We are in the midst of a really exciting SABOWL which is hard to tell from the locker room which has been a total snooze fest!

Today will be a big day for SABOWL XIV, we’ll cross over the halfway threshold with 6 games today including some playoff games. Today could also see some eliminations from SABOWL contention. Also, with only 5 games separating Ellen in first place and the 4 Sabos in the toilet bowl this is still anyone’s SABOWL.

Here are the picks for today if you want to see how you stack up to your competitors:
Camping World Bowl – Notre Dame favored by 3.5 over Iowa State
Notre Dame: Izabella, Jonathan, Julian, Josh, Jimmy, Emily, Rebecca, Stephen, Christina
Iowa State: Michael, Danny, Jim, Ellen, April, Joe

Goodyear Cotton Bowl – Penn State favored by 6.5 over Memphis
Penn State: Izabella, Jonathan, Julian, Josh, Jimmy, Emily, Rebecca, Joe, Christina
Memphis: Michael, Danny, Jim, Ellen, April, Stephen

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl – LSU favored by 13.5 over Oklahoma
LSU: Michael, Izabella, Jonathan, Julian, Jim, Josh, Ellen, April, Jimmy, Rebecca, Joe, Christina
Oklahoma: Danny, Emily, Stephen

PlayStation Fiesta Bowl – Clemson favored by 2.5 over Ohio State
Clemson: Michael, Izabella, Jonathan, Julian, Jim, Josh, Ellen, April, Emily, Rebecca, Joe, Christian
Ohio State: Danny, Jimmy, Rebecca

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl – no spread
LSU: Everybody but Danny
Oklahoma: Danny

PlayStation Fiesta Bowl – no spread
Clemson: Everybody but Danny, Jimmy, Rebecca
Ohio State: Danny, Jimmy, Rebecca

Hi everyone! The day we have been waiting for all year has landed, SABOWL XIV has begun and our friendly champ has provided a kind, helpful orientation to the madness that is coming.

Our spreadsheet will be going live later tonight with everyone’s picks so be on the look out for that.

Also, we’ll have a fix we need to make so we’ll have another game we need everyone to pick for and SABOWL for Kids XIV info will be coming soon.

Happy SABOWL season everyone!

The beginning of a new SABOWL tradition, here is our SABOWL XIII Champion Michael delivering his victory speech!

For the fourth, fifth, maybe even sixth time in SABOWL history, the SABOWL has come down to the final game! We don’t know exactly how many times we’ve had a tiebreaker situation because our SABOWL history page kind of sucks.

Nonetheless, here is our situation. We are down to Michael and Danny for SABOWL gold and tonight’s championship game will decide who wins SABOWL XIII.

The tiebreaker rules are as follows:
(1) Each competitor must predict the combined total number of points that will be scored in the National Championship by both teams. The person closest without going over wins.
(2) The tiebreaker for the tiebreaker is a prediction of how many points will be scored via field goal during the game.

The picks are in and here they are…
Danny predicts 61 total points and 12 points through field goals.
Michael predicts 31 total points and 12 points through field goals.

The Locker Room is open for anyone who would like to wish Michael and Danny luck or anything else!

I use the term contestants lightly in consideration of the meaning of the term. Being a contestant is associated with actually competing. I would like to challenge you all in this area, both in terms of your Sabowl XIII performance as well as your Locker Room participation.

We are now 15 games in to XIII. This year is showing some normal trends as well as some new ones. Here is an analysis from the first week and a half.

Izabella-Tied for the lead and is showing some promise for being a younger Sabowler. The future looks good (except when you consider Stephen*). See note below. She is currently looking to perform her new song, “Sabowl Hallelujah”.

April-Can I admit that it is nice to see April not running away with the Sabowl this year. I still would not count her out. ESPN is reporting that her recent job change was for the purpose of providing more time for Sabowl preparation. She was seen studying spreadsheets on Christmas Eve but is denying they were regarding the Sabowl.

Danny-Has been one of the most entertaining participants since his initial appearance in Sabowl V. The Sabowl has been tough on him and yet he comes back every year. It is a story of early success to only be crushed by the spread. May the spread be good to you this year but probably not.

Michael-Came out of the gates on fire and had hopes of the first ever undefeated season. Much better than Michael’s goals of a season without winning a game. When asked why he wanted to accomplish this, he stated “What are the chances you cannot win a game.” Maybe next year.

Jim-Coming off an impressive year last year, Jim is again in contention and tied for the lead. Some are saying he is already preparing for next years Sabowl. We are still looking for his first appearance in the Locker Room.

Christina-The previous Sabowl champion is having a good start. There are some rumors regarding her pick process that may create some controversy. A possible I-Team investigation is in the works.

Jonathan-Has brought some early Sabowl magic with some fancy, mancy additions to the Sabowl spreadsheet. He has always been one to where is emotions on his sleeves, hence the reason he always wears long sleeves. Lots of emotions. This is also the last year Jonathan will be participating in the Sabowl as he is retiring along with long-time Georgia Tech Head Coach, Paul Johnson.

Jimmy-Has been one of the most consistent Sabowl competitors in its history. He is looking to return to his championship form in Sabowl III when he took the championship by one game over Christina. However, typical Sabowl controversy ensued when Christina demanded a recount.

Ellen-Has already won seven games. What does this mean you may ask? She probably will not win anymore this season. However, you have to respect her hope for a championship one day. She has stated she does not want to win the Sabowl due to the pressure of protecting it for the year. I think we all know she is in “loser denial.”

Stephen-Obvious the pressures of acclimating to college have taken a toll on the Sabowl preparation. Time to evaluate priorities. Hopefully this will only be a seasonal setback for this young man.

Julian-One of the other young guns in the Sabowl. Julian had a great year last year and almost brought the championship home. Look for him to make a late run and make this an exciting finish. His goal is to have the Sabowl hanging next to all of his championship trophy deer.

Rebecca-Also known as the “Lost Sabowler”, she showed so much hope for the future of the Locker Room with her lengthy, well-written postings and comments. It has been awhile since we have seen this but we all hope for its return.

Josh-After a disastrous start, Josh has been making a comeback to get back into contention. Josh is always looking for a way to spread compassion and hope whether it is in his local hometown of Springfield, Il. or the Sabowl. He has graciously agreed to donate all of his wins this season to those who need it.

Emily-We are all thankful for Emily since she has already secured the fact that we will not do worse than her. Thank you Emily. We appreciate you for this. Sorry for your really bad season. Maybe Josh will give you some wins.

Joe-Ol’ Rockie Joe. After some early Sabowl career success, the Rockie Joe dynasty took a setback last year. It has been rumored he has been looking to start another Sabowl-like experience, the “x Bowl.” He has his sights on being commissioner and president. More to come.

We hope you enjoy the games today, especially the highly anticipated “Cheez-It Bowl”. Look for the updates in the spreadsheet and standing (depending on how well Jonathan does today.) More importantly, we need to see you in the Locker Room. Can we break a record with comments and number of participants? Let’s shoot for 200 comments with 10 people contributing.