Saturday, October 24, 2009

Can Matt clinch on Saturday? Also, Paths to Victory

Not totally, but he can come close. Basically, for anyone in contention (read, Scallet, Hermann, Hawks, and Pat) to catch him, they're going to need to win two of the three big championships left and hope the Yankees don't win the World Series. And it'll help if TCU doesn't make the BCS either. That makes Saturday a big day as the Yankees can make the World Series and #8 TCU faces its toughest test at #16 BYU (surprising line, TCU -2.5 - thought BYU would be favored at home).

Paths to victory, ignoring the ZOOOOOOOONEE, with odds from 5dimes.com:

Ben - Has no shot at the BCS championship, so he needs the Angels to win two straight and eliminate the Yankees (+600 - way too low, should be around +350), have the Angels go on to win the World Series (+1125 - again way too low, I'd put it at +800) and get a Giants (+950) or Steelers (+1050) Superbowl win. Total odds: 2%

Hermann - Essentially eliminated with the Dodgers loss.

Pat - Needs a Superbowl from either Atlanta (+2600 - seems low for a team with one loss) or Indy (+600) and a BCS championship from Alabama (+225) or Boise (+1500). Luckily he has two contenders in both sports, including the second best in each. Chances of winning both and having the Yankees fall: 2.8%

Scallet - I'm the only person left with a shot at all three remaining sports. I have two possibilities:

1. Phillies win World Series (+165) and either Texas wins the BCS championship (way too high at +500) or the Patriots win the Superbowl (also too high at +700).
2. The Angels win the Worlds Series and I win both football sides.

Chance of all Texas, the Phillies, and the Pats winning it all: .7% Chance of getting past Matt: 11.2%.
Therefore, Matt wins 85% of the time. However, there are a ton of points available in the NFL playoffs and there are probably some other chances for people to win - Ben winning the Zooooooonneeee league and having both the Steelers and Giants make a run, Pat getting a Boise State BCS championship over Alabama, etc. So it's probably closer to 80%.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Transactions this week

Time for some Cincinnati love...

AFC: drop Chargers, add Bengals

BCS: drop Mississippi, add Cincinnati Bearcats