Consensus SuperContest Picks

Below is the list of cumulative pick totals.

Supercontest Week 1

NYG 30
DAL 22
CHI 101
IND 75
PHI 212
CLE 46
NYJ 144
BUF 100
NO 335
WAS 31
NE 216
TEN 110
MIN 49
JAX 74
HOU 150
MIA 66
DET 248
STL 46
ATL 143
KC 105
GB 172
SF 102
CAR 121
TB 95
SEA 153
ARI 103
DEN 158
PIT 96
BAL 144
CIN 70
SD 73
OAK 130


WOW!  The consensus likes the Road favorites.  Every Road favorite got picked more than the Home underdog.  This is a good sign for THEBISNESS.  Let's hope the Pats cover -5.5 and the rest of the Road favorites DO NOT cover their spreads.

The consensus Top 3 are New Orleans, Detroit, and New England, which also happen to be 3 of our picks.  I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing.  Generally, if a spread seems so easy you're probably missing something.  What are we missing?  Let's just hope Vegas is clueless in Week 1, and these spreads were truly THAT EASY to pick.

Overall, the Week 1 picks bewilder me.   The ONLY underdog that got picked more than the favorite is the Jaguars, and if I were to do a Top 5 by myself I would have the Vikings -3.5.  SHITTY TEAMS COVER SPREADS TOO, EVERYONE!  That's the reason there's spreads in the first place: to level the playing field between good teams and shitty teams.  I'm going to guess that SuperContest contestants go sub-50% in Week 1. 

The number of SuperContest entries this year (745) shattered last year's record total of 517.  It seems to me the contest gained a lot of "wiseguys."  There's more money in the pot, and based on the Week 1 picks, making the money won't be any harder than it was last year.  Don't get me wrong.   Finishing in the top 2.7% of any contest (the SuperContest only pays out 20 places regardless of the number of entries) this year will be extremely difficult, but I like our chances just as much as last year!

Here are some notable contestant picks:

Participating under the alias "Now 100% Sweat Free" is Chad Millman, the writer of espn.com's Behind The Bets blog.

NOW 100% SWEAT FREE. NYJ, GB, SEA, DEN, OAK

You probably know Bill Simmons from Grantland.com or from listening to his popular podcast The B.S. Report.  Bill is using the alias "SIMBOTICS" for at least the second year in a row.

SIMBOTICS . IND, NYJ, GB, SEA, OAK

Also, back-to-back winner of the contest...YEAH, HE WON THIS DAMN THING TWICE IN A ROW, Steve Fezzik is participating under the very clever, unique, and creative alias "FEZZIK."

FEZZIK . PHI, NO, DET, KC, BAL

THEBISNESS shares 2 common picks with each of these 3 SuperContest mainstays.  I'll say that's a good thing heading into Week 1.  Get yer buffy dip in the crockpot, yer pizzas in the oven, and yer beer on ice.  The football month of Septobruary has arrived, and it's time to work on making a 150 day dent in your couch!