Hilton Consensus: Week 17

Bells will ring this weekend as champagne flows like water, horns blow and the NFL Playoffs puzzle finally falls into place. One of the biggest toasts in glittering Las Vegas -- where Strip fireworks greet the arrival of a New Year -- will be given the Hilton SuperContest champion(s), who, incidentally, will receive $303,000 in winnings and perhaps nail a $10,000 bonus given to any player(s) who nab 67 or more percent winners. It has been an abominable contest year for dog players, with favorites winning at an abnormal pace that at times approached 60 percent. The SuperContest is like the Olympics of handicapping, the most prestigious competition of its genre. This season's event drew a record field of 505 entries, which cost $1,500 apiece. Contestants chose five games weekly against a pointspead that was posted on Tuesday, receiving one point for a win and a half-point for a push. After 17 weeks, countless hours of handicapping, ups and downs and highs and lows, it comes down to this: Eight players are within five games of first, with the two leaders just a half-game apart. The Blue Team has 56 1/2 points and Chappy has 56. It's another 1 1/2 games back to JT Elite, who is alone in third with 54 1/2 points. Foolish, Tormented and Blessed -- a fixture among the leaders for months -- is another game back with 53 1/2 points, one ahead of Feral Child, which has 52 1/2. A trio of participants is tied for fifth, five games out of the lead: Loose Cannon, Vegassportsline and The Guru and the Commissioner. Twenty places will cash, with a separate $10,000 going to the winner(s) of a three-week mini-contest. Hilton participants sided with 10 favorites and six underdogs in whacky Week 17. Several division titles as well as playoff spots are yet to be determined. Two games will be played on Saturday, New Year's Eve, and both will affect the scenario for Sunday's New Year's Day card of 14 games. Both matchups were close calls at the Hilton. SuperContestants took San Diego minus 10 1/2 over playoff-bound Denver 44-38 and Oakland plus 8 1/2 over the New York Giants 63-48. Top consensus play for Week 17 is Atlanta, which is getting 4 1/2 points from Carolina. The Falcons are out of the playoff picture while Carolina and Tampa Bay are both 10-5 in the NFL South. The best consensus favorite bet is two-time defending Super Bowl champion New England, which is giving Miami 4 points. The Pats were a 124-29 choice. Other selections were Indianapolis 96-31 over Arizona, Baltimore 88-57 over Cleveland, Buffalo 63-36 over the Jets, Chicago 55-36 over Minnesota, Kansas City 58-50 Cincinnati, Pittsburgh 102-26 over Detroit, New Orleans 53-31 over Tampa Bay, Dan Francisci 75-29 over Houston, Jacksonville 72-16 over Tennessee, Green Bay 57-23 over Seattle, Philadelphia 85-44 over Washington and St. Louis 39-28 over Dallas. There will be no Monday Night Football this week.