2015-16 Season results and champion Phil Steele! #cfb

The 2015-16 season of college football brought excitement and many hours wasted in front of the television, and it is with great sadness that we now enter the offseason.  However, that also means that it is time to crown the 2015-16 GAMEDAYCOLE.COM SEASON CHAMPION!!!  Competition was fierce this year, with 4,271 picks tracked this year and an average correct pick rate of 70.03% on the season.  We had 33 competitors eligible for this year’s championship, and it is without further adieu that I present to you our 2015-16 season champion, Mr. Phil Steele!

Phil Steele: 2015-16 Champion
Phil Steele: 2015-16 Champion

Mr. Steele finished off this season with a record of 597-174 straight up and 121-105-2 against the spread, which comes out to 77.03% straight up and 53.54% against the spread.  I don’t know what his secret is to picking games.  Maybe it is his computer.  Maybe it is the mustache.  Maybe it is the fact that he hasn’t slept since June due to football.  Whatever it is, it works.  Congratulations Phil.  You can now add this to your long and impressive resume, and no doubt impress acquaintances at cocktail parties with this accolade.

There are plenty of other notes to get to for this season’s wrap up.  As you may notice, Greg McElroy topped the straight up percentages on the year at 84.54% with a record of 82-15 on the year.  While this is impressive and deserving of congratulations, he was hurt by the limited number of games he picked, and the fact that his picks are almost entirely SEC conference picks.  Phil Steele had a much larger body of work, and combined with his win rate against the spread that was enough to vault him over McElroy on the season.  Next year we will probably have a separate award for the experts focusing on a single conference, but it is too late to be starting that nonsense right now.

Lee Corso’s headgear picks on the year were his worst year on record.  He went 6-12 on the year in the headgear picks due to some tough breaks and close losses on underdogs.  Charley the Cat had a season on par with Coach Corso, and ended up squeezing out a 7-11 season to beat Corso on the year picking games.  Gameday Jen had her best season on record, going 153-59 (72.17%) on the year, so watch out Phil; she is coming for you!  Maybe next year we’ll have her pick against the spread and make us some money.  Our Gameday guest celebrities had an abysmal year at 56.39% picking games straight up this year.  Maybe you shouldn’t be trusting Rick Ross, the Philly Phanatic, or Eric Church for your betting advice after all.

You can see the full rankings below to see how everyone else did on the year.  We will be putting together a recap of preseason predictions this week to see how great everyone’s preseason picks surely went, so keep an eye out for that and much more to come.

Straight Up SU % ATS ATS %
Greg McElroy 82-15 84.54%
Phil Steele 597-174 77.03% 121-105-2 53.54%
Paul Finebaum 78-27 74.29%
Pat Forde 256-89 73.99%
Andrea Adelson 84-30 73.68%
Booger McFarland 80-32 72.73%
Tim Tebow 45-17 72.58%
Trevor Matich 68-26 72.34% 14-21-1 40.00%
Jennifer 153-59 72.17%
Jason Sehorn 82-33 71.30%
Kirk Herbstreit 120-49 71.01%
Marcus Spears 55-23 70.51%
Brad Edwards 89-38 70.08% 22-20-1 52.38%
Colin Cowherd 73-32 69.52%
David Pollack 71-32 68.93%
Joey Galloway 93-43 68.38%
Robert Smith 49-23 68.06% 10-17-0 37.04%
Mark May 23-11 67.65%
Kevin Carter 38-19 66.67%
Jon Berger 32-16 66.67%
Todd McShay 33-17 66.00%
Danny Kanell 88-47 65.19% 20-23-0 46.51%
Desmond Howard 111-60 64.91%
Chris Fallica 77-42 64.71% 71-67-3 51.45%
Lee Corso 101-56 64.33%
Ryen Russillo 46-27 63.01% 23-19-0 54.76%
Scott Van Pelt 5-3 62.50% 34-35 49.28%
Joel Klatt 105-64 62.13%
Celebrity Guests 75-58 56.39%
Dari Nowhkah 46-36 56.10% 10-8-0 55.56%
Lou Holtz 13-11 54.17%
Stanford Steve Coughlin 42-37 53.16% 40-44-3 48.19%
Season Average 2925-1250 70.06% 365-359-10 50.41%

