In this reporter’s opinion, the 2013-14 Bowl Season was one that upfront looked like a disapointing schedule, yet turned out to be one of the more exciting bowl seasons I can remember.  The BCS era definitely went out with a bang thanks to four of five major upsets, and a championship game which will be remembered for a long time.  However, our panel of experts struggled this year with the bowl picks.  For reference, the previous bowl season champions are:

2006-2007 Bowl Season Champion: Howie Schwab @ 24-8, 75%
2007-2008 Bowl Season Champion: Colin Cowherd @ 25-7, 78.1%
2008-2009 Bowl Season Champion: Pat Forde @ 17-10, 63%
2009-2010 Bowl Season Champion: Jesse Palmer @ 18-16, 52.9%
2010-2011 Bowl Season Champion: Todd McShay @ 20-11, 64.52%
2011-2012 Bowl Season Champion: Tony Reali @ 25-10, 71.43%
2012-13 Bowl Season Co-Champions: Robert Smith & Jennifer, 25-10, 71.43%

So some years are up and others are down.  This wasn’t quite as bad as the 2009-10 season when Jesse Palmer won the championship basically because I already ordered the trophy and had to send it to somebody.  However, this year I would like to present to you a set of co-champions for the second year in a row.  This year’s winners are last year’s co-champion Robert Smith and newcomer Phil Steele.  They went 21-14 this season, which is low for a champion, but this is also a year in which none of our main competitors (defined as those who picked all 35 games) finished with a losing record.  It was a very tight group.  Check out the records below to see how your favorite (or most hated) personality did this year in the bowl games.

Qualifying Competitors:
Phil Steele: 21-14
Robert Smith: 21-14
Dari Nowkhah: 20-15
Jennifer’s Picks: 20-15
Pat Forde: 20-15
Todd McShay: 19-16
Mark Schlabach: 18-17
Ed Cunningham: 18-17

Others receiving votes:
Mel Kiper Jr.: 1-0
Mike Golic: 1-0
Chris Fowler: 1-0
Trevor Matich: 1-0
Tim Tebow: 1-0
Brad Edwards: 1-0
Scott Van Pelt: 1-0
Bill Plaschke: 1-0
Ivan Maisel: 1-0
Stephen A Smith: 1-0
Andre Ware: 3-2
Joey Galloway: 3-2
Matt Millen: 3-2
David Pollack: 7-7
Brian Griese: 3-3
Magic Johnson: 3-3
Ryen Russillo: 2-2
Kirk Herbstreit: 6-7
Lee Corso: 4-5
Desmond Howard: 2-3
Kevin Carter: 2-3
Brock Huard: 2-3
Danny Kanell: 3-4
Jesse Palmer: 3-5
Mark May: 2-4
Lou Holtz: 2-4
Mike Bellotti: 1-4
Tom Luginbill: 1-4
Matt Stinchcomb: 1-4
Colin Cowherd: 1-5
Mike Greenberg: 0-1
Paul Finebaum: 0-1
Skip Bayless: 0-1
Woody Paige: 0-1
Jackie MacMullen: 0-1
Rod Gilmore: 0-4