By Peter Christian, Paul Schmidt and Souc
Idea stealing isn’t something I’m proud of. Nor is it something I do with regularity. Although, without idea stealing, there would only be ONE television network, there would only be ONE newspaper and there would only be ONE sports blog on the entire internet (there’d actually be only ONE of a lot of things but you get my point). SO, after the field of 65 teams in the NCAA Tournament were announced, Paul Schmidt, Steve Soucie and I decided to play our version of the Guess the Lines game made famous by Bill Simmons and Cousin Sal on Simmons’ podcast. No prize on the line, no chance to beat the others with a Subway footlong sub (although if Subway would like to sponsor us, who are we to say no?). Just good ol’ bragging rights about who is the most degenerate of the three of us.
By the way, I’m sure you are vaguely familiar with Paul Schmidt and myself (Peter Christian) but here is our quick intro to our most loyal guest during our 5 days of live chats during the conference tournaments who joined us in our competition:
Steve Soucie (a.k.a., Souc) is an award-winning journalist and sometimes gambling savant. He’s also been a companion of Schmidt’s to Vegas for March Madness, and the two suffered through “Black Friday” in 2006, getting slaughtered by lines that were, in fact, too good to be true. He hasn’t bet on any game involving Michigan State since then in protest.
Without further ado, here are the results:
Midwest
1)Kansas vs. 16)Lehigh
PC – Kansas -24
PS – Kansas -28.5
Souc – Kansas -24.5
Actual – Kansas -27, (PC 0, PS 1, Souc 0)
8)UNLV vs. 9)Northern Iowa
PC – UNI -1.5* (1)
PS – UNLV -3.5
Souc – UNI -1
Actual – UNI -1.5, (PC 1, PS 1, Souc 0)
5)Michigan State vs. 12)New Mexico State
PC – Michigan St. -6
PS – Michigan St. -5
Souc – Michigan St. -8.5
Actual – Michigan State -12.5, (PC 1, PS 1, Souc 1)
4)Maryland vs. 13)Houston
PC – Maryland -11
PS – Maryland -10.5
Souc – Marlyland -11
Actual – Maryland -9, (PC 1, PS 2, Souc 1)
6)Tennessee vs. 11)San Diego State
PC – Tennessee -9.5
PS – Tennessee -6.5
Souc – Tennessee -7
Actual – Tennessee -4.5, (PC 1, PS 3, Souc 1)
3)Georgetown vs. 14)Ohio
PC – Georgetown -16
PS – Georgetown -19.5
Souc – Georgetown -22
Actual – Georgetown -14.5, (PC 2, PS 3, Souc 1)
7)Oklahoma State vs. 10)Georgia Tech
PC – OK St. -3.5
PS – OK St. -4
Souc – OK St. -2.5
Actual – OK St. -1, (PC 2, PS 3, Souc 2)
2)Ohio State vs 15)UC Santa Barbara
PC – OSU -19
PS – OSU -17
Souc – OSU -19
Actual – OSU. -16, (PC 2, PS 4, Souc 2)
West
1)Syracuse vs. 16)Vermont
PC – Syracuse -25
PS – Syracuse -25.5
Souc – Syracuse -23
Actual – Syracuse -20, (PC 2, PS 4, Souc 3)
8)Gonzaga vs. 9)Florida State
PC – Gonzaga -3.5
PS – Florida St. -1
Souc – Gonzaga -3
Actual – Gonzaga -1.5, (PC 2, PS 4, Souc 4)
5)Butler vs. 12)UTEP
PC – Butler -5.5
PS – Butler -7
Souc – Butler -4.5
Actual – Butler -5, (PC 3, PS 4, Souc 5)
4)Vanderbilt vs. 13)Murray State
PC – Vandy -12
PS – Vandy -9.5
Souc – Vandy -9
Actual – Vandy -4.5 (PC 3, PS 4, Souc 6)
6)Xavier vs. 11)Minnesota
PC – Xavier -3.5
PS – Xavier -4
Souc – Xavier -7
