AND THE WINNER OF THE ETBLITZ PARTY PACK IS…
The long, extended, college football season (did we mention long?) finally came to an end Monday night with the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, ending with Ohio State winning its seventh national title by taking down Notre Dame at Mercedez-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
And we have a winner with our very first ETBlitz.com College Football Pick-Off.
That man would be Billy Chrisman of Kilgore, who made 12 bowl picks correctly, and had Notre Dame in the championship game (having them over Penn State), although his other championship-game pick didn’t make it there (Oregon), and things didn’t work out for Notre Dame. He still had 12 correct picks, and had the Irish making it there.
ETBlitz.com reached Billy on Wednesday morning and congratulated him on the win. He’s receiving what we call the ETBlitz Tailgate Party Pack just in time for Super Bowl LIX (59): a big supply of Dr. Pepper products, a custom-made charcuterie board by Kilgore-based BackPorch Creations; and an awesome pack of meats and cheeses, including the famous “Oilfield Sausage,” from Clower Meat Market.
Needless to say, Billy was not disappointed to hear that.
Others who did well in our picks list but just didn’t make the finals were Whitney Keeling of Tatum, Cayle Bickham of Kilgore and Freddie Lollie of Kilgore.
Now, as far as the picks made by our panel…
Our regular picks are ongoing, and Joe Hale is in the lead there. But for the College Football Pick-Off – that was only the results of bowl games – here’s how we fared.
First, here’s the games we were charged with picking. The winners are in parentheses beside the matchup.
2024 ETBLITZ.COM COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICK-OFF
Tuesday, Dec. 31
ReliaQuest Bowl (Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Fla.)
Alabama vs. Michigan (MICHIGAN)
Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl (Sun Bowl Stadium, El Paso, Texas)
Louisville vs. Washington (LOUISVILLE)
Cheez-It Citrus Bowl (Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Fla.)
South Carolina vs. Illinois (ILLINOIS)
Kinder’s Texas Bowl (NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas)
Baylor vs. LSU (LSU)
College Football Playoff quarterfinal at The Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Ariz.)
Boise State vs. Penn State (PENN STATE)
Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025
College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl (Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Ga.)
Arizona State vs. Texas (TEXAS)
College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl by Prudential (Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif.)
Oregon vs. Ohio State (OHIO STATE)
College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl (Caesar’s Superdome, New Orleans, La.)
Georgia vs. Notre Dame (NOTRE DAME)
Thursday, Jan. 2
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (Everbank Stadium, Jacksonville, Fla.)
Duke vs. Ole Miss (OLE MISS)
Friday, Jan. 3
SERVPRO First Responder bowl (Gerald J. Ford Stadium, Dallas, Texas)
North Texas vs. Texas State (TEXAS STATE)
Duke’s Mayo Bowl (Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C.)
Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech (MINNESOTA)
Saturday, Jan. 4
Bahamas Bowl by Atlantis Resorts (Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium, Nassau, Bahamas)
Buffalo vs. Liberty (BUFFALO)
Thursday, Jan. 9
College Football Playoff semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl (Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Fla.)
This would ultimately be Penn State vs. Notre Dame (NOTRE DAME)
Friday, Jan. 10
College Football Playoff semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX)
This would ultimately be Texas vs. Ohio State (OHIO STATE)
Monday, Jan. 20
College Football Playoff National Championship, by AT&T (Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Ga.)
This would ultimately be Notre Dame vs. Ohio State (OHIO STATE)
+++++
Now, we had to pick the first few rounds correctly to even get the PARTICIPANTS in the games on Jan. 9-10 right. So some of us didn’t get that far.
Yours truly didn’t have a good bowl season. I’ve done much better in the past. Here’s my scorecard. I missed on Alabama-Michigan; got Louisville-Washington correct; missed on South Carolina-Illinois; got Baylor-LSU correct; missed Boise-Penn State; got Texas-Arizona State correct; missed on Oregon-Ohio State; missed on Notre Dame-Georgia; got Ole Miss-Duke correct; missed North Texas-Texas State; got Minnesota-Virginia Tech correct; missed Buffalo-Liberty; and my national title game opponents were Georgia and Oregon, and I had Oregon winning it all. So all in all, I stunk it up pretty well.
In my defense, Oregon was the No. 1 team in the nation going into the College Football Playoffs. I’ll say that.
Dennis Jacobs, how’d he do? Well, let’s look.
Dennis missed on ‘Bama-Michigan, Louisville-Washington, South Carolina-Illinois, Baylor-LSU, and Boise-Penn State. Ouch. He went 0-5 out of the gate.
He hit Texas-Arizona State, but then missed Oregon-Ohio State. He missed Georgia-Notre Dame (a TON of people missed that, whether they want to admit it or not). He got Ole Miss over Duke correct. He missed North Texas-Texas State, missed Virginia Tech beating Minnesota, and correctly picked Buffalo over Liberty. His national title game participants were Georgia and Texas, and he had Georgia topping the Longhorns in meeting number three between the teams this year in the national championship game.
