How We Make Picks and Grades

How we make picks and grades. No secret sauce, just the recipe.

Everything we rank, grade or pick is our opinion, built from public information. Here’s exactly how it’s cooked.

The weekly picks

• What we pick: every SEC game each week, straight up (SU), against the spread (ATS) and on the over/under (O/U), plus a projected score. One may be tagged the Upset Special.
• Where they come from: each week’s Wednesday scouting report. That covers matchups, recent form, injuries and the betting line.
• When they can change: picks can move as injury reports and breaking news come in.
• When they lock: Each game’s picks lock at that game’s kickoff (Saturday games run from 11:00 AM to 6:30 PM CT), but you can still enter right up until game time.
• Lines: we list the line and total we picked against, with the source and the time we checked it. Lines move, so yours may be different.
• Our own team: T-Rohn leans Mississippi State (see About). State games are picked by the same rules, and the lean is disclosed.

The Pick Tracker: wins AND losses

Every locked pick goes on the Gumbo Pick Tracker and stays there, win or lose. We keep three running records: straight up, against the spread and over/under. We update them after each week’s games. We don’t delete or edit a locked pick after the fact. If we log a result wrong, we fix it and note the fix (see Corrections and Ethics).

Beat the Gumbo

Think you can out-pick the pot? Beat the Gumbo is our free weekly SEC pick’em. Register once, make your picks on the Gumbo Pick’em page (picks lock at kickoff, but you can still enter right up until game time), and check the Leaderboard. The best record wins bragging rights and a shoutout in the Sunday recap.

Gumbo Grades

Every Sunday, each SEC team gets a letter grade for its weekend: A through F, with plus and minus. A team that didn’t play gets INC (no game, no grade). In plain terms, a grade weighs:

• The result: did you win, and by how much?
• The opponent and the setting: a road win over a ranked team counts for more than a home win over a cupcake.
• How you played: turnovers, penalties, the fourth quarter, and whether the offense, defense and special teams showed up.
• Expectations: what a team like you should do in a game like that.

Grades are a TAKE: our honest opinion, explained in a line or two so you can see the reasoning. Mississippi State gets graded on the same scale as everybody else.

The Power Pot

The Power Pot is T-Rohn’s weekly ranking of all 16 SEC teams, 1 through 16, during the season. It’s not a poll, and it’s not a computer model. It’s one cook’s judgment, based on:

• Record, especially in SEC play
• Who you beat and who you lost to, and where
• How you’re playing right now, not just in September
• Big injuries and roster changes that affect what comes next

Every Power Pot is a TAKE. Disagree? Vote in the People’s Pot poll and argue in the comments like family.

Remember: for entertainment only. Not betting advice.

More from the kitchen: How We Make Picks and Grades · Corrections and Ethics · Gumbo Pick Tracker · Contact