Matthew Stephen's runner-up season had the profile of a champion and one result that did not belong. Everywhere but the College Football Playoff, he operated near the front; there, the wrong title call and a busted survivor leg left him 241st with 11 points.
His best work crossed formats. Stephen hit four of five NBA win-total calls; the board paid 246.5 and put him 5th. The Seahawks title ticket returned 120 on an NFL Playoff card that placed 10th, and nine correct March picks carried him to Day 7 and 19th.
Stephen recovered from the college playoff miss without flinching. Champion Spain contributed 78 to a World Cup entry that reached 29th, golf followed at 40th, and every other card finished 89th or better.
Only one player assembled more. Stephen's 1934.5 points earn 2nd, an exceptional season made all the more striking by the size of the single hole inside it.