This is year two of a new competition that I thought of last summer. If you have ever hear me on the radio or on TV you have of course heard one of my favorite remarks which is “My computer …..”. I am always referring to what my computer predicts on a game or a season for a team. Now I am not going to come right out and say that I talk to my computer but when we have our conversations he (the computer) wonders who indeed is smarter, me or him.
Last year in my Inside the Pressbox newsletter I decided to have a contest to prove it. Each week I posted my “Best Bets” and My computer “Best Bets”. After week five I was feeling pretty good as I had the lead and figured I would keep it all year. I almost did. In the end my Computer was red hot down the stretch and went 16-7 the last 8 week to narrowly beat me out at the finish line. The good news for my subscribers to Inside the Pressbox is that it did not matter who won as all subscribers were the winners getting both of our plays.
I give my computer a lot of praise during the year as it does a remarkable job forecasting teams yards and points each week and also over an entire season. On page 41 of the magazine of the magazine you can see what my computer forecasts for each team this season in yards rushing, yards passing and total points for both offense and defense. I am amazed every year when I do the Phil Forecast section for the offense and defense I go to that page to see the forecast and then look at the final stats and most of the time it is right on the money! When people asked me however during the offseason who won the contest last year, I had to lower my voice and mumble “my computer”
If you look at the current standings for this year I am 15-7 68% while my computer is 11-8 58%. Once again, I have a decent sized lead and in baseball terminology, I have a 2.5 game lead with 9 weeks to go. I actually feel like Alabama must have last week when they were up 28-0 vs Georgia early in the 2Q. There is a lot of time left and my computer is a champion and is poised for another great finish so I cannot relax. I need to have almost all winning weeks the rest of the year just to stay in front as this is the time of year my computer kicks into high gear.
If you take the Phil Steele Plus tour each week you will get great FREE selections each week I also give you updates on the battle each week. You also know that two weeks ago I gave out a FREE play of “My computer wanted to use but I would not let him” on Indiana -28 over Charlotte and the Hoosiers won 52-14. Last week on the tour I gave out a FREE “My computer wanted to use but I would not let him” on Alabama + over Georgia. Had I let the computer use those two plays he would be 13-8 on the year and 29-15 the last 14 weeks. I will have another one of those plays on the Tour this week. Last year I put the Phil Steele Plus Tour with selections us every Friday morning but this year it is every Thursday morning. I do provide the FCS plays on a separate You Tube Video which goes up Friday morning and those plays are already 7-1 this year so far!
For weekly updates on “The Battle” check out the Phil Steele Plus tour or witness it by signing up to my Inside the Pressbox newsletter for the season and when you do you get the rest of the year of Phil Steele Plus ($99 value) FREE. Click here to sign up to Pressbox and if you use the coupon code BlogVIP at checkout you can take $25 off this year’s Inside the Pressbox College subscriptions for the season.