Actual – Xavier -1, (PC 4, PS 4, Souc 6)
3)Pittsburgh vs. 14)Oakland (not an NFL game, I promise)
PC – Pitt -20.5
PS – Pitt -16.5
Souc – Pitt -18.5
Actual – Pitt -11, (PC 4, PS 5, Souc 6)
7)BYU vs. 10)Florida
PC – BYU -3.5
PS – BYU -4.5
Souc – BYU -2
Actual – BYU -2.5 (PC 4, PS 5, Souc 7)
2)Kansas State vs. 15)North Texas
PC – K State -19.5
PS – K State -22
Souc – K State -23
Actual – Kansas State -15.5, (PC 5, PS 5, Souc 7)
East
1)Kentucky vs. 16)East Tennessee State
PC – Kentucky -29.5
PS – Kentucky -28.5
Souc – Kentucky -26
Actual – Kentucky -23, (PC 5, PS 5, Souc 8)
8)Texas vs. 9)Wake Forest
PC – Pick’em
PS – Texas -1.5
Souc – Wake Forest -1
Actual – Texas -2, (PC 5, PS 6, Souc 8)
5)Temple vs. 12)Cornell
PC – Temple -5* (2)
PS – Temple -3.5
Souc – Temple -5* (1)
Actual – Temple -5, (PC 6, PS 6, Souc 9)
4)Wisconsin vs. 13)Wofford
PC -Wisconsin -10
PS -Wisconsin -8.5
Souc – Wisconsin -9
Actual – Wisconsin -9.5, (PC 7, PS 6, Souc 10)
6)Marquette vs. 11)Washington
PC – Marquette -8
PS – Marquette -5
Souc – Marquette -6.5
Actual – Pick’em (PC 7, PS 7, Souc 10)
3)New Mexico vs. 14)Montana
PC – New Mexico -9
PS – New Mexico -14
Souc – New Mexico -12
Actual – New Mexico -10, (PC 8, PS 7, Souc 10)
7)Clemson vs. 10)Missouri
PC – Clemson -1.5* (3)
PS – Clemson -1
Souc – Clemson -3
Actual – Clemson -1.5, (PC 9, PS 7, Souc 10)
2)West Virginia vs. 15)Morgan State
PC – WVU -18
PS – WVU -20.5
Souc – WVU -20.5
Actual – WVU -16.5 (PC 10, PS 7, Souc 10)
South
1)Duke vs Play in game winner (No line)
16)Winthrop vs. 16)Arkansas-Pine Bluff (play in game)
PC – Winthrop -4
PS – Winthrop -4
Souc – Winthrop -7
Actual – Winthrop -4.5, (PC 11, PS 8, Souc 10)
8)California vs. 9)Louisville
PC – Louisville -2.5
PS – Louisville -1
Souc – Louisville -3
Actual – Cal -1, (PC 11, PS 9, Souc 10)
5)Texas A&M vs. 12)Utah State
PC – A&M -8.5
PS – A&M -6
Souc – A&M -5.5
Actual – A&M -2.5, (PC 11, PS 9, Souc 11)
4)Purdue vs. 13)Siena
PC – Purdue -4.5* (4)
PS – Purdue -2
Souc – Purdue -5
Actual – Purdue -4.5, (PC 12, PS 9, Souc 11)
6)Notre Dame vs. 11)Old Dominion
PC – Notre Dame -6
PS – Notre Dame -4* (1)
Souc – Notre Dame -8
Actual – Notre Dame -4 (PC 12, PS 10, Souc 11)
3)Baylor vs. 14)Sam Houston State
PC – Baylor -14
PS – Baylor -12.5
Souc – Baylor -12.5
Actual – Baylor -11.5, (PC 12, PS 11, Souc 12)
7)Richmond vs. 10)St. Mary’s
PC – Richmond -1* (5)
PS – Richmond -3.5
Souc – Richmond -2
Actual – Richmond-1, (PC 13, PS 11, Souc 12)
2)Villanova vs. 15)Robert Morris
PC – Nova -21.5
PS – Nova -20* (2)
Souc – Nova -23.5
Actual – Nova -20, (PC 13, PS 12, Souc 12)
*indicates an exact prediction based on the LVSC Opening lines
So I won by a hair, but I’m amazed at how tight we ended up. I’ll gladly take the win over these two fellow gamblers, although, I’m not so sure this is a good title to win. Seems like it’s more like a “toilet bowl” of who is worse at being a degenerate. Ah screw it, I’m damn proud of it, and for my efforts, I’m posting the TSB favorite, Muscle Milk Katie. If you don’t know who she is (it’s not Katy Perry, dammit), get learned because you’re gonna see a ton of heraround The Sports Bank.