October began with an empty ticket. J.T. Balling had no MLB shares in play, took 7.5 and opened 238th. His answer was to produce three of his better cards.
The College Football Playoff entry reached 14th even though Georgia missed as champion. Balling also went 20th in NFL Survivor, and 173 at The Open helped his golf portfolio place 33rd.
The recovery never became comfortable. The NFL Playoffs fell to 202nd and hockey to 212th, contributing to four bottom-quarter results. Balling still reached 141st with 1235.5, a season spent climbing out of holes and finding new ones.