SEMINOLE PREDICTION DERBY RESULTS, WEEK VII: FSU vs GEORGIA TECH

POS SAGE OF THE SIDELINES                          PRONOUNCEMENT  DIFFER
=== ============================================== ============== ======
 1. C. R. Ridley <CRidley#NandO.net>               FSU 48, GIT 10   6.00
 2. Michael McKenna <YelloJkt#IX.NetCom.com>       FSU 48, GIT 13   6.71
 3. Adam <Ajax#Virginia.edu>                       FSU 42, GIT 17   7.00
 4. Mike Sukhadwala <MSukhadw#Garnet.ACNS.FSU.edu> FSU 49, GIT 13   7.62
 4. Ronald Smith <RonSmith#BRBBS.com>              FSU 49, GIT 13   7.62
 6. <BirdmanBob#AOL.com>                           FSU 46, GIT 17   8.06
 7. Jason Jenkins <JasonJ#HiWAAY.net>              FSU 49, GIT 17   9.90
 8. Sean Azarin <Machupo#best.com>                 FSU 52, GIT 14  10.77
 9. T Vaughan <TVaugha#Mailhost.TCS.Tulane.edu>    FSU 51, GIT 16  10.82
10. Herb Wills <HWills#FreeNet.TLH.FL.US>          FSU 49, GIT 20  12.21
11. Bryan McMandon <Omnicom#Polaris.net>           FSU 55, GIT 10  13.00
11. John Ryan <Ryan#XI.CS.FSU.edu>                 FSU 55, GIT 10  13.00
13. Paul Barkowitz <Paul_Barkowitz#Transarc.com>   FSU 55, GIT 13  13.34
13. <LANoles#AOL.com>                              FSU 55, GIT 13  13.34
15. <Grue#Prism.U-Net.com>                         FSU 51, GIT 20  13.45
15. Gregory Kahrs <GregoryK#FreeNet.TLH.FL.US>     FSU 51, GIT 20  13.45
17. Tom Schaller <TSchalle#EMail.unc.edu>          FSU 56, GIT 10  14.00
18. Allen Risley <Allen_Risley#CSUSM.edu>          FSU 54, GIT 18  14.42
19. Stephen Brown <SBrown#NUNic.NU.edu>            FSU 56, GIT 14  14.56
20. Darcy Miller <DMiller#EMail.UNC.edu>           FSU 52, GIT 21  14.87
21. GGK <GGK#Gate.net>                             FSU 53, GIT 21  15.56
22. TANK <KAS2928#Gold.ACNS.FSU.edu>               FSU 56, GIT 18  16.12
23. Joshua Beach <JBeac#ComTch.iea.com>            FSU 58, GIT 13  16.28
24. Todd Brannon <JMB3715#Mailer.FSU.edu>          FSU 48, GIT 26  17.09
25. Dan Shmikler <DS#NWU.edu>                      FSU 52, GIT 24  17.20
26. Matthew Grice <MPG2438#EMail.UNC.edu>          FSU 56, GIT 21  17.80
27. <Martin#SCRI.fsu.edu>                          FSU 60, GIT  9  18.03
28. Rita Dalton <Dalton#Mail.NWRDC.FSU.edu>        FSU 58, GIT 20  18.87
29. Norman Boldt <BoldtN#Mail.FIRN.edu>            FSU 56, GIT 23  19.10
30. Kevin Delgado <KDelgado#FreeNet.TLH.FL.US>     FSU 59, GIT 20  19.72
31. Jason Martin <JDM6y#Kelvin.seas.Virginia.edu>  FSU 56, GIT 24  19.80
31. Judy Petersen <Petersen#Supernet.net>          FSU 56, GIT 24  19.80
33. Eric Lyman <EJLyman#AOL.com>                   FSU 62, GIT 13  20.22
34. <Auger#SCRI.FSU.edu>                           FSU 57, GIT 24  20.52
35. Andrew Meehan <Moriarty#EMail.UNC.edu>         FSU 52, GIT 28  20.59
36. Michael vanPelt <us005330#InterRamp.com>       FSU 62, GIT 17  21.19
36. J Wise <a040193t#BCFreeNet.seflin.lib.FL.US>   FSU 62, GIT 17  21.19
38. James Gantt <Gantt#CS.UNC.edu>                 FSU 63, GIT 16  21.38
39. Fred Murphy <FMurphy#GateNet>                  FSU 63, GIT 17  22.14
40. <AlanR#Ahoynet.com>                            FSU 64, GIT 17  23.09
41. Chris Schmitt <Schmitt#Gauss.Math.FSU.edu>     FSU 65, GIT 14  23.35
42. Heather Powell <HeatherP#FreeNet.TLH.FL.US>    FSU 66, GIT 14  24.33
43. Rick Workman <RickW#AOL.com>                   FSU 66, GIT 16  24.74
44. Julie Givan <Givan#Huey.Met.FSU.edu>           FSU 66, GIT 16  24.74
45. Lew Saphar <LSaphar#RBDC.RBDC.com>             FSU 67, GIT 10  25.00
46. Lea Ann <NoleAnimal#AOL.com>                   FSU 68, GIT 14  26.31
47. Denise Gardiner <McKeester#AOL.com>            FSU 59, GIT 31  27.02
48. Douglass McCollum <SMCrose#Grove.UFl.edu>      FSU 70, GIT 19  29.41
49. Sulzbacher <Sulzbacher#SHC.edu>                FSU 72, GIT  3  30.81
50. Sarah Chipps <SarahEC#AKSI.net>                FSU 72, GIT 24  33.11
51. Kyle Hoyt <KHoyt#IX.NetCom.com>                GIT 31, FSU 27 -25.81
52. Robert Taylor <RATaylor#AOL.com>               GIT 42, FSU 35 -32.76
53. David Schmitt <DSchmitt#NWU.edu>               GIT 37, FSU 34 -36.12
54. Andrew Thomas <AThomas#Tech.IUPUI.edu>         GIT 57, FSU 17 -53.24

