Stuck like glue: Mark and QT make Picks history with longest tie in 30 years

Tied for second place is how Mark and QT ended the 2008 Picks season, posting identical 144-83 records. And they remained tied after Week 1 of the 2009 season. And were still tied after Week 2. And still tied after Week 3. And still tied after Week 4, in second place, of course. It's been the longest tie between competitors in the 30-year history of the Sunday Football Picks, having stretched to nine months and two weeks.

The last time Mark and QT weren't tied in the overall standings was Dec. 27, 2008, the day before the final Sunday of the season. And now the two siblings head into this week's games on Oct. 11, 2009, hoping to finally break their incredible stalemate. They have been linked longer than many Hollywood marriages, including that of Renee Zellweger and Kenny Chesney, Drew Barrymore and Tom Green, Lisa Marie Presley and Nicholas Cage, and Jim Carrey and Lauren Holly. None of those marriages lasted nearly this long.

What makes this long-standing deadlock in the Picks even more amazing is the fact that Mark and QT haven't been choosing the same teams each week. In Week 4 they had four disagreements, but like always, ended up splitting the games. Their identical records over the first four weeks are 9-4, 6-9, 12-3 and 9-4.

So all eyes now turn to Week 5 of the Sunday Football Picks to see which of these fierce rivals will take the upper hand. Both are three-time Picks champions, and both have lifetime records better than anyone else in the league. It's quite the battle, indeed. So who will come out on top this Sunday?

Las Vegas oddsmakers give QT the edge with a 61 percent chance of prevailing this week, pointing to her extra year of experience in the Picks. However, Atlantic City bookmakers say Mark has a 77 percent chance of surging ahead, reminding bettors that this is his season to win the Picks title. It's true that Mark has captured first place every third year, having been crowned the champion in 2000, 2003 and 2006.

Taking a back seat to all of this sibling hype is the remarkable run by Trevor, who posted an 11-2 record in Pick Like Pa Week and is a whopping 24-4 over the past two weeks. Trevor increased his first-place lead to five games over Mark and QT. His 41-15 overall record isn't such a bad turnaround for a boy who finished in seventh place last year. He still holds that can opener.