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CCHA Pick ‘Em 2024-25: 8.5 Teams This Year!

NOTE: Information and rules about the post season playoffs are after the standings. Scroll like crazy if you want to read them. tl;dr We're continuing the tradition of head-to-head competition found ONLY at the CCHA Pick' Em.

Congratulations to our week 15 winner MTUHuskyGold who killed it this week with a whopping 29 points! There was only one contestant who correctly picked the Lindenwood/Augustana tie on Saturday. Stick taps to Footballguy51 for being that guy. While 10 contestants rolled the dice and picked NMU to upset Bemidji on the weekend, there was only one contestant with the intestinal fortitude, the guts, the cajones to pick Northern Michigan to sweep Bemidji State. That contestant is Footballguy51 who threw the Hail Mary of all Hail Mary's to record what may be the most impressive pick of the season! Wanna hear something really crazy? Footballguy51 pulled this exact same feat two years ago when Ferris State swept the Mavs in Mankato. Congrats, dude!

He-who-shall-go-nameless still sits atop the leaderboard though BroncoHockeyFan's yearly bonus of 4 points would have him in the lead. Not much changed in the Battle for the Beagan, here's where things stand
Code: 
Contestant           Points %
TalonsUpPuckDown      .666
Bronco Hockey Fan     .649
SweeneyHawksHockey    .646
mbenecke              .641
puckdude40            .634

Moving on to the bonus, there were 131 penalty minutes across the 8 league games aided by 3 game misconduct penalties on Saturday. Congratulations to Icd80 who came away with 9 out of 10 bonus points. Accounting for the NMU bonus, both MTUHuskyGold and StevieYnot each led the way with 10 bonus points on the weekend. Here's how the bonus played out:
Code: 
Contestant                   PIM   NMU Fri NMU Sat  Total
MTUHuskyGold                  7               3      10
StevieYnot                    7               3      10
Icd80                         9                       9
SweeneyHawksHockey            7                       7
Footballguy51                         3       3       6
John J. MacInnes              3               3       6
BillyLP                                       3       3
GoNanooks                                     3       3
Hockey John                                   3       3
Manurespreader                        3               3
PokeCheck                             3               3
potternmu                             3               3
Soulbeaver                    1                       1

Turning to the Race for the Sauer, MTUHuskyGold now has a 10-point lead which with 6 weeks left in the season may be insurmountable.
Code: 
Contestant        Bonus
MTUHuskyGold        45
John J. MacInnes    35
Bronco Hockey Fan   34
mbenecke            31
Icd80               31

The bonus is back again this week.

Week 16
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CCHA Pick 'Em Playoffs

Now that we’re into the second half of the season it’s time to start thinking about bringin' home the hardware. As mentioned at the beginning of the season there are 4 awards:
o MacNaughton Cup - Awarded to the regular season champion as determined by total points
o Bill Beagan Trophy - Awarded to the contestant with the highest points percentage (based solely on picks, no bonus) during the regular season (must participate in 75% of the games to be eligible)
o Jeff Sauer Trophy - Awarded to the contestant with the most bonus points
o Mason Cup - Awarded to the playoff champion

Playoff Eligibility
This year all contestants will make the playoffs. Additionally, a contestant has to have been reasonably active in making weekly picks throughout most of the season, especially during the second half. I'm trying to keep this fair for contestants who've been involved all year while keeping it open for late arrivals who are showing a commitment without writing down a ton of rules. Final decisions are at the discretion of the commissioner. So far, everyone who has been submitting picks the past couple of weeks is currently in.

Playoff Seeding
Matches are head-to-head, single elimination with snake seeding for bracket pairings (1 vs. 32, 2 vs. 31, etc.). Seeding and tie breakers are determined in the following manner based on regular season results:
1) Total Points (including bonus)
2) Points (excluding bonus)
3) Total Points earned during the final 2 (or 3, or 4, or…) weeks of the CCHA regular season including bonuses until the tie is broken. Basically the “hotter” player down the stretch is favored
4) Based on the total number of playoff contestants, top seeds may earn a bye in the first round

Playoff Rounds
o The first round will be based on the Friday, March 7th CCHA Quarterfinal playoff games with bonuses (4 games total, field reduced to 16).
o The second round will be based on the Saturday, March 8th CCHA Quarterfinal playoff games with bonuses (4 games total, field reduced from 16 to 8)
o Quarterfinals will be based on the first CCHA Semifinal playoff game with bonuses listed on CCHA.com held on Saturday, March 15th (1 game, field reduced from 8 to 4).
o Semifinals will be based on the second CCHA Semifinal playoff game with bonuses listed on CCHA.com held on Saturday, March 15th (1 game, field reduced from 4 to 2).
o The championship matchup will be based on the CCHA Championship game on March 21st plus bonuses.