2015-16 #CFBPlayoff Championship picks! #BowlMania #Clemson #Alabama

Here we are with one game left in the season, so it is about that time to start paying attention to who is picking whom (and in some cases, BY HOW MUCH).  Undefeated Clemson is taking on Nick Saban’s Alabama, and our expert panel of predictors and prognosticators is sitting at 32 to 13 in favor of Alabama winning the game, with five experts laying the 7, two experts liking the under, one expert taking the points, and one Chris Fallica who is on the Clemson moneyline.

Check back often over the next few days because we will be updating anytime someone wants to give a pick on this game.  As always, I’ll be putting the place and date I got the pick from, so if you see someone picking the opposite way more recently, go with the more recent pick.

Lee Corso:
Clemson over Alabama (Headgear pick)

Andrea Adelson:
Clemson over Alabama (epsn.com 1/7)

Charles Arbuckle: Film Room 1/6
Clemson over Alabama

Skip Bayless: First Take 1/11
Clemson over Alabama 28-27
Clemson+7 vs Alabama

Mike Bellotti: Film Room 1/6
Alabama over Clemson (Close)

Jon Berger: Big 12 Weekly 1/6
Alabama over Clemson

Kevin Blackstone: ATH 1/11
Alabama over Clemson

Mack Brown:
Clemson over Alabama (Champ Drive 1/10)

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Kevin Carter: Film Room 1/6
Alabama over Clemson

Cole’s Pick:
Alabama over Clemson

Stanford Steve Coughlin: Behind the Bets podcast 1/6
Alabama over Clemson
Alabama-7 vs Clemson
Alabama vs Clemson under 50.5 (if he had to bet it)

Colin Cowherd:
Alabama over Clemson (The Herd 1/8)
Alabama-7 vs Clemson (The Herd 1/8)

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Tim Cowlishaw:
Alabama over Clemson (103.3 ESPNRadio 1/11)

Ed Cunningham:
Clemson over Alabama (Bowl Mania 12/13)

Butch Davis:
Alabama over Clemson (Champ Drive 1/10)

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Heather Dinich:
Alabama over Clemson (Twitter 1/9)

Chris “The Bear” Fallica: Behind the Bets podcast 1/6
Clemson over Alabama 24-21
Clemson+220ish over Alabama
Clemson+7 vs Alabama
Alabama vs Clemson under 50.5 (lean only)

Paul Finebaum:
Alabama over Clemson (Champ Drive 1/10)

Pat Forde: Bowl Dash 12/17
Alabama over Clemson 28-21

Joey Galloway:
Clemson over Alabama (Champ Drive 1/10)

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Mike Greenberg:
Alabama over Clemson

Israel Gutierrez: ATH 1/11
Alabama over Clemson

Desmond Howard:
Alabama over Clemson

Jennifer’s Pick:
Clemson over Alabama

Danny Kanell:
Clemson over Alabama (Halftime show ½, CFB Live 1/4)

Joel Klatt:
Alabama over Clemson (WJOX podcdast 1/5)

Matt Leinart:
Alabama over Clemson (FS1 12/31)

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Tom Luginbill: Film Room 1/6
Alabama over Clemson

Mark May:
Alabama over Clemson (Championship Drive 12/6)

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Greg McElroy:
Alabama over Clemson (SEC Nation 1/11)

Booger McFarland:
Alabama over Clemson 34-17 (M&M 1/11)

Todd McShay:
Alabama over Clemson 28-20 (Champ Drive 1/10)

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Urban Meyer:
Alabama over Clemson

Woody Paige: ATH 1/11
Clemson over Alabama

Jesse Palmer:
Alabama over Clemson (CFB Live 1/11)

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Petros Papadakis:
Alabama over Clemson (FS1 12/31)

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Brady Quinn:
Clemson over Alabama (FS1 12/31)

