Hayden Keeps His Own Counsel

Matt Reed beat Hayden by three-tenths for the week’s biggest gain: 49.5. Utah beat Colorado 27–24, Michigan beat Penn State 21–18, Kansas State beat Kansas 35–24, and Northern Illinois lost 41–23 to Wyoming. All four slots paid 43.5 game points. Utah’s one-place climb and five correct picks finished the total. Third place stays third at 12.267 PPG. When the whole roster cooperates, even a 5–5 ballot can come to the party.

Sarah remains second at 12.674 PPG after adding 35.9. Notre Dame lost to BYU, but Tennessee beat Alabama 26–10 and Houston beat Oklahoma State 35–32 for 21.9 game points. New Mexico State rested. Tennessee climbed three poll places and Houston climbed six, more than covering Notre Dame’s two-place fall for a net seven. Sarah’s 7–3 ballot included Alabama over her own Tennessee. The roster and the ballot have agreed to maintain separate offices.

Matt Dillon stays fourth at 11.867 PPG. Texas Tech beat Arizona State 53–25, New Mexico beat Hawai’i 21–10, and Sam Houston lost 16–3 to Western Kentucky for 35.2 game points. Navy lost 38–34 to UTSA. Texas Tech climbed two places and seven picks completed 44.2. Spencer stays fifth at 11.169: TCU won 17–6 at Baylor, UTEP lost 24–11 to San José State, Alabama lost to Tennessee, and Boise State rested. Seven picks and a net five-point poll deduction left 24.4 for the week.

Rob made the biggest move, twelfth to eighth. Oregon beat Nebraska 17–14 for 10.3, Army beat FAU 56–24 for 13.2, and Colorado’s three-point loss to Utah paid another 10.3. Arizona rested and entered the poll at No. 25 anyway. Seven correct picks brought the gain to 41.8 and the season to 9.888 PPG. Last week Oregon’s poll exit ate thirteen points. This week the elevator accepted Rob’s receipt.

Mitch’s LSU shut out Mississippi State 31–0, SMU beat Virginia 23–13, and Toledo beat Eastern Michigan 34–14 for 36.1 game points. Stanford, after two enormous losses, beat Elon 34–7 in the Toilet slot. The department apparently mistook last week’s award for encouragement. LSU climbed four poll places and SMU climbed one; seven picks made 48.1 overall. Mitch passed Tori for sixth at 10.611 PPG.

Tori’s Miami beat Florida State 43–35 and Purdue lost 38–26 to Washington for 22.0 game points. UNLV and Virginia both lost. Miami took over No. 1, adding two poll points, and seven picks made 31.0. Tori slipped to seventh at 10.500. Stan and Mo each climbed one place, to ninth and tenth. Tom fell three to eleventh and Bryson three to twelfth. The top five and bottom four held steady; the middle of the building did all the moving.

Tom was the only one of fourteen to pick Tennessee over Alabama. Tennessee won 26–10. That excellent piece of ballot work arrived during a miserable roster weekend: Indiana lost 19–15 to Mo’s Ohio State, Oklahoma State lost by three to Sarah’s Houston, and Illinois rested. UMass’s 25–18 loss at Buffalo supplied every game point, 10.7.

Then Indiana slipped from No. 5 to No. 6 and Oklahoma State fell out from No. 18. Nine poll points disappeared. Four correct picks left Tom with just 5.7 new points, the week’s smallest gain. Last week all four packages arrived. This week one arrived, and the delivery fee was nine dollars.

Bryson had a shared league-best 8–2 ballot and still added only 10.8 overall. Ole Miss beat Missouri 31–3 for 12.8 game points, but Texas lost 27–24 to Florida, Liberty rested, and Ohio beat Sacramento State 48–7 in the Toilet slot. Texas fell twelve places, from No. 7 to No. 19. Ole Miss climbed two, leaving a net ten-point deduction. Bryson is twelfth at 9.244 PPG, only 0.006 ahead of Jay. That particular floorboard is very narrow.

Jay’s Georgia lost 27–24 to Auburn and surrendered No. 1, falling to No. 5. Tori’s Miami took the top spot; Hayden’s BYU took second; Mo’s Ohio State climbed to third. Spencer’s Alabama fell seven places to No. 13, partly offset by idle Boise State’s two-place rise. Rylan’s idle USC climbed three to No. 16. Sunday continues to pay some people for staying home while charging others for leaving the house.

