It appears that nobody in The Pilot's football contest thought that Ohio State and Michigan would combine for 81 points in the latest version of the "Game of the Decade."

But they did. The Buckeyes outlasted Michigan to take the 42-39 win in Saturday's see-saw battle in the old Horseshoe.

As for our prognosticators, there were three contestants that finished tied for first with 15-5 marks, so the tiebreaker game, once again, came into play.

For David McKinnon of Carthage, Mike Bowyer of Pinebluff and Joe Patterson of Aberdeen that tiebreaker game loomed large since they were the three that finished at 15-5.

McKinnon and Bowyer had both won at least once before in this little game, while Patterson was a newcomer to the battle for the first-place check of $50.

And wouldn't you know it -- the previous winners went after it again, with McKinnon getting the first-place money on the strength of his tiebreaker pick of 45 points, while Bowyer thought the two teams would score 42 points on his way to the second-place check of $30.

Patterson had 39 points for his tiebreaker pick, relegating him to the third-place money of $20.

There was a horde of players that went 14-6 for a week that was marked by the usual wackiness in the professional ranks. In fact, there were 15 people that had that mark. Might as well name a few of them.

They were Tony Grausso of Pinehurst, Chase Blake of Southern Pines, Josh Rock of Carthage, Daniel Burns of Carthage, Bonnie Overton of Jackson Springs, Dale Kellis of Candor, Sonny Coles of Vass and Woody Burnell of Pinehurst

Oh, let's just go ahead and name all of them. They certainly did a better job than I did.

So here is the rest of the contestants that went 15-5 for the week: Bob Hennessey of Whispering Pines, Shaun Ingram of West End, Steve Lassiter of Pinehurst, Amanda Latham of Vass, Jim Moore of Pinehurst, Shirley Morgan of Pinehurst and Johnny Robbins of Carthage.

So that leaves me to talk about my record and the overall leader. Let's start with some positive news.

David Hale of Seven Lakes holds on to his overall lead, but several players are closing in on him as the season winds down. Look below to see how the season standings are shaping up.

That means it's time to get back to me. Well, I had my usual lackluster performance, going 13-7 for the week.

That puts me way behind the good Mr. Hale. His overall mark of 149-71 easily blows away my 129-91 mark. But David Hale of Seven Lakes cut Hale's lead from five games to three, while Velma Davis of Carthage is within four games of Hale.

So, I'm just going to do my picks and get it over with: Indianapolis, N.Y. Giants, Atlanta, Buffalo, N.Y. Jets, Cleveland, New England, Washington, Minnesota, San Diego, Seattle, Baltimore, St. Louis, Florida, Va. Tech, UNC, ECU, Ga. Tech, USC, Wake Forest.

Overall Standings

149-71 -- David Hale of Seven Lakes

146-74 -- Dale Kellis of Candor

145-75 -- Velma Davis of Carthage

144-76 -- Amanda Latham of Vass and Dick Maag of Pinehurst

143-77 -- Chase Blake of Southern Pines, Shaun Ingram of West End and Larry Richards of Concord

142-78 -- Dal Butler of Robbins, Michael Ed Brown of Robbins, Mike Bowyer of Pinebluff and Dorothy Maag of Pinehurst

141-79 -- Will Lassiter of Pinehurst, Matt Rock of Carthage and Paul Tilton of Whispering Pines

140-80 -- Marvin Purvis of Elkin