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Ryen Russillo:
Alabama over Clemson (Champ Drive 1/10)

Robert Smith:
Clemson over Alabama (Championship Drive 12/6)

Stephen A. Smith: First Take 1/11
Alabama over Clemson 33-20
Alabama-7 vs Clemson

Marcus Spears:
Alabama over Clemson (SEC Nation 1/11)

Phil Steele:
Alabama over Clemson (by 10) (Champ Drive 1/7)
Alabama-7 vs Clemson

Clint Stoerner:
Alabama over Clemson (Twitter 1/11)

Tim Tebow:
Alabama over Clemson 24-17 (R&K 1/11)

Scott Van Pelt:
Alabama over Clemson
Alabama-7 vs Clemson (Winners 1/7)

SVP Winners pick
SVP Winners pick

Week 14 2015: Championship Saturday picks are graded; results are in! #cfb #cfbplayoff

Week 14 of our 2015 season brought us tremendous conference championship games and two random Big 12 games, one of which provided unexpected entertainment.  We had fewer games to pick this weekend, but the magnitude of the championship weekend brought out more of our experts than usual to get their opinions and picks on the record.  Let’s dive right in.

Winners this week included David Pollack (3-1), Colin Cowherd (3-1), Butch Davis (3-1), Heather Dinich (5-1), Brad Edwards (4-1, 2-1 ATS), Paul Finebaum (4-0), Joey Galloway (5-0), Trevor Matich (5-1-1, 1-1-1 ATS), Booger McFarland (3-1), and Ryen Russillo (5-3, but 3-1 ATS).  Our two biggest winners of the weekend will be co-weekly winners, and those would be none other than Lee Corso and Pat Forde, who both came in at 7-1 on the weekend.  Congratulations to the both of them, but especially Lee Corso who has had a rough year this year picking games.

Since the big four conference championships all had the favorites end up winning, our losers this week were basically the ones who decided to try and get cute by predicting chaos.  Kirk Herbstreit went 4-4 on the week, but with one winner against the spread he was 3-4 straight up on the week.  Jon Berger, noted Big 12 expert, only picked two games.  Both of them were Big 12 games, and he got both wrong.  Robert Smith went 5-3 on the week, but his 1-3 record against the spread brings him down to 37.04% ATS this year which is pretty impressive.  However, I have no other choice for this week’s big loser than Gameday celebrity guest picker Dallas Clark, who decided to show up with some of the best celebrity guest analysis of the year before dropping a 2-5 record on us.

This was Lee Corso’s fourth time picking a game involving Michigan State as a headgear matchup this year, and he picked against them the first three times (losing all three).  This week he finally went with Michigan State and got it right, bringing him to 4-10 on the year.  Jennifer had another winner at 5-3 on the week, and Charley the Cat also booked a winner with Michigan State over Iowa (bringing her to 5-9 on the year).  Everyone else was somewhere in between all of this, so check the full slate of results below to see how your favorite (or most hated) personality did this week.

Lee Corso: 7-1
RIGHT Mich St over Iowa (headgear pick)
RIGHT Stanford over USC
WRONG Baylor over Texas
RIGHT KState over WVU
RIGHT Houston over Temple
RIGHT WKU over Southern Miss
RIGHT Clemson over UNC
RIGHT Alabama over Florida

Kirk Herbstreit: 4-4 (1-0 ATS)
RIGHT Alabama over Florida
WRONG USC over Stanford
WRONG Baylor over Texas
WRONG WVU over KState
RIGHT Houston over Temple
WRONG Southern Miss over WKU
RIGHT Mich St over Iowa
RIGHT Texas+21 vs Baylor

Desmond Howard: 5-4 (1-0 ATS)
RIGHT Stanford over USC
WRONG Baylor over Texas
WRONG WVU over Kansas State
RIGHT Houston over Temple
WRONG Southern Miss over WKU
RIGHT Clemson over UNC
RIGHT Alabama over Florida
WRONG Iowa over Mich St
RIGHT Texas+21 vs Baylor

