Mark Nelson found his strongest answers in football. Indiana's title run carried his CFP card to a tie for 19th, Seattle helped the NFL Playoffs entry share 37th, and Oregon supplied a useful tie for 61st in the regular season.
Spring offered no comparable run. Two correct NBA totals could do no better than a share of 206th, the Avalanche left hockey at 190th and the World Cup stopped at a tie for 168th. The season's center of gravity never moved beyond the fall and winter.
A 16-place slide left Nelson 118th on 1279.5 points. His football case was convincing; the calendar simply kept taking votes.