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SALT LAKE CITY — Now that the 2015 college football season is in the rear-view mirror, it is time to announce the winner of the KSL College Football Pick'em contest.
After the dust settled, it was Weber County resident Erik Ashby who stood at the top of the leaderboard with 1,451 points.
Ashby was boosted by a perfect 6-0 record during bowl week, scoring 98 points on the Oregon vs. TCU game and 90 on Ohio State vs. Notre Dame.
Even with his great picks, Ashby was in sixth place up until the championship game. Not only did he need Alabama to win, he needed it to be a close, high-scoring game, picking the Crimson Tide to win 37-34.
With ten minutes left in the game and the score tied at 24, Alabama dialed up a perfectly executed onsides kick, leading to a 51-yard touchdown pass to take the lead just two plays later.
"My daughter came in and asked me why I was yelling at my TV," Ashby recalled. "I needed Alabama to score and score quickly, and after that kick they did just that."
Alabama went on to win 45-40, with Ashby earning 76 points, enough to vault him into first place.
"It was a lof of fun playing this year," Ashby said. "It made for some great entertainment with my family and friends who are devout BYU and Utah fans."
Though Ashby doesn't have any allegiances to any of the three local FBS teams (a Weber State fan), he said he leans towards the Utes. When asked how he made his weekly predictions, Ashby said he mainly just trusted his instincts.
"I'm an avid sports radio listener, and sometimes they can make pretty convincing arguments. But at the end of the day, I usually just stuck with my gut."
With a new 4K TV in hand, Ashby will be able to enjoy the 2016 college football season in style.
KSL Pick'em Overall Leaderboard
There were 4,973 people that tried their best to not only predict the winner of five weekly college football games but to guess the score as well. The weekly slate generally consisted of each Utah, Utah State and BYU game, as well as two national games of interest.
The closest prediction to the score who also had the correct winner received 50 points, with all other users graded on a curve. Bowl games and in-state contests were worth double.
The user with the most points at the end of each week took home a $30 Wells Fargo Visa gift card.
The grand prize, a 50'' Vizio 4K Ultra HD Smart LED LCD TV, would be awarded to the user with the most points over their best seven weeks.
Utah fans took the bowl week by storm, scoring an average of 40.4 points per game and correctly picking 62 percent of the games. Utah State fans were second with 37.7 points per game, correctly picking 59 percent of the games, while BYU fans finished last with 29.5 points per game, correctly picking 48 percent of the games.
However, BYU fans did just enough to win overall, with an average of 23.1 points and 66 percent correct. Utah finished a close second with 23.0 points and 65 percent, with Utah State third with 22.1 points and 64 percent.
For those following the KSL Sports group, Andy Larsen scored 332 points during bowl week, enough to take over the top spot in the overall leaderboard with 2,169 points. Sean Walker finished second with 2,048, and Rod Zundel finished third with 1,887.
Thanks to all of the users that participated this year. We are looking forward to bringing you an even better version of KSL Pick'em for the 2016 college football season. If you'd like to request a feature, let us know in the comment board below.
