Join the pool here! But be sure to read the rules below…Use the pool ID 225198 and password Letsbowl2023! (but you shouldn’t need it as this pool is open to all…but in case the site asks you for one…)

For the ninth consecutive year, we here at Dubsism are pleased to bring you the Wally Hotvedt College Football  Bowling Challenge.  Here’s how this all works.

If you aren’t familiar with Mr. Hotvedt, he was one of the hosts of a “deep cut” from the history of independently-produced Twin Cities television known “Let’s Bowl.”  This was a bowling-based pseudo-game show turned full-on parody of crap television.  For those of you familiar with the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, you know “Let’s Bowl” was a staple at the iconic Bryant-Lake Bowl.

“Let’s Bowl” had a lot in common with Dubsism.  They both involve sports, they both involve a lot of parody, and they both got an audience of several. On top of that, Wally and I share some debilitating  personal problems, namely a shame-based coping mechanism, issues with the old “John Barleycorn,” and of course…degenerate gambling.

That’s why Wally Hotvedt is our Grand Marshal for this annual event and will be until he a) gets accused of sexual harassment or b) is declared legally dead.  To be honest, we are a bit worried about “B,” because nobody has heard from Wally in a while.  But to be even more honest, that’s probably why “A” hasn’t happened yet.

Speaking of gambling, the 2023 version of the J-Dub Gambling Challenge had a very nice Saturdaius Tandem (the final Saturday of the regular season). The bankroll more than doubled to the tune of $12, 365. That’s not too shabby coming from the original $5K.

That’s why I’m here to share in the spirit of the season; it’s all about giving.

While the bowl season extends beyond the Christmas season, those credit cards bills will start hitting your mailbox in January. That’s why we’re here to give you a shot at helping to ease the post-holiday hangover. But we are determined to let you have a shot at out-picking the world’s most interesting independent sports blogger. That’s why regardless of what we end up spending on Wally’s a) bail and legal fees fund b) court-ordered stay at Trembling Hills Rehabilitation Facility and/or c) funeral, we aren’t going to take away your shot to pick up a few bucks.

As for the challenge itself, the game is pretty simple.  Pick the most winners, and we will send you $50 hard-working American dollars.^* Not only that, the winner will receive a certificate suitable for framing to signify that for one brief moment in time, they were better than all the other Dubsists out there.

Joining the Wally Hotvedt College Football  Bowling Challenge is incredibly easy  All you have to do is follow this link, use the pool ID 225198 and password Letsbowl2023! (but you shouldn’t need it as this pool is open to all…but in case the site asks you for one…however, you will need to create a password for a PoolTracker account if you do not already have one), pick your college bowl game winners, and if you hit more than anybody else, you take home the money!

How It Works:

Other than that, the rules of this challenge are like the J-Dub Gambling Challenge. This is an exercise in “picking against the spread,” which means:

» All games are picked against half-point spreads
» 1 point for each correct pick

• Picking against the spread is where you try to determine which team will cover the spread; not necessarily which team will win.
• While certain teams will win their game, they will not “cover the spread,” and thus if the team is selected it will count as a loss.
• Example:
  • The home team is favored by 16.5 points (-16.5)
  • The home team beats their opponent by 8 points (31 to 23), but, the home team’s spread was (-16.5), so, when picking against the spread, the home team’s score was 14.5 (31 minus 16.5), which is less than their opponent’s score of 23.
  • This means anyone who picked the home team to win by 16.5 points or more was incorrect, since they only won by 8 points

Tie Breaker: Total Points in Championship Game

There’s a more detailed explanation of how betting against the spread works in the J-Dub Gambling Primer.

The college football playoff format has 2 semi-final games and 1 championship game. This pool includes the championship game, which will show on the picks page, but, will have “TBD” teams until the 2 semi-final games have finished. The 2 teams for the championship will be put into the system once they have been determined. The championship game will be locked until after the 2nd to last bowl game. The system will unlock the picks page after the 2nd to last bowl game, ie. the last bowl game before the championship game, so players can pick the championship game, without being able to change any other game. The “edit picks” page may read “Picks: Incomplete” until every last game has been selected.

Sign up today, and maybe you can take home a slice of J-Dub’s bankroll…whatever isn’t enabling Wally.

NOTE: The deadline for entry is 10:00 A.M. Eastern (United States) time. However, point spreads can change right up until game time, so you’ll want to check back occasionally because you can edit your picks right up until kick-off of each individual game.

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^* – Prize comes as a pre-paid debit card since cash tends to disappear via the Post Office.

Got a question, comment, or just want to yell at us? Hit us up at  dubsism@yahoo.com, @Dubsism on Twitter, or on our Pinterest, Tumblr, or Instagram, or Facebook pages, and be sure to bookmark Dubsism.com so you don’t miss anything from the most interesting independent sports blog on the web.