Scoring
o 3 pts for a win, 0 pts for a loss.
o 2-3 bonus questions for each round worth 1-5 points.
o In all cases, ties go to the higher seed.

Good luck!
 
My Friday picks are late due to the message board errors the last two days. I had to enter them to get the rest of my picks in, but I realize they will be counted incorrect. No problem.
 
Congratulations to SweeneyHawksHockey who, with 23 points, is our week 16 winner. Well done, sir! Also, special stick taps to Puck Master who was the only contestant to correctly pick Ferris State to upset the Mavs on Friday night. A slight shuffling of the leaderboard sees mbenecke and Bronco Hockey Fan now tied for the #2 spot and giwan and SweeneyHawksHockey trading places. He-who-shall-go-nameless is still atop the standings. The same story holds in the Battle for the Beagan, here are the current standings with the number of points that need to be made up:
Code: 
Contestant           Points %   Points Back
TalonsUpPuckDown       .669         -
SweeneyHawksHockey     .655         6
mbenecke               .650         8
Bronco Hockey Fan      .646        10
puckdude40             .636        14

Moving on to the bonus, there were a grand total of 11 special teams goals on the weekend. Attendance wise, there were fewer than 8,050 fans who attended the Tech/NMU series. Congratulations to beaverhockeyfan who picked up 9 out of 10 bonus points this weekend. Here's how the bonus paid out:
Code: 
Contestant       Special Teams   Attendance   Total
beaverhockeyfan         4             5         9
GoNanooks               2             5         7
Critical Thinker        1             5         6
Soulbeaver              1             5         6
Icd80                   0             5         5
iwearpurple             0             5         5
PokeCheck               0             5         5
puckdude40              0             5         5
SweeneyHawksHockey      0             5         5
TalonsUpPuckDown        0             5         5
Tommiealum93            4             0         4
John J. MacInnes        3             0         3
StevieYnot              2             0         2
BillyLP                 1             0         1
Footballguy51           1             0         1
mbenecke                1             0         1

The field crept a little closer to MTUHuskyGold in the Race for the Sauer but that lead is still holding at 7 bonus points:
Code: 
Contestant        Bonus
MTUHuskyGold        45
John J. MacInnes    38
Icd80               36
TalonsUpPuckDown    35
puckdude40          34
Bronco Hockey Fan   34

There are only five weeks left in the regular season. If you're gonna make a move, now's the time.

Week 17
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All hail BillyLP who ran away with the week 17 honors with 23 points. Very nice! Special shout out to AgentClass who joins us after a brief respite. Welcome back. Special stick taps to StevieYnot who was the only contestant this week to correctly pick the Tommies to beat the Mavs on Friday night. Well done! Not a lot of movement in the standings or in the Battle for the Beagan. Basically same as last week.

There were a total of 50 penalties called across all 8 CCHA league games this weekend. Congratulations go to none other than BillyLP who was the only contestant to collect all 10 bonus points. Fourteen contestants picked up at least 1 bonus point this week, here's how that looks:
Code: 
Contestant        Penalties Called
BillyLP                  10
beaverhockeyfan           9
PokeCheck                 9
MTUHuskyGold              8
potternmu                 8
Icd80                     7
Bronco Hockey Fan         6
Manurespreader            6
giwan                     5
TalonsUpPuckDown          5
AgentClass                4
GoNanooks                 4
puckdude40                3
Hockey John               1

In the Race for the Sauer, MTUHuskyGold's lead is back up to 10 points.
Code: 
Contestant         Bonus
MTUHuskyGold         53
Icd80                43
TalonsUpPuckDown     40
Bronco Hockey Fan    40
John J. MacInnes     38

More bonus fun for week 18. Four weeks are left in the regular season. We'll be starting some bracketology to see who gets the byes and who plays who in the first round.

