We?re going to do something a little bit new at Burnt Orange Nation this year, as we test the power of groupthink in a college fantasy football challenge. I?ll be shelling out $20 to enter Burnt Orange Nation in the Fantasy Cup College Football Challenge, but the entry will be the result of everyone?s input. First, let?s go over the rules:
In Fantasy Cup College Football, your schools accumulate points for your team based upon the Official Fantasy Cup College Football Point System, listed in the box below:
Every point scored = 1 point
Bonus Points (Offense)
Over 300 yards passing = 5 points
Over 200 yards rushing = 5 points
Every sack allowed = -1 point
Interception thrown = -1 point
Bonus Points (Defense)
Passing Yards under 150 = 5 points
Rushing Yards under 100 = 5 points
Every sack = 1 point
Every interception = 1 point
Bonus Points (Team)
Win = 10 points
Loss = -10 points
Tie = 0 points
Shutout = 10 points
Getting shutout = -10 points
Upset Top 25 Team = 20 points
Beat Lesser Top 25 Team = 10 points
The fun part, of course, is choosing your teams, and keeping your total salary under the allotted $10 million. (You can choose up to, but no more than, 8 teams).
The salaries:
TSN Fantasy Team Salaries| Team | Salary | Team | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air Force | $300k | Mississippi | $330k |
| Alabama | $1.3m | Mississippi St. | $400k |
| UAB | $300k | Missouri | $880k |
| Arizona | $440k | Navy | $880k |
| Arizona St. | $1.26m | Nebraska | $1.26m |
| Arkansas | $740k | Nevada | $540k |
| Auburn | $1.62m | North Carolina | $480k |
| Baylor | $300k | NC State | $780k |
| Boise St. | $1.06m | Notre Dame | $1.77m |
| Boston College | $1.23m | Ohio State | $2.03m |
| California | $1.34m | Oklahoma | $1.52m |
| Central Florida | $820k | OK State | $370k |
| Clemson | $1.33m | Oregon | $1.34m |
| Colorado | $940k | Oregon St. | $770k |
| Connecticut | $570k | Penn St. | $1.36m |
| Florida | $1.75m | Pittsburgh | $710k |
| Florida State | $1.45m | Purdue | $810k |
| Fresno State | $950k | Rutgers | $460k |
| Georgia | $1.43m | South Carolina | $1.21m |
| Georgia Tech | $1.15m | USC | $1.81m |
| Hawaii | $500k | Southern Miss. | $680k |
| Indiana | $400k | Stanford | $620k |
| Iowa | $1.32m | Tennessee | $1.27m |
| Iowa St. | $1.19m | Texas | $1.8m |
| Kansas | $440k | Texas A&M | $810k |
| Kansas St. | $450k | UTEP | $1.1m |
| Kentucky | $300k | Texas Tech | $1.23m |
| Louisville | $1.52m | Toledo | $980k |
| LSU | $1.95m | UCLA | $1.25m |
| Marshall | $350k | Utah | $970k |
| Maryland | $650k | Virginia | $710k |
| Miami (FL) | $1.59m | Virginia Tech | $1.36m |
| Miami (OH) | $750k | Wake Forest | $850k |
| Michigan | $1.44m | Washington | $360k |
| Michigan St. | $950k | West Virginia | $1.71m |
| Minnesota | $1.0m | Wisconsin | $1.12m |
You have no idea what a pain in the ass that was to type into HTML. But now that I have, we can get on with evaluating our strategy. Some things to keep in mind:
Search for value
The rules of the game allow participants to buy and sell teams throughout the year, but of course, picking up a team once they?ve shown that they?re good is going to come at a steeper price. We want to find a few cheap teams early, before they get properly valued.
Of course, the inverse is true, as well. We?ll be free to dump salary if one of our higher priced teams isn?t doing well. Nevertheless, these mid-season transactions cost real life money, so we?d like to avoid those as much as possible.
Wins, Wins, Wins
Wins are extremely valuable in this particular game. The bonus points from big stats are nice, but they?re all for naught if the statistically impressive team keeps losing.
Points, Points, Points
Since you earn a fantasy point per real point scored, high-engine offense is a premium here. Ideally, we want some teams that will score a boatload of points, but may be undervalued in the market. A good offense/bad defense would be valuable.
Teams That May Hold Good Value
Notre Dame They?re gonna score; we know that much. They?re going to win 9+ games; we know that, too. The defense may get the team into some shootouts.
Texas The defense may pitch a shutout or two; the offense will rush for 200 almost every game; there?s a max of 2 losses on the schedule.
Louisville The offense is primed; the schedule is manageable; the defense will get the team into some shootouts.
I?ve got my eyes on several other teams, but let?s open this up for discussion, as I?ve got to head into a meeting anyway. We want to a) discuss teams that are valuable, as well as those that are overrated, and b) discuss the optimal strategy for balancing our salary. Remember, our cap is 8 teams and $10 million.
And?. Go.
I'm going to offer a first draft of a team, with suggestions for substitions/revisions requested:
Came close to hitting the perfect team:
USC $1.81m
Texas $1.8m
Texas Tech $1.23m
Navy $880k
California $1.34
Iowa $1.32m
Nevada $554k
UTEP $1.1m
TOTAL: $10.02m
Close, but won't work. Keep the good ideas coming.
--PB--