Sports Bowl: West Virginia vs. N.C. State N.C. State N.C. State N.C. State West Virginia N.C. State 23, West Virginia 7
Dec. 28 Insight Bowl: Missouri vs. Iowa Iowa Iowa Iowa Iowa Iowa 27, Missouri 24
Dec. 29 Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman: East Carolina vs. Maryland Maryland Maryland East Carolina Maryland Maryland 51, East Carolina 20
Dec. 29 Texas Bowl: Illinois vs. Baylor Baylor Illinois Baylor Illinois Illinois 38, Baylor 14
Dec. 29 Valero Alamo Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Arizona Oklahoma State Oklahoma State Oklahoma State Oklahoma State Oklahoma State 36, Arizona 10
Dec. 30 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl: Army vs. SMU SMU Army SMU SMU Army 16, SMU 14
Dec. 30 New Era Pinstripe Bowl: Kansas St. vs. Syracuse Kansas State Kansas State Syracuse Kansas State Syracuse 36, Kansas State 34
Dec. 30 Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl: North Carolina vs. Tennessee North Carolina Tennessee North Carolina North Carolina North Carolina 30, Tennessee 27 (in 2OT)
Dec. 30 Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl: Nebraska vs. Washington Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Washington 19, Nebraska 7
Dec. 31 Meineke Car Care Bowl: South Florida vs. Clemson Clemson Clemson Clemson Clemson USF 31, Clemson 26
Dec. 31 Hyundai Sun Bowl: Notre Dame vs. Miami Miami Notre Dame Notre Dame Miami Notre Dame 33, Miami 17
Dec. 31 AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Georgia vs. UCF Georgia Georgia Georgia Georgia UCF 10, Georgia 6
Dec. 31 Chick-fil-A Bowl: South Carolina vs. Florida State South Carolina South Carolina Florida State South Carolina Florida State 26, South Carolina 17
Jan. 1 TicketCity Bowl: Northwestern vs. Texas Tech Texas Tech Northwestern Northwestern Texas Tech Texas Tech 45, Northwestern 38
Jan. 1 Outback Bowl: Florida vs. Penn State Florida Penn State Florida Florida Florida 37, Penn State 24
Jan. 1 Captial One Bowl: Alabama vs. Michigan State Alabama Michigan State Michigan State Alabama Alabama 49, Michigan State 7
Jan. 1 Gator Bowl: Mississippi State vs. Michigan Mississippi State Mississippi State Mississippi State Mississippi State Mississippi State 52, Michigan 14
Jan. 1 Rose Bowl presented by VIZIO: Wisconsin vs. TCU Wisconsin Wisconsin TCU Wisconsin TCU 21, Wisconsin 19
Jan. 1 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: Connecticut vs. Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma Connecticut Oklahoma Oklahoma 48, Connecticut 20
Jan. 3 Discover Orange Bowl: Stanford vs. Virginia Tech Stanford Virginia Tech Stanford Stanford Stanford 40, Virginia Tech 12
Jan. 4 Allstate Sugar Bowl: Ohio State vs. Arkansas Ohio State Ohio State Arkansas Ohio State
Jan. 6 GoDaddy.com Bowl: Middle Tennessee State vs. Miami (Ohio) Miami (Ohio) Miami (Ohio) Miami (Ohio) Miami (Ohio)
Jan. 7

AT&T Cotton Bowl: LSU vs. Texas A&M

LSU LSU LSU Texas A&M
Jan. 8 BBVA Compass Bowl: Pittsburgh vs. Kentucky Pittsburgh Kentucky Pittsburgh Kentucky
Jan. 9 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl: Nevada vs. Boston College Nevada Nevada Nevada Nevada
Jan. 10 Tostitos BCS National Championship Game: Oregon vs. Auburn Auburn Auburn Auburn Oregon

Overall Record 15-14 14-15 16-13 19-10 ----------
"Lone Wolf" Record 0-0 1-3 3-3 2-1 ----------

Observations

We made 10 unanimous picks (BYU, Boise State, Iowa, Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Clemson, Georgia, Mississippi State, Miami (Ohio) and Nevada).

In keeping with his risk-taking tendencies as a coach, Hill was a lone wolf on seven picks, including three BCS games, going against the rest of us with TCU over Wisconsin, Connecticut over Oklahoma and Arkansas over Ohio State. Beller was alone on five games, including the National Championship, as he's the only participant who thinks Oregon will beat Auburn. Haddock is by himself on four games, including the Orange Bowl, where he picked Virginia Tech to beat Stanford. Poythress did not stray from the herd on one pick. He has made it to back-to-back state semifinals, so perhaps he's onto something.

Check back here to follow along with the standings.


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