The Rams Bookstore Bowl Pick'em features a dramatic finish!

With the clock winding down and Auburn (-3.5) and Oregon deadlocked at 19-19 in Monday night's (mythical) National Championship game, Auburn's Michael Dyer broke off a 16-yard run and seemingly scored the game-winning touchdown with :15 left in the game. It would have not only given the Tigers the win, but also would have covered the point spread. A trio of contestants, 80sramfan, DRZRAM, and montanaram, all must have been jumping in their seats at the thought of having a chance at the contest title. Instead, officials reviewed the replay and ruled that Dyer's knee was down at the half-yard line. After one more play to run down the clock to :02, Auburn set up for the chip-shot 19-yard field goal for a 22-19 win, which didn't cover the point spread. Thus, it put Louie Ram and EzStreetRam in a tie for first at 22-13 overall, with the title coming down to the the tiebreaker process.

The first tiebreaker was total points in the game, and both contestants (just like most of the field) picked high total scores. But, the game yieled just 41 total points, and Louie Ram's guess of 64 points was closer than EzStreetRam's 78. Thus, Louie Ram wins the championship and $100 store credit to Rams Bookstore. It was an interesting route to the championship for Louie, as he went on a seven-game winning streak down the stretch, then went 0-for-3 in game Nos. 32-34, and then got himself into a tie for the lead again with a win in the finale. EzStreet takes the runner-up spot and a $50 credit. Third place turned into a 10-way tie that also had to be broken by the tiebreaker. RoShamBo was the closest of that group, with a guess of 53 to win the third-place spot and the $25 store credit to Rams Bookstore. The others who finished tied at 21-14 were 80sramfan (tiebreaker guess of 55), hawkram fan, (58), montanaram (63), nealjeppson (63), Q.Ram (66), cotter-ram (74), joeybtherealad (74), DRZRAM (85), and PKmustGo (88).

Winners should contact us at staff@ramnation.com to arrange collecting your prizes.

Oregon's cover means that underdogs covered in 17 games (with 12 of those winning outright), while 18 favorites covered this bowl season. The field finished with the fifth-best winning percentage in bowl contest history at 49.4%.

We thank you all for competing in both of our Pigskin Pick'em contests this year, and we thank Rams Bookstore for their 10th year of sponsorship to this contest. When you're in need of CSU memorabilia, gear, or school books, Rams Bookstore should be your first choice! Now, take a brief break and be on the lookout for the annual March Madness Contest in a couple months!

--Joel Cantalamessa
(Good SHEPHERD)

Contest details/rules

Prizes:

The contestant with the most correct picks against the point spread a the end of the bowl season will be the Bowl Contest champion, and will win our grand prize, compliments of Rams Bookstore. The second, third, and fourth-place finishers will also receive prizes.

Rules:

• Contestants will pick a point-spread winner in every bowl game games.
• Contestant's should make their picks "against the spread". For instance, if Auburn is favored by 3.5 vs. Oregon, and Auburn wins by more than 3.5 points, they win "against the spread." If Auburn does not win by more than 3.5 points, then Oregon wins "against the spread," even though they might lose the game.
• In the event of a tie between contestants at the end of the bowl season, the first tiebreaker is the total points scored in the "tiebreaker" game. The contestant that picks closest to the total points scored wins the tiebreaker. If total points does not break the tie, then total yards will be used. Again, closest guess to the total yards gained from scrimmage by both teams during that game will win the tiebreaker.
• Entries are due before the first bowl game on December 18, although we will allow stragglers to come in through Christmas Day. You will, however, receive a loss for any game that you missed by not getting your entry form in on time.
• Please submit only one entry form per contestant.
• The system is set up so that if you want to change your picks (before the start of the first game), you simply have to to resumbit your entry, and it will overwrite the exisiting entry.

Guidelines and other notes:

Q.Ram, our contest administrator, will make his picks known on the message board prior to deadline, so that everyone will know he is not rigging the game to win all of the prizes.

When in Fort Collins, please pay a visit to our gracious sponsor, Rams Bookstore, for furnishing the prizes. Their sponsorship is what helps make RamNation go.

All registered posters are welcome to join the contest, but remember all you Ram foes out there...the prizes are limited to what Rams Bookstore has in stock, which is primarily CSU-related gear! Thanks and best of luck to everyone (except Buffaloes, Cowboys, and Falcons).

--Q.Ram, Good SHEP, and CSURamFan