2023 Cheddar Bay Playoffs -- Week 1

Alright folks the playoff field has been set and today's contests are open for the picking pursuant to the format set forth below. 

But first, congrats to our 2023 playoff field, who, by the Exec. Comm's. calculations (please feel free to check our math), consist of the following, including a tie for eighth place, who will compete in sudden-death until one prevails over the other in a round (presumably this first round given the large number of picks to be made, but stranger things have happened): 

1. Our regular season champion, Agnes (whose prize is a 3+ point lead over the rest of the playoff field plus eternal glory); 2. SqueekyClean; 3. Fantasy Ponzi Scheme; 4. our defending champion DK who is seeking to become the third two-time champion in the storied history of this contest; 5. JohnPeter33; 6. Old Frowner; 7. hometeam; and tied for 8th, Ben and Borcas. 

As announced in the Week 17 thread on Sunday, we are in for a wild and wooly first week of picking, the format for which is as follows: 

Week 1: 12/26 to 1/1: All players are required to pick a total of FIFTEEN games, including each of the
"New Year's Six" Bowls, which are the following:

1. Friday, 12/29, 8PM, the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, No. 9 Missouri (+1.5) vs. No. 7 Ohio State;

2. Saturday, 12//30, noon, the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, No. 11 Mississippi (+3.5) v. No. 10 Penn State; 

3. Saturday, 12/30, 4PM, the Capital One Orange Bowl, No. 6 Georgia (-16.5) v. No. 5 Florida State; 

4. Monday, 1/1, 1PM,  the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, No. 23 Liberty (+17.5) v. No. 8 Oregon; 

5. Monday, 1/1, 5PM, the Prudential Rose Bowl, No. 4 Alabama (+1.5) v. No. 1 Michigan; and

6. Monday, 1/1, 8:45 PM, the Allstate Sugar Bowl, No. 3 Texas (-4.5) v. No. 2 Washington

ADDITIONALLY, all players are required to pick SIX additional Bowl games between 12/26 and 1/1 at your discretion using the lines posted HERE. 

AND FINALLY, all players are required to pick THREE NFL games out of the following seven matchups involving playoff contenders (any three from these seven will do, player's choice), the lines for which are HERE: 

Lions @ Cowboys (Sat. 12/30, 8:15 PM)
Raiders @ Colts (Sun. 12/31, 1PM)
Saints @ Bucs (Sun. 12/31, 1PM)
Dolphins @ Ravens (Sun. 12/31, 1PM)
Steelers @ Seahawks (Sun. 12/31, 4:05 PM)
Bengals @ Chiefs (Sun. 12/31, 4:25 PM)
Packers @ Vikings (Sun. 12/31, 8:20 PM)

All picks are worth THREE points for this week, with your Vote of the Week essay worth TEN points. This will make for a total of FIFTY-TWO (52) points available for the first week of the playoffs. Again, yes, this week is heavy on the points but again it is intended to even out the playoffs a bit between NFL and college voting.

Usually we offer the opportunity for folks to submit their votes by email to avoid any appearance of gamesmanship, but for this first weekend that's a bit unwieldy so we'd prefer to avoid that and will assume that Agnes and our other leaders in the standings will maintain their honour and not be aping the picks of those below them in an effort to maintain their lead, which would be a tall task anyway given this week's format so we'll just ask folks to post their votes in the comments this week, as long as all votes are in before kickoff with essays in an hour before kickoff, and will get back to emailing with a deadline for all votes for Playoff Week 2. Will post the format for the following weeks again in the comments here, and otherwise will wish all playoff participants luck and blessings and all observers an enjoyable week of tracking the action. Thanks, please post any questions or concerns in the comments, and with that the 2023 playoff race is hereby underway!