On the strength of victories by Boston College and TCU over Michigan State and Houston, respectively, in the Champs Sports and Texas Bowls on Friday, the prognosticating prowess of Merrill Park Superstar at least momentarily appears superior to that of NCAA Football ‘08.
Last night was not a proud one for artificial intelligence, as all three of the video game’s picks fell — Maryland was the other – in Friday’s bowl lineup. Fortunately for the machine, Merrill Park Superstar was also aboard the Terrapin bandwagon, meaning Oregon State’s 21-14 Emerald Bowl victory was to the benefit of neither selecting party.
And MPS will hang on to its one-game lead in the standings through Saturday’s games, as both man and machine reached on a consensus on the outcome of December 29’s bowl games.
A win by Wake Forest earlier today in the Meineke Car Care Bowl was good news for both man and machine, and could prove to be a positive precedent for UCF in the Liberty Bowl and Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl.
Both parties also found themselves in agreement that UCF’s Kevin Smith would fall short of the single-season NCAA rushing record — though the video game sees him running for 138 yards and a touchdown in a 44-24 Central Florida romp of Mississippi State.
UPDATED RECORDS (as of the completion of Meineke Car Care Bowl):
Merrill Park Superstar (7-5)
NCAA Football ‘08 (6-6)
