News/Commentary

2018 Bowl Confidence Points

January 1, 2019 by CFP Staff

(Original upload: December 9. Last update for results: January 1 - Completed)

Confidence Points is a popular pick 'em game for college football fans that presents the dual challenge of picking the winners and assigning points to each pick. We can't count the Championship game since we don't know who's playing in it, so that leaves us with 39 games we can use. Assign 39 to the pick that gives you the most confidence, and assign 1 to the pick that gives you the least confidence. No number can be assigned more than once. A perfect record this year would be a total score of 780.

Here is how the computer (Congrove Computer Rankings at CollegeFootballPoll.com) would rank its' picks, based on its' projected margin of victory for each bowl winner (true home team in CAPS where applicable):

Pts. Bowl Game Computer's Pick Pts. Won Pts. Lost
39. Peach Michigan 15.45 over Florida   39
38. Sun Stanford 9.04 over Pittsburgh 38  
37. Independence Duke 9.02 over Temple 37  
36. Famous Idaho Potato Brigham Young 8.75 over Western Michigan 36  
35. Sugar Georgia 8.66 over Texas   35
34. Military Virginia Tech 8.65 over Cincinnati   34
33. Redbox Bowl Michigan State 8.44 over Oregon   33
32. New Mexico Utah State 8.38 over North Texas 32  
31. Citrus Penn State 8.23 over Kentucky   31
30. Cotton (Playoff Semifinal) Clemson 7.93 over Notre Dame 30  
29. Hawaii Louisiana Tech 7.67 over HAWAII 29  
28. Fiesta Louisiana State 7.61 over Central Florida 28  
27. Birmingham Wake Forest 6.90 over Memphis 27  
26. Rose Ohio State 6.73 over Washington 26  
25. Liberty Missouri 6.61 over Oklahoma State   25
24. Gasparilla Marshall 6.52 over SOUTH FLORIDA 24  
23. Belk South Carolina 6.38 over Virginia   23
22. Frisco Ohio 5.62 over San Diego State 22  
21. Camping World West Virginia 5.61 over Syracuse   21
20. Alamo Washington State 4.74 over Iowa State 20  
19. Bahamas Toledo 4.66 over Florida International   19
18. Orange (Playoff Semifinal) Alabama 4.47 over Oklahoma 18  
17. Outback Mississippi State 4.34 over Iowa   17
16. Gator Texas A&M 3.99 over N.C. State 16  
15. Cure Tulane 3.354 over Louisiana-Lafayette 15  
14. Pinstripe Miami (FLA) 3.347 over Wisconsin   14
13. Cheez-It Texas Christian 2.86 over California 13  
12. Texas Vanderbilt 2.78 over Baylor   12
11. Quick Lane Georgia Tech 2.72 over Minnesota   11
10. Las Vegas Arizona State 2.70 over Fresno State   10
9. Music City Auburn 2.68 over Purdue 9  
8. *-SERVPRO First Responder Boston College 2.52 over Boise State * *
7. Camellia Eastern Michigan 2.16 over Georgia Southern   7
6. New Orleans Appalachian State 1.97 over Middle Tennessee 6  
5. Dollar General Buffalo 1.79 over Troy   5
4. Arizona Arkansas State 1.27 over Nevada   4
3. Holiday Northwestern 0.91 over Utah 3  
2. Armed Forces Army 0.86 over Houston 2  
1. Boca Raton Northern Illinois 0.17 over Alabama-Birmingham   1
Totals (As of January 1)
 431 341
Maximum Points Possible (perfect score=772) -
Number reflects cancellation of First Responders Bowl and the 8 confidence points given to that game. A perfect score would have been 780 if ALL games had been played.		 431  
Team in CAPS is Home

Also See: 2017 Confidence Picks