Week 18
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Week-17.png
 
Congratulations go out to SweeneyHawksHockey who bested all week 18 participants with a whopping 25 points. Shout out to Pokecheck and Soulbeaver who were a perfect 4-for-4 on Friday night. Not much movement in the leaderboard though SweeneyHawksHockey and giwan are making a late run.

In the Battle for the Beagan, he-who-shall-remain-nameless has a lead of 4 points over mbenecke and 7 points over SweeneyHawksHockey. This race is still up for grabs! Here are the current standings:
Code: 
Contestant          Points %
TalonsUpPuckDown     .656
mbenecke             .648
SweeneyHawksHockey   .641
Manurespreader       .631

Now on to the bonus. There were 80 assists on the weekend and while no one came in on the number, SweeneyHawksHockey led the way wiht 9 bonus points. Additionally, only 8 contestants picked up bonus points this week. Here's how the bonus stacked up this week:
Code: 
Contestant           Assists
SweeneyHawksHockey      9
AgentClass              7
giwan                   5
John J. MacInnes        4
Manurespreader          4
TalonsUpPuckDown        4
StevieYnot              2
GoNanooks               1

In the Race for the Sauer, MTUHuskyGold stays atop the leaderboard with a 9-point lead despite being shut out this week.
Code: 
Contestant          Bonus
MTUHuskyGold          53
TalonsUpPuckDown      44
Icd80                 43
John J. MacInnes      42
Bronco Hockey Fan     40

There are 45 bonus points remaining (including the year-end bonuses).

Week 19 has only 4 games scheduled, but there will be a whopping 20 bonus points available PLUS the year end bonus will be added to everyone's total. Wow.

With three weeks left in the season the first Pick 'Em Playoff Bracketology is posted. Looks like the top 8 seeds will receive a bye. Here's the likelihood of each contestant receiving one of those coveted byes:
Code: 
Contestant        Finishing Top 8
TalonsUpPuckDown      90%
SweeneyHawksHockey    83%
Bronco Hockey Fan     80%
mbenecke              75%
giwan                 71%
puckdude40            57%
MTUHuskyGold          45%
Icd80                 40%
Hockey John           36%
StevieYnot            30%
iwearpurple           26%
Manurespreader        26%
John J. MacInnes      23%
GoNanooks             15%
beaverhockeyfan       14%
Everyone Else        <10%

The current bracket with playoff pairings is posted below the current standings.

Week 19
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Week-18.png


Bracketology-1.png
 
Our sole week 19 winner is Soulbeaver who bested the field with 16 points. Very nice! Stick taps to Icd80, mbenecke, MTUHuskyGold, potternmu, and SoulBeaver who went a perfect 4-4-4 on picks this weekend. Lastly, we doff our buckets to AgentClass, CriticalThinker, and StevieYNot who went 100% on the anti-picks. So close to glory. Ouch. Once again, not a lot of movement at the top of the leaderboard, though mbenecke lurks 13 points off the lead.

Speaking of mbenecke, by virtue of going 4-4-4 on picks this weekend he has moved to within 2 points of the lead in the Battle for the Beagan! Everyone is cheering you on so go make it happen, Cap'n! Here's the current standings:
Code: 
Contestant          Points %
TalonsUpPuckDown      .659
mbenecke              .655
giwan                 .634
SweeneyHawksHockey    .634

Now on to this week's BONUS BONANZA. With the yearly bonus added in this week there were a whopping 25 bonus points up for grabs. As for the weekly bonuses, there were 28 goals scored with 43 assists on 156 SOGs. Yeah, this is the CCHA so, yeah, nobody even came close on the SOG bonus. But that didn't stop SweeneyHawksHockey from takin' it down! on the rest of the bonus points by picking up 7 for the weekend. Lots of contestants picked up bonus points, even those who haven't submitted a form in months. We recognize and honor those fine folks by adding them to this week's bonus results and standings.
Code: 
Contestant             Goals  Assists   SOGs  Most Goals  Most Goals  Total
SweeneyHawksHockey       0       2       0        3           2         7
Soulbeaver               5       0       0        0           1         6
Tommiealum93             1       4       0        0           1         6
BGSURICK                 0       0       0        3           2         5
BillyLP                  0       0       0        3           2         5
John J. MacInnes         0       1       0        3           1         5
Bronco Hockey Fan        0       0       0        3           1         4
Footballguy51            0       0       0        3           1         4
GoNanooks                0       0       0        3           1         4
Critical Thinker         0       0       0        3           0         3
Lakerchum                0       0       0        3           0         3
PokeCheck                0       3       0        0           0         3
Puck Master              0       0       0        3           0         3
AgentClass               0       1       0        0           1         2
BGHockeyFan94            0       0       0        0           2         2
giwan                    0       0       0        0           2         2
Manurespreader           0       2       0        0           0         2
potternmu                0       0       0        0           2         2
TalonsUpPuckDown         0       2       0        0           0         2
iwearpurple              0       0       0        0           1         1
mbenecke                 0       0       0        0           1         1
puckdude40               0       0       0        0           1         1