The actual score was Florida State 42, Georgia Tech 10.

Neither defense got enough respect from our forecasters; hardly anyone underestimated the number of points scored. Still, there were some close calls, and the closest was that of C. R. Ridley, with a difference of 6.00. Ridley's entry was the last one received this week, so he had plenty of time to think about his prediction. The rest of the top five was right behind him, with Mike McKenna's runner-up 6.71 earning him the runner-up position. Defending champion Mike Sukhadwala made his fifth visit to the top five, tying for fourth with Ron Smith at 7.62.

Of the other former champs who played, Rick Workman was 42nd, Lew Saphar was 44th, Denise Gardiner was 46th, and Robert Taylor predicted an upset and ended up 51st.

Before anyone gets depressed about their performance, let me note that Rick Warner of the Associated Press predicted FSU 66 - Tech 24 in newspapers across the nation. That would have scored 27.78 and put him (let's see) 47th. He gets paid for that kind of performance? I urge everyone who finished in the top 46 this week to send a resume to AP.

The top Tarheel was Tom Schaller with 14.00, but the top ACC forecaster was Adam , third overall with 7.00. There were five entries from UNC domains, two from Virginia, and a bunch from FSU, but I don't know where the rest of the ACC Internet users are hiding.

These results, and results of prior Seminole Prediction Derbies this season, are available on the WWWeb at:

http://freenet2.scri.fsu.edu:81/users/schmittc/fsupoll.html

The Prediction Derby page is maintained by Chris Schmitt, who ended up 41st this week, just barely good enough for AP syndication.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to play this week, and I hope it made the game a little more interesting for you. Next on the schedule is FSU vs. Virginia, kicking off on Thursday, November 2. That's less than twelve days away, so e-mail your predictions right away to:

HWILLS@FREENET.TLH.FL.US

If you don't win, you can always depend on beating the Associated Press.

Herb Wills, HWills@FreeNet.TLH.FL.US