Hlog Bowl Contest results - an amazing winning performance

You'll never hear me say the readers/contributors here aren't sharp.

Holy mackerel, a lot of you people did great in the first annual Hlog Bowl Contest. I gave you all the pointspreads of the bowls, and let you pick six games. Six-team parlays pay 40-to-1 in Vegas, so it's not like those are hit every day.

But two of you went 6-0, and someone else went 5-0-1. Five others went 5-1. Very impressive.

Our winner is jshaffer4, who not only went 6-0, but get this: The tiebreaker was Georgia Tech's rushing yardage in the Orange Bowl. jshaffer4 said 146. The total was 143.

He/she (I await his/her reply to a congratulatory e-mail) wins an Orange Bowl souvenir program, which added to the weight in my luggage on the trip home. It's a big book.

jshaffer4's picks were USC, Wisconsin, Stanford, LSU, Florida and Iowa. Remember that picks were made against the spread, not straight-up. While LSU and Stanford lost, they covered the spread. LSU covered by a half-point. That half-point was huge.

Second place (no prize unless jshaffer4 doesn't step up to claim his/hers) was Klayski, who went 6-0 with a tiebreaker of 222 yards. Iowa's defense kept you from the win, Klayski took Nebraska, Air Force, Iowa State, Iowa, Northwestern and Virginia Tech. Five of those six picks were underdogs. They served Klayski well. Great handicapping, Klayski!

Third place with a 5-0-1 mark was BamaHawkeye. Bama's tie was taking Central Michigan and giving 3 against Troy. CMU won by 3. But it's academic, because Bama's tiebreaker was 243 yards.

A lot of you took Iowa, and many took Iowa State. Those picks paid off. Not a one of you selected Georgia Tech. Again, smart handicapping.

I'll try to concoct some sort of NCAA Tournament contest in March that's easy to play.