Washington State’s 10-7 upset victory over USC on Saturday, left contestants in the “Survive and Advance” contest thinking they should not have put that much faith in Lane Kiffin.
Those people can breathe a sigh of relief because none of the 23 contestants got the game right. They advance by default to this week’s Pac-12 game pitting Oregon State against Utah on Saturday night in Salt Lake City. The Beavers and Utes play the only conference game, the second consecutive week with only one game. That will happen again Sept. 21 with the only scheduled game being ASU at Stanford.
The schedule opens more Sept. 28 with five conference games scheduled, including Arizona at Washington.
Here is a breakdown of the rules:
— Contestants must pick the winner of one Pac-12 game each week. It is their lock of the week. This week the 23 eligibile contestants must pick between Oregon State and Utah since it’s the only conference game. If their pick wins, they advance to the next week. If the team loses, they are eliminated (unless all participants lose in a week).
— Contestants can pick a Pac-12 team only twice in the season. That’s the limit. Twice. So if a contestant picks Oregon or Stanford the first two chances they have, good luck the rest of the season. Everybody who picked USC against Washington State can pick the Trojans only once more during the season (maybe not such a bad thing).
— Tie-breaking system: The margin difference is the tie breaker. If two or more contestants somehow last until the end of the season without getting eliminated, the margin will serve as the tie-breaker. For example, if a contestant predicted USC to beat Washington State by 18 points, the point difference is 21 points (the Cougars won by three). The person with the closest overall margin in the end wins.
— If the entire field loses their pick, everybody advances to the following week by default, such was the case Saturday.
— If a contestant advances and then misses making a selection the following week, he or she is eliminated. Picks must also be made before kickoff.
— Those eligible to participate MUST ENTER THEIR PICK IN THE FACEBOOK COMMENTARY SECTION AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST and weekly posts that update results. An example of a pick: “Utah by 10 over Oregon State”. That’s it. If you want to comment about your reason for the pick, feel free. If a person does not pick a margin with their pick, they will be charged the total actual points. Example: You pick Oregon State without a margin and the Beavers win 21-17, you will be charged 38 points (the amount of points in the game). If you pick Oregon State by 10 and the Beavers lose 21-17, you are only charged 14 points (the difference in margin). The lowest margin difference wins the tie-breaker.
— I hope all of this makes sense. If you have questions, again POST THEM IN THE FACEBOOK COMMENTS SECTIONS BELOW.
— An Arizona-related prize will be rewarded to the winner.
RESULTS AFTER WEEK ONE
All contestants advance by default — none picked Washington State
STANDINGS OF THOSE STILL ALIVE
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WILDABOUTAZCATS.net publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He also writes blogs for Lindy’s College Sports, TucsonCitizen.com and Sports Illustrated-sponsored site ZonaZealots.com.
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