What a year! It was a wild one. We saw Eastern Michigan rise from their ashes (sort of), NIU end a 28 year drought, and 5 MAC teams make bowl games, going 4-1 in those games. We were here picking all of those games, and now that the roller coaster ride has finished, it's time to announce our winner (even though if you've been following us, you already know).

I want to thank everyone for playing along. This year we had a total of 24 people participate in the Pick'em in it's inaugural year. Not everyone saw it through, but with an average point total of just under 81 per person, we had a good participation for the early portion of the year. We'll break up the overall standings into 3 tiers: "Tried It Out", "Got Bored", "Champion Caliber". The names are pretty self-explanatory, so here is the first tier for you:

The common theme for these guys? Only mattsledge played 4 weeks. Everyone else was 3 and under.

To see who won the $50 Buffalo Wild Wings Gift Card grand prize, and see where the top 11 finished, follow us after the jump!

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Last year I did a straight ranking of the top 10 stories. We had fun and there was little disagreement. And I'm not going to press my luck by doubling down and doing another one just like it. See, this was our first year at Hustle Belt in which we covered the conference for the ENTIRE calendar year. This site began in August 2010, just in time for football season, but that means we missed all the good stuff from the winter/spring sports.

Now we've been paying attention the entire time. Consider this a slapdash year in review for 2011, hitting the big stories and linking back to what we've done all year.

In terms of how Hustle Belt has changed, we gathered a TON of new writers who've been contributing solid gold nuggets whenever they've had time in their already-busy schedules, and they're all troopers because I can't pay them squat. We also gained further accreditation by joining the MAC Affiliate Network, resulting in access to some of their exclusive video highlights that they just don't disseminate to anybody. (But in fairness, they do give them to us, so they will indeed give them to anybody.)

And our traffic has just kept getting better this year. I think we finally started getting picked up by Google News in the beginning of the calendar year, but I'll credit most of the site improvements to the SB Nation network, who keep throwing in technical improvements and other general tips to the blogging collective as a whole. I know for a fact that the improvements will only keep rolling themselves out. And fortunately the site outages have been minimal and not during big important games.

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Here we are, at the finish. Its been a long year, and a fun one. Now we must finish it up. If you want to re-read the tie-breaking order, just click here.

So we have 5 bowl games this year, tying the MAC high from 2004, 2008, and 2009. That means there are 25 points to be had. The prize up for grabs? A $50 gift card to Buffalo Wild Wings. The grand unveiling. Its not much, but hell, some good wings in a nice friendly atmosphere FOR FREE if you win.

If you need a quick refresher on the overall standings, they are below. Same thing as last time, no bonus, but discussion is encouraged.

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Let's get this out of the way before the MACC reviews come in. First, congrats to the Northern Illinois Huskies for finally winning a MAC Championship Game. What a great game played by both them and the Ohio Bobcats, instant MAC Classic.

Now down to our business. We had 8 people pick, and 3 people were wrong: OHBCats, Matt Sussman, and bull_trojan (mathematically eliminated before week). That means Brown and Gold, WMUpilot, ChippewaBlue, geeves, and HuronBoy all got the 10 points. Here are the overall standings now, with everyone "Mathematically" still in it:

We are almost done folks. Just have to get through this week and bowl season. And while we won't find out our winner (in theory) until January 8th, we are down to the nitty gritty. Ok, let me lay down some reminders. First, we are down to the "Elite 8", meaning that if you aren't in the table below, you mathematically can't win, and we don't award prizes for 2nd on down.

Second, if you forgot the scoring, let me hit you with a reminder: this week is 10 points, and all bowl games involving MAC teams are worth 5. The bonus is no longer scored, but discussion is highly encouraged. Third, it is HIGHLY recommended that you partake in the tiebreakers this week if you are ahead/down by ANYONE in the table by a multiple of 5, since they are the first and second tiebreakers for the overall winner. If you want to read all this again, just click here. Quick list: MACC winner, MACC total points, MACC halftime points, total bowl points by MAC teams.

Here are the overall standings:

(#) = week(s) won.
* = tie for the week.

If you notice a few ties and no other "tie-ee" it's probably bull_trojan, who won I think 5-6 weeks, but missed 2 others.

Pick after the jump

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That's the end of the lightning round.  The regular season is now over, and only 4-6 games remain to pick from, but as per rules, we must now go into the "business rounds".  Before we do that however, we must look back at our weekly champion for the last time.  Our winner went perfect this week, garnishing the full 16 points out there.  Talk about finishing strong.  Your last weekly winner is...................Brown and Gold.  What?  It's me?  Oh geez, I'm so unprepared.  I have so many people to thank.  Just kidding.

Our overall standings will be posted for the MAC Championship Pick post, but I have some quick hits for everyone.  First, our Regular Season winner is OHBCats.  There is no prize, yet.  Win the whole shebang and we'll talk.  Speaking of that, that's hit number 2.  We are thinking about finally finalizing a prize for this thing.   Since it's un-sponsored, and custom (yet fairly) scored, it will be a "self-sponsored" gift card to a place to be determined by you, the pickers.  Comment below to let your voice be heard.  Lastly, if you have not been playing the past 2 months, don't waste your time picking.  Also, bull_trojan, you are mathematically eliminated (25-35 points to be had, and OHBCats has you by 43), thanks for playing.

I'll see everyone else next week.  Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Well, the lightning round has claimed yet another victim.  Actually, Week 12 took two.  WMUpilot did not pick AT ALL, and bull_trojan missed the NIU-BSU game, costing him 4 points (but not the 3 point bonus as it was more my fault that the post was not updated for everyone to see).  However, all things balance out, as Week 12 produced the highest point total ever in a week, as 2 people went perfect.  18 points is our new 1-week record, and it produces our co-winners (neither hit Buffalo as the high).  Congrats to............OHBCats and  Brown and Gold.  I think you stole my picks, but whatever.

Here are the updated totals to date, (UPDATE) with correct names:

We look at the last week of the regular season, a 2-pt week, below the jump

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After a fairly predictable week (only 2 games were close, and both ended in the predicted outcomes), we have separation at the top.  3 people went perfect last week, and 2 people nailed the high-low on the button.  So your winners for the week are...........OHBCats and ChippewaBlue.  Congrats.  With the win, OHBCats moves into first with a 3 point lead over Suss, and 7 point lead over myself.  Still, nothing is settled with a minimum of 25 points still to be had in the postseason alone (MAC Title, and 3 automatic bowl bids).  Anyways, heres the table:

Here we go, gettin' down to the nitty-gritty.  Enjoy the 3 point bonus this week everyone (if you dare to use it)

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