MTUHuskyGold is still atop the leaderboard in the Race for the Sauer though the cushion that felt so large a month ago is now down to just 7 bonus points over the coach, John J. MacInnes. There are only 20 bonus points available the rest of the way.
Code: 
Contestant        Bonus
MTUHuskyGold        53
John J. MacInnes    47
TalonsUpPuckDown    46
Bronco Hockey Fan   44
Icd80               43
BillyLP             41
SweeneyHawksHockey  40

How 'bout them playoffs! It still appears there are 8 first round byes, here's your chance of scooping one up. This week's Bracketology is posted below the standings.
Code: 
Contestant          Finishing Top 8
TalonsUpPuckDown         91%
Bronco Hockey Fan        87%
SweeneyHawksHockey       87%
giwan                    83%
mbenecke                 83%
puckdude40               60%
MTUHuskyGold             50%
Icd80                    41%
iwearpurple              26%
Hockey John              25%
Manurespreader           25%
John J. MacInnes         20%
StevieYnot               17%
GoNanooks                16%
Everyone Else          <=15%

There are two weeks left in the regular season.

Week 20
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Week-19-1.png


Bracketology-2.png
 
The winner of our penultimate week is none other than GoNanooks who came away with the weekly win with 25 points. Fantastic finish! Not much in the way of stick taps this week so we'll move on to the standings where you-know-who still leads by 11 points but it's now SweeneyHawksHockey in second place and making a statement that last year's Mason Cup winner has something to say about these proceedings. No blood was drawn in the Battle for the Beagan as mbenecke and that TUPD guy posted the same number of points. It's down to a two-person race with only two points separating the contestants:
Code: 
Contestant         Points %
TalonsUpPuckDown    .647
mbenecke            .643
giwan               .634
iwearpurple         .634

Moving on to the bonus, there were 12 special teams goals scored on the weekend. The GWG goals in the Augie/AK series were scored by the Nanooks at the 29:45 and 51:57 times. Average 'em and round 'em up and you get 41 minutes. SweeneyHawksHockey led the way this week with 7 points.
Code: 
Contestant            Goals   GWG Time   Total
SweeneyHawksHockey      3        4         7
GoNanooks               4        2         6
AgentClass              2        2         4
Bronco Hockey Fan       3        1         4
Icd80                   2        2         4
Soulbeaver              0        4         4
TalonsUpPuckDown        4        0         4
StevieYnot              3        0         3
Footballguy51           2        0         2
Hockey John             2        0         2
Manurespreader          0        2         2
Puck Master             0        2         2
beaverhockeyfan         1        0         1
iwearpurple             1        0         1
MTUHuskyGold            1        0         1

In the Race for the Sauer, MTUHuskyGold picked up zero bonus points this week and that lead is now down to 4 points. There are 6 contestants within 10 points with 10 bonus points available this last week (is it really the last week already???). It could be anybody's ball game.
Code: 
Contestant         Bonus
MTUHuskyGold         54
TalonsUpPuckDown     50
Bronco Hockey Fan    48
SweeneyHawksHockey   47
John J. MacInnes     47
Icd80                47
GoNanooks            44

The last week of the season brings us the last bracketology update. Ten points separate seeds 7 through 14 so a couple of those first round playoff byes are still up for grabs.