Rylan’s Arizona State lost 53–25 to Matt Dillon’s Texas Tech. Both owners collected 12.8 points from the same margin, the week’s best Toilet return and a useful Standard win. Jay’s Georgia State lost 49–22 to Stan’s James Madison for 12.7 on each side. Hayden’s UL Monroe paid 12.4, Matt Reed’s Northern Illinois 11.8, and Matt Dillon’s Sam Houston and Spencer’s UTEP each paid 11.3.

Purdue’s twelve-point loss paid Tori 11.2 and Jay’s Washington the matching amount. UMass paid Tom 10.7; Colorado paid Rob 10.3. Nine of fifteen active Toilet teams lost, with New Mexico State on bye. The department’s best employee was Arizona State. Stanford’s recent two-week run of losing by 54 and 51 ended with a 27-point win over Elon. Someone has clearly misread the incentive plan.

The other unhelpful winners were Ohio, Oregon State, Arkansas, Charlotte, and Boston College. Ohio won by 41, Oregon State by eighteen, Arkansas by ten, Charlotte by seven, and Boston College by six. Six good football results, six empty Toilet envelopes. Aaron’s Charlotte finally stopped carrying the roster by doing the one thing Charlotte is supposed to avoid.

Stan’s Louisiana and James Madison both won by 27, producing 25.4 game points. Fresno State lost to Robbie’s San Diego State, Oregon State won in the wrong slot, and Stan returned to the ballot with a 7–3 week. His 32.4-point gain lifts him to ninth at 9.618 PPG. Mo sits just behind at 9.588 after Ohio State and Clemson supplied 24.1 game points. Oklahoma lost to Kentucky and Arkansas won in the Toilet slot, but one Ohio State poll point and an 8–2 ballot made 33.1 overall.

Jay got 11.2 from Washington’s win over Purdue and 12.7 from Georgia State’s loss to James Madison. North Texas rested. Georgia’s four-point poll bill and eight correct picks left 27.9 for the week, holding thirteenth at 9.238 PPG. Aaron also went 8–2, but only South Florida’s 29–2 win over Kent State supplied game points, 12.7. Penn State and Hawai’i lost while Charlotte won. The 20.7-point week leaves Aaron fourteenth. South Florida would like the plumbing department’s old parking space.

Robbie got 10.8 from Louisville’s 34–26 win over Syracuse and 10.3 from San Diego State’s 26–23 win over Fresno State. Memphis lost and Boston College won in the Toilet slot. With no picks recorded, the week stayed at 21.1 and fifteenth place. Rylan collected 14.1 from Texas A&M’s 41–0 win over The Citadel and 12.8 from Arizona State’s loss. Rice lost, USC rested and gained three poll places, and no ballot arrived. A 29.9-point week holds sixteenth with a healthier receipt.

Aaron, Bryson, Jay, and Mo shared the week’s best ballot at 8–2. All four missed Tennessee and BYU. Those two games each rewarded exactly one owner: Tom on Tennessee and Hayden on BYU. Last week Kentucky fooled everyone. This week the crowd left two lonely chairs, and both had the right answer.

Hayden, Matt Dillon, Mitch, Rob, Sarah, Spencer, Stan, and Tori all went 7–3. Matt Reed went 5–5 and Tom 4–6. Robbie and Rylan had no Week 7 picks recorded. Fourteen owners submitted ballots, up from thirteen last week. LSU and Utah rewarded all fourteen; SMU and Texas Tech rewarded thirteen; Ole Miss and UCLA rewarded eleven; Ohio State rewarded ten; Houston rewarded nine. No unanimous ambush this time. The near-unanimous opinions had enough trouble.

Matt Dillon still leads the season Pick’em race with 58 winners, but Mo’s eight cut the gap from three to two at 56. Aaron follows at 55, Mitch at 53, and Rob and Tori at 52. Sarah and Bryson have 51, Hayden 50, Matt Reed, Stan, and Jay 49, Tom 46, and Spencer 44. Robbie and Rylan remain at zero. Matt still has the penthouse. Mo is checking the lease again.