Third annual thebowl.challenge: December 29 edition

Wha happen'?

TCU beat Houston 20-13 and no one saw the game and no one cared.
Boston college beat Michigan State 24-21 in a remarkably even game. The difference was five MSU turnovers, including 4 picks by Spartan QB Brian Hoyer, who was bad, bad, bad in this game. I guess saying "the difference was the turnovers" is the functional equivalent of saying that the difference between the two teams was QB play: Hoyer was terrible and BC all-everything signal caller Matt Ryan was merely underwhelming. Ryan was 22-47 for 249 with 3 TDs and 2 INTs, while Hoyer was 14-36 for 131 with 2 TDs and 4 INTs. I don't think either team cracked 300 yards of offense. This could have been a great feather in the Big Ten's cap, with this season's main storyline apparently being "Jesus, the Big Ten is terrible": anyone watching the game could tell that this 3-5 Big Ten team was the functional equivalent of the ACC's runner-up. But the Spartans ended up losing by three, so this game is almost definitely gonna be filed away and ignored, just like last year's Alamo Bowl where 2-6 Iowa led most of the game against Texas and lost in the final minutes.
On the flip side, Oregon State beat Maryland 21-14 in a game that the Beavers, well ... they didn't quite "dominate," but they were clearly the better team. Maryland got up 14-7 at the end of the first quarter behind two big plays from its offense. That offense basically did nothing the rest of the game, as OSU slowly exploited their talent advantage behind their defense, a very good running game, and extremely middling QB play. This game was way more boring than the score indicated.

In the pick 'em, there was a lot of point accumulation, what with there being three games played. Reader Wise passed Unofficial MGoBlog Cartoonist Joel A. Morgan for the lead, and Jeffy shot up to #3 on the strength of his 3-0 day that netted him 55 points. Other big movers:

Jesse Palmer (not pictured) went 2-1, but he had 27 points on BC and 26 on Oregon State, totalling 53 points (but losing his 17-point game, Houston).
Coworker Ben went apeshit, going 3-0 and netting 56 points.
Joanna shot up the charts with 50 points accumulated on a 2-1 day.
Evan went 2-1, but got his 28- and 19-point games correct (in a Palmer-esque move, he put 16 on Houston), for 47 points.
Coworker Stephen went 2-1, but got his 29- and 13-point games correct, for a 42-point day.
Yours truly went 3-0 for 45 points.
Todd went 3-0 for 44 points.
Kat, Scooter, and S. Lawrence netted 37, 38, and 43 points, respectively.

Aaaaaaaan Adam was the lone group member to go 0-3. Standings are below (Jesse Palmer is tied for 3rd).

Rank	Team	Owner	Record	PPR	TOTAL
1	The Dur's picks = FAIL	J. Wise	10-1	343	157
2	Football in the Groin	J. Morgan	10-1	346	152
3	Simply The Vest	Jeff	10-1	349	147
4	Do me, I'm gay	Todd	8-3	356	144
5	Chereth Cutestory	Jack	10-1	366	132
6	Westender	The Cave	7-4	358	122
7	Charlie Weiss Cat	Kristin	6-5	375	114
8	Ben	Ben	8-3	350	112
9	Excelsior!!!!!!	Matt	8-3	382	111
10	lick my houston nutts	Kevin	7-4	375	107
10	The D	Dustin	6-5	352	107
12	Special Education Conference	Andrea	8-3	409	106
13	Suck on Effervescent Cocks	Ryan	8-3	385	105
14	Stupid Scott	Evan	6-5	358	99
15	Joel defends hate crimes	The Dur	8-3	400	94