After fifty days and fifty nights of battle, College Football Risk has come to a close. Heading into the final night, Ohio State was an underdog to Michigan, but we knew exactly what we needed to do to win. Through a combination of participation, diplomacy, strategy, and luck, we got the breaks we needed, and as a result, it gives me great pleasure to announce that Ohio State has won season 2 of College Football Risk!

Ohio State finished with most of its territory in our core region, the Northeast. We possessed six of the eight territories in Ohio, all of West Virginia/New Jersey/Maine, most of Pennsylvania and New York, and half of Indiana/Virginia/Maryland. What put us over the top, though, was our land in the Pacific Northwest: Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. We had to scratch and claw back to the Pacific Northwest to set up a situation like this, and the hard work was not in vain.

The cherry on the sundae is that not only did we win, Michigan didn't even come in second: that would be Texas A&M, the bravest of all teams, which consolidated the Southwest. Georgia Tech, the smartest team, finished fourth; our closest ally Wisconsin finished fifth; Nebraska and Chaos tied for sixth; dependable Alabama finished eighth; and Texas rounded out the group with a ninth place finish.

In the midst of the celebration, it would be dishonest not to address our good luck. We finished +4.3 on expected territories on the night, and the Wolverines finished -5.7. If we hadn't had a good night and Michigan hadn't had a bad night, we wouldn't have won. Although we got lucky when it mattered most, Michigan had 15 standard deviations of good luck on Ohio State across the course of the game. If they tell you that you don't understand how statistically unlikely our victory was, be kind; they're not used to having sour grapes.

We were in position to win because our alliance in this contest, the APP STATE Alliance, was strong, courageous, and selfless. The team of Alabama, Georgia Tech, Ohio State, Stanford, Texas A&M, and Wisconsin came together in fits and starts, but worked as a well-oiled machine by the end of the game. This wasn't a situation where one team was a puppeteer, pulling the others' strings; this was a group effort from start to finish. Because of a strategy that optimized the results of the collective, the APP STATE Alliance was able to position Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, and Ohio State as potential winners on Day 50. All of us finished above our rivals, and as a result of our diplomatic efforts, not just with each other but with less-established teams, we're well positioned for the next iteration of this game.

Above all else, though, YOU are the reason we won. As former Texas coach Darrell Royal said, "it's not the X's and O's, it's the Jimmies and Joes." All the strategy and luck in the world wouldn't have mattered if you hadn't played.

We used every medium we could think of to reach Buckeye fans throughout the course of this contest. What we found, over and over, is that Buckeye fans are passionate, engaged, and love to win. Ohio State finished with 1,749 players on day 50, SHATTERING the previous single-day record, and we had over three thousand unique players over the course of this contest. Because of your support, we were able to win the Battle of Columbus, the most-contested territory on the map, and all sorts of lower-profile territories like Washington State and Purdue and Marshall that turned the tide of battle. This victory wouldn't have been possible without all of you; thank you.

Finally, a thank you must go out to BlueSCar, the person who created and ran this season of College Football Risk. He put in thousands of hours to make this game possible, and he improved on the game's initial concept enormously. He endeavored to run this game fairly and objectively in the face of great scrutiny and strain, and he is a person of integrity. Please consider donating to his Patreon; he does neat stuff with sports data, and his website, CollegeFootballData.com, deserves your support.

So what's next? The next season of College Football Risk, if it happens, will not take place until 2021. We need time to evaluate this game and what went well and badly, and if you go to the main page, you'll be able to fill out a survey about your thoughts on the game. Please do. Your ideas about how to improve the game will make season 3 the best season yet.

Thank you for playing. Congratulations, everyone. Go Bucks!