Dallas Clark: 2-5
WRONG Iowa over Mich St
WRONG Baylor over Texas
WRONG WVU over Kansas State
WRONG Temple over Houston
RIGHT WKU over Southern Miss
WRONG USC over Stanford
RIGHT Clemson over UNC

David Pollack: 3-1
RIGHT Stanford over USC
RIGHT Alabama over Florida
RIGHT Mich St over Iowa
WRONG UNC over Clemson

Jennifer’s Picks: 5-3
RIGHT Clemson over UNC
WRONG Baylor over Texas
WRONG WVU over KState
RIGHT Houston over Temple
WRONG Southern Miss over WKU
RIGHT Stanford over USC
RIGHT Alabama over Florida
RIGHT Mich St over Iowa

Andrea Adelson: 1-0
RIGHT Clemson over UNC

Skip Bayless: 1-0
RIGHT Mich St over Iowa

Jon Berger: 0-2
WRONG Baylor over Texas
WRONG WVU over KState

Mack Brown: 3-0
RIGHT Clemson over UNC
RIGHT Alabama over Florida
RIGHT Stanford over USC

Kevin Carter: 2-1
RIGHT Alabama over Florida
WRONG Iowa over Mich St
RIGHT Clemson over UNC

Stanford Steve Coughlin: 6-4 (3-2 ATS)
RIGHT Clemson over UNC 42-37
RIGHT Alabama over Florida 20-3
WRONG USC over Stanford 35-34
WRONG Air Force over SDSU 34-30
RIGHT Mich St over Iowa 27-17
RIGHT Clemson vs UNC Over 67
RIGHT Florida+17.5 vs Alabama
WRONG Mich St-3.5 vs Iowa
WRONG USC+4.5 vs Stanford
RIGHT Air Force+5.5 vs SDSU

Colin Cowherd: 3-1
WRONG UNC over Clemson
RIGHT Alabama over Florida (by 21)
RIGHT Stanford over USC (by 7)
RIGHT Mich St over Iowa (by 7)

Tim Cowlishaw: 1-0
RIGHT Mich St over Iowa

Butch Davis: 3-1
RIGHT BGSU over NIU
RIGHT Mich St over Iowa
WRONG USC over Stanford
RIGHT Alabama over Florida

Heather Dinich: 5-1
RIGHT Alabama over Florida
RIGHT Clemson over UNC
WRONG USC over Stanford
RIGHT Mich St over Iowa
RIGHT Houston over Temple
RIGHT BGSU over NIU

Brad Edwards: 4-1 (2-1 ATS)
RIGHT Mich St over Iowa
RIGHT SDSU over Air Force
WRONG SDSU-4.5 vs Air Force
RIGHT USC vs Stanford over 58
RIGHT Clemson vs UNC over 69

Chris Fallica: 7-6 (3-5 ATS)
RIGHT Clemson over UNC 31-21
RIGHT Alabama over Florida 27-13
RIGHT Mich St over Iowa 34-24
RIGHT Houston over Temple 30-28
WRONG Baylor over Texas 48-21
RIGHT Clemson-5.5 vs UNC
RIGHT Florida+17.5 vs Alabama
WRONG Mich St-3.5 vs Iowa
WRONG Temple+6.5 vs Houston
WRONG Baylor -20.5 vs Texas
WRONG Baylor-21 vs Texas (Bear’s Bank)
WRONG Temple+6 vs Houston (Bear’s Bank)
RIGHT Clemson-5 vs UNC (Bear’s Bank)

Paul Finebaum: 4-0
RIGHT Alabama over Florida
RIGHT Mich St over Iowa
RIGHT Stanford over USC
RIGHT Clemson over UNC

Pat Forde: 7-1
RIGHT Mich St over Iowa 28-17
RIGHT Clemson over UNC 35-31
RIGHT Alabama over Florida 21-3
RIGHT Stanford over USC 31-28
RIGHT Houston over Temple 36-34
WRONG Southern Miss over WKU 41-42
RIGHT SDSU over AF 35-28
RIGHT BGSU over NIU 42-31

