Noah Rickling's season changed when Seattle kept winning. His Seahawks title position returned 118 and pushed the NFL Playoffs card to a tie for 12th, a sharp answer to an October opener that had left him 191st.
College football provided the supporting score, with Ohio State helping a 278-point portfolio finish 44th. Later, Mexico helped the World Cup entry share 58th, and golf reached 50th on 456.9. The recovery came from several directions rather than a single lucky week.
By summer, the early baseball miss had been reduced to background detail. Rickling's recovery covered 22 places and ended 37th on 1570.5 points.