Christopher Randall, one of the most highly recruited pickers in the country, is no longer interested in the Knoxville panel, according to a story by recruiting guru David Hooks of pickspanelxtra.com.

Randall, whose mother, Allison, is a Knoxville picker, listed Columbia, S.C.; South Bend, Ind.; and Los Angeles as his top three choices. He said he is also considering Gainesville, Fla., and Birmingham, Ala.

He didn't mention Knoxville.

Randall's announcement came a few days after Knoxville picks panel administrator John Adams benched Allison in favor of Andy. Andy & Allison picked as a team last year and for the first three weeks of the season.

Randall said "no comment" when Hooks asked if Allison's demotion had anything to do with his decision. Allison also declined comment.

Under the National Picks Panel Association rules, a picks panel administrator is not allowed to comment on recruits.

Most recruiting analysts have always assumed Randall would join the Knoxville panel as soon as he graduated from college. He attended Knoxville's picks panel youth camp when he was only 6 years old and posted one of the highest scores on the PPAT (picks panel aptitude test).

Adams offered Randall a position on the panel when Randall was 10 years old. He said he wanted to complete his education before joining the panel.

He's a senior at the University of Tennessee.

Split Decision?: The decision to break up the two-picker rotation of Andy & Allison in favor of Andy was not a unanimous decision, according to Hooks' story on pickspanelxtra.com.

Picks panel upset coordinator Phil Kaplan also agreed the two-picker system wasn't working perfectly but he preferred to start Allison and bench Andy, according to Hooks' story, which attributed the information to two anonymous sources. Adams overruled Kaplan.

As upset coordinator, Kaplan monitors and advises upsets picks for the pickers. Both Andy and Allison said that Allison had correctly picked all of their upsets this season.

"We work as a team," picks panel administrator John Adams told sports columnist John Adams. "And we decide as a team. Everybody's on the same page here."

When Kaplan was asked about the decision, he said, "I agree with whatever Mr. Adams said."

Keeping Score: Some readers who like to compete against the pickers don't understand this year's scoring system. And apparently some of them aren't willing to pay $885 a month for a subscription to pickspanelxtra.com., where the scoring system is explained in detail.

Pickers receive one point for each correct pick. They receive three bonus points anytime they correctly pick a winner that is more than a seven-point underdog.

If you pick two teams that are more than seven-point underdogs and both lose, you still get one point. It's the popular pick-two-get-one-free rule.

The panel's top picker each week receives five bonus points. If two or more pickers tie for the top spot, no one gets the five bonus points.

Pickers are required to pick at least four underdogs each week. If they only pick three underdogs, they suffer a one-point penalty.

The point spread is based on Harrah's Odds, as they appear in Friday's News Sentinel.

Records Of Alternates: Zack Theekat 53-22 (56 points), B.J. Wright 51-24 (54 points), Kathy Best 46-29 (51 points), Brandy Fore 50-25 (50 points), Rick O'Shea 45-30 (45 points), Tim Harmon 41-34 (44 points), John Pennington 41-34 (41 points), Chuck Williams 38-37 (41 points),

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.