Joey Galloway: 5-0
RIGHT Alabama over Florida
RIGHT Clemson over UNC
RIGHT Mich St over Iowa
RIGHT Stanford over USC
RIGHT BGSU over NIU

Dan Hawkins: 2-0
RIGHT Mich St over Iowa
RIGHT Alabama over Florida

Danny Kanell: 4-4 (2-2 ATS)
RIGHT Alabama over Florida
WRONG Iowa over Mich St
RIGHT Clemson over UNC
WRONG USC over Stanford
RIGHT Florida+18 vs Alabama
WRONG USC+4.5 vs Stanford
WRONG UNC+5 vs Clemson
RIGHT Iowa+3.5 vs Mich St

Mel Kiper Jr.: 1-0
RIGHT Alabama over Florida

Tom Luginbill: 1-0
RIGHT Alabama over Florida

Ivan Maisel: 1-0
RIGHT Houston over Temple

Trevor Matich: 5-1-1 (1-1-1 ATS)
RIGHT Alabama over Florida
RIGHT Mich St over Iowa
RIGHT Clemson over UNC
RIGHT Stanford over USC
PUSH Mich St-3 vs Iowa
WRONG Alabama-17 vs Florida
RIGHT Clemson vs UNC over 69

Mark May: 3-0
RIGHT Mich St over Iowa
RIGHT Alabama over Florida
RIGHT Clemson over UNC

Greg McElroy: 2-1
RIGHT Alabama over Florida
RIGHT Clemson over UNC
WRONG Iowa over Mich St

Booger McFarland: 3-1
WRONG UNC over Clemson
RIGHT Alabama over Florida
RIGHT Stanford over USC
RIGHT Mich St over Iowa

Ryan McGee: 1-0
RIGHT Alabama over Florida

Dari Nowkhah: 1-0
RIGHT Alabama over Florida

Ryen Russillo: 5-3 (3-1 ATS)
RIGHT Alabama over Florida
WRONG USC over Stanford
WRONG Iowa over Mich St
RIGHT Clemson over UNC
RIGHT Florida+18 vs Alabama
WRONG USC+4.5 vs Stanford
RIGHT Clemson-5 vs UNC
RIGHT Iowa+3.5 vs Mich St

Mark Schlabach: 1-0
RIGHT Clemson over UNC

Jason Sehorn: 3-2
RIGHT Clemson over UNC
RIGHT Mich St over Iowa
WRONG USC over Stanford
RIGHT Alabama over Florida
WRONG Temple over Houston

Robert Smith: 5-3 (1-3 ATS)
RIGHT Mich St over Iowa
RIGHT Clemson over UNC
RIGHT Stanford over USC
RIGHT Alabama over Florida
WRONG USC+4.5 vs Stanford
WRONG Alabama-18 vs Florida
RIGHT Clemson-5 vs UNC
WRONG Mich St-3.5 vs Iowa

Marcus Spears: 1-1
RIGHT Alabama over Florida
WRONG Iowa over Mich St

Phil Steele: 11-5 (4-3 ATS)
RIGHT Clemson over UNC (by 7)
RIGHT Houston over Temple
RIGHT Alabama over Florida
RIGHT Stanford over USC (by 3)
RIGHT Mich St over Iowa (by 3)
RIGHT SDSU over AF
WRONG Baylor over Texas
RIGHT BGSU over NIU
WRONG Southern Miss over WKU
RIGHT Houston-6 vs Temple
WRONG Alabama vs Florida Under 40
RIGHT Mich St vs Iowa Under 52
RIGHT Stanford vs USC Over 58.5
WRONG Southern Miss+7.5 vs WKU
WRONG SDSU-5 vs AF
RIGHT Texas+21 vs Baylor

Clint Stoerner: 0-1
WRONG UNC over Clemson

Tim Tebow: 1-0
RIGHT Alabama over Florida

Scott Van Pelt: 1-0 ATS
RIGHT Air Force+6.5 vs SDSU