Here is the deal. I made some rather bold and fearless predictions in January. They were very specific. I assigned a "boldness" scale to each of them back then. I will give myself a portion of these boldness points and try to beat my "batting average" next year. Enjoy.
2011 Predictions
1. The Oregon Ducks will defeat the Auburn Tigers in the BCS National Championship game by a score of 52-49 in the highest scoring BCS title game yet. On a side note, TCU will finish 2nd in the AP poll and receive at least two #1 votes. (Bold scale: 3)
*VERDICT: I missed on this one in multiple ways. Auburn wins on a last second field goal and it wasn't quite that high scoring. ZERO points.
2. The New England Patriots will defeat the Chicago Bears in the 2011 Super Bowl by a score of 27-17. Wes Welker is named the Super Bowl MVP for his 12 reception performance. (Bold scale: 5 due to the Bears prediction)
*VERDICT: I missed on both parts. Neither the Patriots nor the Bears made it to the Super Bowl although the Bears came pretty close. ZERO points.
3. The Iowa State MBB team will finish the regular season 19-12 and win their first game in the Big XII tournament. With a home win over a ranked Kansas State team as their lone "signature" win, they fail to crack the NCAA bubble and are invited to play in the postseason NIT tournament, their first postseason appearance since 2005. (Bold scale: 4)
*VERDICT: I was three wins off on the 2010-2011 Cyclones. I really thought they might make a run. They didn't, but were still fun to watch. ONE point.
4. The Philadelphia Phillies win over 100 games in the regular season along with the necessary 11 wins needed to win the World Series. The Red Sox win 98 regular season games, but fail to make it to the World Series due to a late injury to Carl Crawford. (Bold scale: 3)
*VERDICT: Hey! I was somewhat close on this with Philly getting to 100 wins. However, the fell to the Cardinals in the NLDS and the Red Sox crumbled late and didn't even make it to the postseason. I will give myself ONE point for this prediction.
5. The Chicago Cubs will make the playoffs and get beat in the first round by the Phillies. Carlos Zambrano has a resurgence and gets to 17 wins. Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood combine for 50 saves and combine with Sean Marshall for one of the toughest bullpens in the NL. (Bold Scale: 7)
*VERDICT: Holy cow. Biased much WrigleyIvy? I missed by 8 wins on Zambrano, 19 wins on the Cubs and 15 saves on Marmol and Wood. Not to mention Zambrano was prohibited from being in the clubhouse by the team late in the year! NO points awarded for these predictions.
6. The 2011 ISU football team goes 6-6 and is invited to play in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl. Paul Rhoads picks up his first victory over Iowa Redeyes, I mean Hawkeyes but will fall to UCONN on the road. Jerome Tiller is the starting quarterback against UNI, but Steele Jantz sees significant playing time and becomes the starting quarterback by season's end. (Bold Scale: 8)
*VERDICT: If there is something I know its Cyclone football. Let me toot my own horn by saying Vegas predicted ISU for 2 wins, TWO. This was a VERY bold statement. I predicted their win total, their bowl and the win over Iowa. However, ISU DID win against UCONN, Tiller was NOT the starting QB at the beginning of the year. Steele did see significant time at the beginning of the year. I will give myself SIX points for this pick.
7. Oklahoma wins the first Big XII championship with round-robin scheduling and plays TCU in the Fiesta Bowl. The Texas Longhorns have another mediocre season finishing 8-4 and are invited to play in the Holiday Bowl. (Bold Scale: 3)
*VERDICT: Hmmm. Well, OSU was crowned the champions however OU still controlled their own destiny heading into the last game. They will not be in the Fiesta Bowl. Texas IS heading to the Holiday Bowl, however with just mediocre 6-6 record. I will award myself ONE point.
8. The Big Ten renames their divisions the Violators and Coke heads. Nebraska loses to Ohio State in the inaugural Big Ten Championship game. This will be the last time anyone other than Michigan plays in the championship game for the rest of the decade as Jim Harbaugh returns home in 2012 to turn the Big Ten into Michigan vs Ohio State as all others return to mediocrity and continue the tradition of losing to the SEC on New Year's day. (Bold Scale: 9)
*VERDICT: In so many ways I was off with this one. I am going to award myself ONE point because of the idea of Michigan and OSU dominating the B1G in the near future.
9. Jim Harbaugh and Andrew Luck both return to Stanford to go undefeated and win the first season of the Pac-12 conference. They are invited to play in the 2012 National Championship game, but because this is a 2011 prediction post, I cannot predict the outcome of this game. Before the championship game occurs Rich Rodriguez is fired shortly after his team loses to Oklahoma State in the Insight Bowl. Jim Harbaugh accepts an offer to come back to Michigan but still coaches in the NC game. (Bold Scale: 8)
*VERDICT: Once again, I'm off in a number of different ways but I need to give myself some credit. RichRod got fired, Luck returned, and--well that is about it. TWO points.
10. Mark Cuban successfully implements and funds a plan for an 8 team playoff. The playoff system is announced to begin in 2013. Conference champions will NOT receive an automatic bid to the playoff. ESPN will buy the television rights to all games and Bud Light will be the main sponsor. The MCS (Mark Cuban System) Playoff winners will receive a $5,000 stipend and an iPad. The Big Ten decides to boycott the playoff system because the Big Ten Network was not awarded the rights to the games and "its not fair they have a championship game and the winner doesn't receive an automatic bid", which makes them look into contraction. (Bold Scale: 10)
*VERDICT: Maybe some day. ZERO points.
Total Points Awarded: 12
Total Points Possible: 60
Batting Average: .200
Not terrible but not sure how the points were awarded... I still like the MCS since ESPN now shows all 5 BCS games. It probably starts as a 4 game system, but I'm okay with that.
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