2024 Pigskin Panel - Final Results

Well, the curtain has come down on another season of our Pigskin Panel.

And, for the second straight year, I have the bragging rights until next season as I correctly picked the winner of 143 of the 195 games in our contest this season. That comes out to 73.3% of the games. Not to shabby I’d say.

To be honest, this competition was close all season long with only 10 correct picks separating first from fifth place.

I would like to thank the other four men who took part this season. Michael Ephlin, the Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Osceola and the Voice of Seminole Nation, was gracious enough to join us this season and Michael finished in second place with 138 correct picks against 57 misses. That equates to a correct pic percentage of 70.8%. Well done Michael.

The other three panelists, Anthony “Cosmo” Cossey, David Pierce and Joseph Fondren are my partners in crime with the Sports Connection. These three men do an outstanding job bringing you the very best in high school sports coverage with some college and professional information blended in throughout the year.

Anthony Cossey was third with a 135-60 record (69.2%); David Pierce was fourth with a 134-61 record (68.7%); and Joseph was fifth with a 133-62 mark (68.2%).

I would say overall the panel did an excellent job this season. I appreciate them all and I also thank the more than 90 individuals who took part in our annual picks contest this season.

Our winner this week was Chris Lackey, of Osceola. Chris correctly selected 12 of the 13 winners and had the tie breaker score been needed he was all over it with a total of 44 (43 was the total scored in the Green Bay-Seattle game).

No one else missed less than two games this week, so congratulations go out to Chris, who won multiple times this season.

Our winners by week were:

Week One - LaPamela Elliott, of Gosnell.

Week Two - Chris Lackey, of Osceola.

Week Three - Robert P. Elliott, of Gosnell.

Week Four - Stephen Douglas, of Osceola.

Week Five - Chris Minor, of Osceola.

Week Six - All entries went into a drawing.

Week Seven - Gloria Copeland, of Osceola.

Week Eight - Tommy Garey, of Blytheville.

Week Nine - Larry Carr, of Osceola.

Week 10 - Scott Creecy, of Osceola.

Week 11 - Jerry Copeland, of Osceola.

Week 12 - Jerry Copeland, of Osceola.

Week 13 - Richard Snyder, of Blytheville.

Week 14 - Chris Lackey, of Osceola.

These 11 winners plus the names of 39 other contestants who tied for the top spot, but lost on a tiebreaker plus all of the Week Six entrants are being placed in our grand prize drawing.

The drawing for our $150 Grand Prize will be held Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. and will be broadcast live on Facebook.

So there you have it. One more year in the books. We might try to actually start the contest one week earlier next season in order to incorporate more college and high school games in the mix. I really hate having to use National Football League games.

Once again, I thank each person who took part in our contest. We appreciate you all so very much.

So from all of us at the Sports Connection, we wish you a very Merry Christmas!