One of the great traditions of Championship Weekend in college football is watching two young people throw footballs all of five yards as a nation unites in telling them that they’re doing it wrong.
It’s the Dr. Pepper Tuition Challenge, where actual students have a chance to win as much as $100,000 towards their education because they can sling as many pigskins into a hole 15 feet away from them
The rules are simple: 30 seconds, most footballs in the oversized soda can hole wins. And because of the distance traveled, it’s more about speed than skill. If you really want that cash, forget looking like a quarterback and just get it in the hole. #TeamUnderhand.
And the difference between first and second place? A mere $75,000. No pressure, kids.
We’ll have live, local, and late-breaking coverage of all five contests this year, as well as a breakdown of their technique and talent in the most expensive game of bean bag toss on the planet.
Big Ten
Synere Abukaram takes it with 14!! And the Eastern Michigan Eagle who majors in athletic training did it while wearing a hijab, which was pretty darn cool. Turns out she also got some help from Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford a few days ago as well.
The B10 championship game is a few days away and Jenessa, Matt and Synene are competing for $100k in tuition thanks to @drpepper. As a NCAA QB, I thought I’d share some tips on how to nail their throws.
— Sean Clifford (@seancliff14) December 1, 2021
Tune in to FOX on Dec 4 at 8pm! #DrPepperTuitionGiveaway #DrPepperPartner pic.twitter.com/pqLjcQu5IH
She beat Jenessa Teta from the University of St. Joseph (is that Saint Joe’s in Philly??), who looked behind from the jump and according to social media really didn’t need the money because of the size of her engagement ring.
We can’t find video of the contest as of now, but sometimes a picture really says it all.
Look at this starting form. Jenessa didn’t have a chance. pic.twitter.com/vscBtgpydb
— Shameless (@ShamelesslySG) December 5, 2021
ACC
Jacob Callister from BYU wins 13-12 over Kellen Slattery. Of course the first person Jacob, an undergraduate student in Provo, thanked was his wife. This contest really does bring out the diversity of America.
This was some not-great technique from both participants. Much like the ACC this season, mediocre was good enough to advance. Rachel from the SEC washed both of them. College football stereotypes play themselves out perfectly sometimes.
Here’s Kellen moving too slow. If he was faster, he’d of been SEC, PAWWLLL.
An interesting strategy in the Dr Pepper pass challenge pic.twitter.com/EBtukregQq
— The Transfer Portal CFB (@TPortalCFB) December 5, 2021
Also shoutout to anyone that live bets the Tuition Challenge at the game. We’d be right there with you.
When the section bets $100 on the dr.pepper challenge ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/lWnIpcFVM0
— T-Raw (@tcavvy_01) December 5, 2021
SEC
Hayden Rhodea, a freshman at Duke University majoring in economics, posted a score of 18 for the win over Rachel Hughes 15 from Kentucky! A spectacular performance by both participants. What is this, the 1992 NCAA Regional Final??
Rhodea goes chest pass all the way, and that’s how you want to see it done when the pressure is on.
High scoring Dr. Pepper tuition giveaway! Hayden wins 18-15! Shoutout to Rachel tho pic.twitter.com/dv7nNWCIa0
— ✯✯✯✯✯ (@FTB_Vids_YT) December 4, 2021
Rachel needed to run it up on the first bucket. When Hayden could extend his arms on Bucket Two, it was over. https://t.co/c5m0Qh6A8i
— Roll ‘Bama Roll (@rollbamaroll) December 4, 2021
And if there’s a losers bracket, Rachel looks to be the No. 1 seed. Putting one in the can every two seconds and not advancing is tough. Kind of like being in the SEC West and being Ole Miss at 10-2 this season.
Big 12
Olivia Montoya from Colorado State and Will Austin from Texas (to a resounding set of boos from both Baylor and Oklahoma State fans in Arlington) go at it, and Will goes with a wrist flick technique we haven’t seen before! It’s quite effective as he wins in a rout 15-8, and we might have a favorite new way to score going forward.
I say it every year but it should be illegal to do a push pass of the football into the big soda can for the Dr. Pepper challenge! Throw the damn football!!! pic.twitter.com/A4I35bnhRh
— kofodfsu (@kofodfsu) December 4, 2021
Let’s take a closer look. We like the ability to acquire more laces with two hands working in concert. And it looks like he’s shooting free throws, but with a bigger target. Effective!
The sheer determination pic.twitter.com/zJ68kEHoYr
— Yahoo Sports College Football (@YahooSportsCFB) December 4, 2021
Congrats to the Longhorns on their first conference postseason win in ... well ...
Not since 2009 has Austin had something to celebrate at the Big 12 title game pic.twitter.com/gkTFo7Pzvf
— Jason Kirk (@thejasonkirk) December 4, 2021
Hopefully Olivia goes home with a new football coach for her Rams as well, because man they can’t do worse than the last guy.
Pac-12
Julia Burton of UT-Dallas takes home the crown from Diana Zavala of Concordia University in Texas, who should feel great runner-up shame. Burton heads home with a Lexus LC500 while Zavala is in a Honda Civic worth of value.
The @drpepper Tuition Giveaway winner has been crowned!
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) December 4, 2021
Congrats to Julia Burton, a deserving student, for earning $100K in the Tuition Toss.#Pac12FB | #Pac12FCG pic.twitter.com/ig9JhTs2xS
Burton goes with the chest pass, which isn’t the perfect technique but it’s enough to get the job done. And it’s better than trying to sling it like Cam Rising that’s for sure.