Maureen Ovington takes Week 18 Armchair Quarterback win as race tightens up

The eighteenth week of the Tri-City Record’s annual Armchair Quarterback competition had our pigskin diehards attempt to pick the winner of five collegiate football bowl games and five professional football games. When all was said and done, our expert pickers mostly received gifts from the jolly man himself over the holiday weekend, but there still was a fair amount of coal shared, as well! Our contest is in the final stretch, with every position in the overall standings still up for grabs.

The second week of bowl season for college football was played, with a total of eleven games between Monday, Dec. 18 and Sunday, Dec. 24. None of our “local” teams, Michigan or Notre Dame, played, but they will in the coming days, with the Fighting Irish taking on Oregon State in the Sun Bowl on Friday, Dec. 29, while the Wolverines square off against Alabama in a College Football Playoff semifinal at the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.

In professional action, both of our local teams, the Chicago Bears and the Detroit Lions, took the field last weekend. Thankfully, wins were in the stocking stuffers for fans of both teams! First, the Lions (11-4) traveled to Minnesota to take on the Vikings, trying to clinch their first division crown in thirty years. The suspense was big as the final seconds ticked off the clock, but Detroit was victorious, 30-24, winning the NFC North for the first time ever. Meanwhile, in Chicago, the Bears (6-9) took on the Arizona Cardinals, in a battle of teams at the bottom of their respective divisions. Chicago was able to win their fourth straight game at home, 27-16, leaving them just one game out of the battle for second place in the North.

When the final whistle blew and all the scores were verified, the best mark of the stretch stood at 8-2. Ultimately, two of our AQBs, RoxAnn Rodney-Isbrecht and Maureen Ovington, landed on the same record, and will have to battle it out in our tiebreaker to determine our weekly winner and runner-up. They both put up solid performances, as they were perfect in our professional matchups, suffering their only two losses in bowl games.

Because we have a tie in the weekly standings, that means we had to go to the tiebreaker to determine the order of finish for our top two panelists. Our tiebreaker matchup, which featured Dallas and Miami, was a thrilling game that came down to the final seconds and finished with a total of 42 points. Based on their highly educated guesses, Maureen, who predicted 46 total points, earned the top step of the podium by taking home the victory, while RoxAnn (who predicted 51 total points) will have to be content with her runner-up finish.

Our next finisher was settled on wins and losses alone, as Mike Banic had another great week on the gridiron. His 7-3 mark earned him third place honors. He has made some good judgment calls in recent weeks, including going a perfect 5-0 record in his professional picks last week. He was also very bold in predicting Northwestern to upset Utah, our only panelist who did just that.

Greg Krell and Bill Whitney ended with 6-4 marks, and will duel it out for positions fourth and fifth. While they finished in the bottom half of our field, the good news for them is that their records ended above the .500 level and they made up ground overall, seeing that our leader took a fall. Once again, because we have a tie in the weekly standings, that meant we had to go back to the tiebreaker. Based on their highly educated guesses, Greg, who predicted 47 total points, will take home fourth place honors, while Bill (who predicted 51 total points) must settle for a fifth-place finish.

Unfortunately, we always must have one panelist finish as our “cellar dweller” and the title, shockingly, will go to our overall leader, Rodney Lynch, as his 5-5 mark will leave him with a disappointing sixth place finish. Rodney had been on a bit of a roll recently, winning in back-to-back weeks and jumping into the lead in the race for the hat, but he came back down to earth, losing four of five collegiate bowl games, while an NFL pick, Dallas, lost at Miami.

In the season-long race for the hat, there have been weekly changes in overall positioning virtually each week since this contest began. This week no changes occurred between our top four in the race, while the only small aesthetic note will be that there is now a tie in the battle to remain out of last place.

In terms of the overall classification, Rodney remains in control of the lead in the race for top honors, with his overall record sitting at 118-62 through our first 180 games. RoxAnn has staked her claim on second place, with her overall record of 117-63 leaving her just one game back, while Greg remains steadfast in third place, with his overall record sitting at 113-67. The final three positions in our race feature Mike, who sits in fourth place with an overall record of 109-71, while Bill and Maureen are now deadlocked in a tie-for-fifth place, with matching overall records of 107-73. The race is continuing to see the pressure ratchet up as the season nears the end, and with just eleven games between the top and bottom of the standings, you can expect each game to mean that – much - more!

Pigskin action continues this week, with the third set of bowl games from college football being played out (which includes the New Year’s Day Six), along with games from week seventeen of the professional football season. Be sure to check back each week as our panel of ardent, loyal pigskin pickers weave their way through the football season, in pursuit of their own “one shining moment.” Now, here are your week nineteen games that our qualified panelists were tasked with picking:

Bowling Green vs. Minnesota

(Tue. - Quick Lane Bowl)

Missouri vs. Ohio State

(Fri. - Cotton Bowl Classic)

Notre Dame vs. Oregon State

(Fri. - Sun Bowl)

Florida State vs. Georgia

(Sat. - Orange Bowl)

Ole Miss vs. Penn State

(Sat. - Peach Bowl)

Alabama vs. Michigan

(Mon. - CFP Semifinal at the

Rose Bowl) *

Liberty vs. Oregon

(Mon. - Fiesta Bowl)

Texas vs. Washington

(Mon. - CFP Semifinal at the

Sugar Bowl)

Detroit Lions at

Dallas Cowboys (Sat.)

Atlanta Falcons at

Chicago Bears (Sun.)

* tiebreaker