ONE WAS ENOUGH

With the Florida State Seminoles nipping the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets yesterday in Tallahassee, thus concluded week # 1 of the “What’s Your College Knowledge Contest.” Obviously my College Knowledge was non-existent, and I will be headed to the Dean’s office with a 1-4 mark on my report card.  Turns out my fellow “classmates” didn’t fare much better, with most of the contest entries turning in identical 1-4 marks themselves.  Nobody picked N.C. State to knock off Duke, and not enough folks gave UCONN a chance against the Longhorns.

Who won the contest, and what was his/her record?  Looks like we may have to invoke a “curve” this week, as the winner stormed to victory with a less than stellar 2-3 record.  In fact, a dozen entries had 2-3 records, and the winner had to be pulled from an Ebbets Field baseball cap in a drawing.  Turns out that the winner of the contest was the ONLY person who picked FSU to knock off Georgia Tech.  We’ve already notified the winner, Eric Miller from Chicago, Illinois, and he’ll be letting us know which shirt he chooses as his prize which we’ll post on the Distant Replays Facebook Fan page.

For those of you just checking in this contest for the first time, this is how it works:

1) Every Monday, I will post my 5 top college basketball games of the week and give you my predicted winners and why (FYI – Distant Replays will offer 25% off gear for those teams for a full week!  ENTER CODE DRPOW @ CHECKOUT TO RECEIVE DISCOUNT THIS WEEK STARTING TOMORROW AFTER 5PM EASTERN TIME!!!)

2) You will e-mail your picks to me (andyphyman@gmail.com) for the same games (no point spreads; straight up wins & losses) no later than the following day by 3pm eastern standard time.  Please mention this is for the Distant Replays Contest in your e-mail.

3) Each Monday I will announce which person e-mailed the most winners for the weeks picks, and that person will win a FREE Distant Replays Branded shirt of their choice! In the event of a tie, all of the entries will be entered into a drawing (the hat!) to determine a winner.

PLAY w/HEART & LOGO ON SLEEVE

IT’S THAT SIMPLE!!! We’ll run this contest right up until the opening round of games for March Madness (March 16, 2010) before we bust out a new & improved version of the contest for that whole shabang!!

Week # 2 Class now in session….Big East,

Game 1: # 6 Michigan State vs. Michigan – The Wolverines seemed to be turning a corner with big wins over Indiana & UCONN, before back-to-back road losses to ranked Wisconsin & Purdue respectively.  Against all my instincts, I say they get back on track and am picking them to defeat the Spartans because they will be back home, and MSU looked a tad shaky in nudging out the Minnesota Gophers by one point on Saturday. Michigan – 68, Michigan State – 65

NO LUCK VS. NOVA

Game 2: # 4 Villanova vs. Notre Dame – The Big East currently boasts 6 teams in the AP Top 25, and is easily the most competitive in the country.  While Notre Dame has a good overall record, they won’t be able to keep pace with the Cats in Philly.  Nova remains the only unbeaten team in their conference: Villanova – 84, Notre Dame – 72

Game 3: # 15 Gonzaga vs. Santa Clara – The Broncos come off their first win in their last 10 games in beating USF.  They will have a very tough time making it 2 in a row as they host the first place Bulldogs and Matt Bouldin Thursday night. Gonzaga – 88, Santa Clara – 68

WALK THE CHALK

Game 4: # 18 Wisconsin vs. # 13 Purdue – The Badgers have already handed the Boilermakers a defeat just a few weeks ago, and have a 2-game lead over them in the Big 10, yet they are ranked lower than their counterparts.  Am I missing something?  Badgers take care of business on the road and deservedly leap Purdue Pete in the rankings.  Wisconsin – 77, Purdue – 68

Game 5: # 3 Kansas vs. # 10 Kansas State -  Both of these teams have tough opponents before facing off on ESPN’s College Gameday this Saturday in Manhattan. It will be hard to not look past them (Kansas has Missouri, and  K-State has Baylor) in anticipation of this huge in-state rivalry.  The Wildcats had a bit of a let down losing to Oklahoma State after knocking off # 1 Texas.  The Jayhawks rebounded nicely off their only loss of the season to Tennessee with 4 straight wins.  It will be a tough place for a road victory, but I have to go with Kansas.  They were the only team that I actually WON with last week!  Kansas – 85, Kansas State – 81

Start sending me those picks and GOOD LUCK!