The Smackdown 2014 Finish

The Smackdown has been going on for 17 years. If you do something long enough, odd things begin to happen. Last year, for example, for the first time in Smackdown history, no one in the field picked the correct National Champion.

On that note, let’s get to the finishers:

1. Andrew “Big Dog” Farhat ran the table with 228 points on 39 correct choices.

2. John “Little Dog” Wittmayer finished JUST behind the Big Dog with 227 points on 38 correct choices.  Does Wittmayer second guess himself for having come so close? Nah. Wittmayer knows that he occasionally gets things wrong. Another bit of proof of his fallibility probably doesn’t faze him at this point.

3. After the top two, the number of points dropped dramatically. Bruce “Top Three” Miller rounded out the top three with 209 points on 34 correct choices.

4. After another small drop, John McFarlane and his mom, Aron Rider, led the next wave of finishers with 196 points each on 36 correct choices.

5. Slim “The” Dog finished sixth with 194 points on 24 correct choices, by picking a significant number of exotic upsets, as evidenced by his choice of Nebraska for his national champion.

6. Katherine Simmons, David McFarlane and Mark Vetter finished in a three-way tie with 190 points.

7. Rand Simmons underwhelmed with 186 points on 39 correct choices – the same number of correct choices as the Champion Big Dog, but 42 points less. This would be the likely result of doing the opposite of picking the right upsets.

8. John Augusto finished with 185 points, also on 39 correct choices.

9. Patrick Smith finished with 184 points on 35 correct choices.

10. Todd Thummel finished with 183 points on 37 correct choices.

11. Mike Chastain finished with 181 points on 36 correct choices

12. Paul Lehmkuhler finished with 180 points on 37 correct choices.

13. Wayne Simmons got 38 correct choices – the same number as John Wittmayer who finished in second place – but with 48 fewer points (179). And still he finished 14 places ahead of Derek.

14. Scott McLoughlin finished with 178 points on 38 correct choices.

15. Long-suffering Craig Kurtz, faintly recalling the respectfulness of his 7th place finish in 2012, finished with 173 points on 36 correct choices.

16. Sean Heston finished with 171 points on 36 correct choices.

17. Tifani Keith finished with 162 points on 34 correct choices.

18. Alex Simmons finished in a tie with Clif Jefferis with 160 points each.

19. Michael Bird was repaid for his tremendously bad judgment in choosing Iowa State as his champion by finishing in 19th place with 158 points on 35 correct choices. The Basketball Gods have spoken, Michael. Pay heed.

20. Ann Vetter, dropped from the rarified air of being the 2013 Smackdown Champion to 20th place this past year with 156 points on 36 correct choices. Welcome to our world, Ann.

21. Bryn Wittmayer followed up with 153 points on 35 correct choices.

22. Art Gepner was just a little off his game with 149 points on 30 correct choices.

23. Perhaps the best news of the 2014 Smackdown was how the vast majority of the field finished above the Derekdoza line. Of course, this was likely due to just how low the Derekdoza line was in 2014.Derek Simmons somehow managed to stumble to 147 points on 34 correct choices. Michael Domehad the ignominious fate of tying with Derek. Keep your chin up, Mike.

24. Unusually, the Smith Clan had a remarkably bad finish as a group last year. Barry “I Suck the Least” Smith finished with 143 points on 31 correct choices.

25. Alejandro “An Honorary Smith” Augusto finished with 136 points with 24 correct choices.

26. Paul Smith finished with 129 points on 31 correct choices.

27. And Amy Smith was the 2014 Anchor Woman with 116 points on 22 correct choices.

As the 2015 Smackdown fires up, hope springs eternal. Pick Kentucky and a couple of upsets and you too could win it all. Unless you are Derek; life is beautiful.

 

 Smackdown Central