Joe Hale, who is leading our ETBlitz Power Picks!, also picked Alabama. Boy, the Crimson Tide killed everyone by losing that bowl game. Joe correctly picked Louisville, but lost on the South Carolina-Illinois pick, correctly picked LSU over Baylor, picked Penn State over Boise, and correctly picked Texas over Arizona State and Ohio State over Oregon. He picked Georgia over Notre Dame, though, missing that one, but finished strong, picking Ole Miss over Duke, Texas State over North Texas, Minnesota over Virginia Tech and Buffalo over Liberty – all of those actually happened!
Like Dennis, Joe’s national title game participants were Georgia and Texas, though, and Joe had the Longhorns winning it all, as well.
Dereck Borders didn’t buy into the SEC hype. He did pick Michigan over ‘Bama and got it. He also correctly picked Louisville over Washington. He did miss Illinois over South Carolina, though. He got LSU over Baylor; missed Penn State-Boise; got Texas over Arizona State; missed Oregon-Ohio State; missed Notre Dame over Georgia; correctly picked Ole Miss over Duke; missed Texas State over North Texas; got Minnesota over Virginia Tech; and missed Buffalo over Liberty. Dereck had Oregon beating Georgia for the national title.
Like our guest who ultimately won our tailgate party pack, Jenna Lucas did have Notre Dame reaching the national championship game. On the way, she missed Michigan beating Alabama; got Louisville over Washington; missed Illinois over South Carolina; missed LSU over Baylor; got Penn State over Boise; got Texas over Arizona State; missed Ohio State topping Oregon; got Notre Dame’s win over Georgia; got Ole Miss over Duke; picked Texas State over North Texas; picked Virginia Tech over North Texas; but missed Buffalo over Liberty. She had Notre Dame over Penn State, and then into the national title game, but her other title-game participant was Texas, and she also had the Longhorns winning the championship.
My son Jacob Lucas also picked Michigan over ‘Bama, and hit Louisville over Washington. He missed Illinois over South Carolina; he missed LSU over Baylor; he did get Penn State over Boise; he also picked Texas over Arizona State correctly; he missed Ohio State over Oregon; he didn’t see Notre Dame topping Georgia; he got Ole Miss over Duke and Texas State over North Texas, and Minnesota over Virginia Tech, but missed Buffalo over Liberty.
Jacob had Georgia and Oregon playing for the national championship, and Georgia winning it.
Ashtyn Lucas, who’s in second place in our regular picks contest, missed on ‘Bama-Michigan; got Louisville over Washington; missed on Illinois over South Carolina; got LSU over Baylor; missed Penn State over Boise; got Texas over Arizona State; got Ohio State over Oregon; didn’t see Notre Dame over Georgia coming; picked Ole Miss over Duke; missed Texas State over North Texas, Minnesota over Va. Tech and Buffalo over Liberty. Ashtyn’s national title game matchup had the Longhorns facing Georgia, and Texas winning.
Photographer Alex Nabor took ‘Bama, too and lost it (I told you just about everyone bit on that one); he also missed on Louisville over Washington and Illinois over South Carolina. He got LSU over Baylor right, though. He missed Penn State over Boise, and Ohio State over Oregon. He got Texas over Arizona State correct. He missed Notre Dame’s win over Georgia (almost all of us did). He correctly picked Ole Miss over Duke and Texas State over North Texas; missed Minnesota’s win over Virginia Tech’s Hokies; and correctly picked Buffalo over Liberty. Alex had Georgia meeting Texas in the national championship game, an apparent popular pick, and Texas winning it.
Clayton Fletcher bit on Alabama (thanks a lot, Kalen DeBoer), and also missed out on Louisville over Washington and Illinois over South Carolina. He hit on LSU beating Baylor and Penn State over Boise, but missed Texas over Arizona State, missed Ohio State over Oregon, and Notre Dame over Georgia. He correctly picked Ole Miss over Duke, but missed Texas State over North Texas. He got Minnesota over Virginia Tech and Buffalo over Liberty.
Like me, Clayton picked Georgia vs. Oregon in the national championship game, and like me, picked Oregon to win it. Might’ve helped if they hadn’t gotten blown the heck out in the Rose Bowl by Ohio State.
And Ronnie Sartors missed Michigan over Alabama and Louisville over Washington, but was the only member of the panel who actually correctly picked Illinois over South Carolina! Congratulations on that. He also picked LSU over Baylor, Penn State over Boise, and Texas over Arizona State.
He missed on Ohio State over Oregon, Notre Dame over Georgia, and Ole Miss over Duke. He did get Texas State’s win over North Texas correct, and Minnesota over Virginia Tech, but missed Buffalo over Liberty.
Ronnie had Georgia and Texas in the national title game and Texas winning it all.
Congratulations again to Billy Chrisman, who will soon get his tailgate party pack – we’ll get some photos when it’s ready to run here on ETBlitz.com.