Week 21
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Week-20.png


Bracketology-3.png
 
I just realized I forgot to include the probabilities for grabbing one of those coveted first round byes. Here's the chart:
Code: 
Contestant          Finishing Top 8
Bronco Hockey Fan        91%
SweeneyHawksHockey       91%
TalonsUpPuckDown         91%
mbenecke                 89%
puckdude40               80%
Icd80                    67%
iwearpurple              52%
MTUHuskyGold             41%
GoNanooks                38%
giwan                    36%
Manurespreader           23%
StevieYnot               13%
Everyone Else           <10%

Interested in winning the MacNaughton? Well, here are your chances:
Code: 
Finishing Top 1
TalonsUpPuckDown         91%
SweeneyHawksHockey        6%
Bronco Hockey Fan         2%
mbenecke                  1%
 
Update: there was a late entry last week that I missed and did not include in the week 20 standings. The entry was made post haste and will be included in the week 21 results.
 
The season is over and a new champion is now crowned. No need to celebrate, TUPD wins the MacNaughton for 2024-25. I will say that the only miraculous feat here is that he had to enter the first pick for all 21 weeks. OK, whatever, dude. Much more importantly, giwan is the week 21 winner who finished the season with a whopping 26 points. Congratulations! As far as stick taps go, bang on those boards for StevieYNot who was the only contestant to pick the Lakers to win on Friday night.

The Battle for the Beagan came down to one game...if Tech beats the Tommies on Saturday, then mbenecke is walking home with the hardware. However, the Tommies prevailed in a closely fought contest which means that 'you-know-who' adds a second piece of hardware to his trophy case. I plan to clear a spot next to my 1975 Owens-Illinois Rookie Softball Championship trophy. Here's the final standings in the Battle for the Beagan:
Code: 
Contestant          Points %
TalonsUpPuckDown     .652
mbenecke             .643
giwan                .637
SweeneyHawksHockey   .632
Bronco Hockey Fan    .630

Moving on to the bonus, the Away teams scored 20 goals on the weekend while the Home teams scored 29. Add 'em up and you get a two-way tie between giwan and Soulbeaver who each collected 9 bonus points. Here's how the the final bonus paid out:
Code: 
Contestant                Away    Home   Total
giwan                      5       4       9
Soulbeaver                 5       4       9
PokeCheck                  4       4       8
Bronco Hockey Fan          2       4       6
Manurespreader             3       3       6
mbenecke                   3       3       6
MTUHuskyGold               2       4       6
StevieYnot                 4       2       6
Critical Thinker           0       5       5
Footballguy51              5       0       5
Hockey John                2       3       5
iwearpurple                0       5       5
SweeneyHawksHockey         3       2       5
GoNanooks                  3       1       4
potternmu                  3       1       4
Puck Master                4       0       4
puckdude40                 4       0       4
John J. MacInnes           2       1       3
TalonsUpPuckDown           3       0       3
BillyLP                    0       2       2
Icd80                      0       2       2
AgentClass                 1       0       1
Tommiealum93               0       1       1

Going into this final week, MTUHuskyGold held a slight lead over some contestant who will remain nameless and Bronco Hockey Fan. As the fans watched what looked like an insurmountable lead evaporate over a 5 week period, the question on everyone's mind was whether there was still enough gas in the tank to bring it home. Answer? YES!!! Not only is MTUHuskyGold the 2024-25 winner of the Jeff Sauer trophy, but ran through the finish line at a full gallop with 6 points in the final week. Congratulations on finishing with such panache! Here's the final standings in the Race for the Sauer:
Code: 
Contestant          Bonus
MTUHuskyGold         60
Bronco Hockey Fan    54
TalonsUpPuckDown     53
SweeneyHawksHockey   52
John J. MacInnes     50

Turning our attention to the playoffs, the top 8 seeds will each receive a first round bye. Be sure to fill out a form for the entire weekend, I'll only use entries for the second game and a reminder that everyone will submit picks for both games that will count for the first round on Friday and the second round on Saturday. Also, with things switching to a mano-a-mano format, picks will not be made available until everyone has completed a form.

With all that said, there was a proverbial donnybrook for that 8th spot with StevieYNot edging out MTUHuskyGold by .002 percentage points in what is the closest finish for a bye in Pick 'Em history! First round playoff brackets are below the season's final standings. Good luck in your quest for the Mason Cup!

Playoffs, Rounds 1 and 2

Week-21.png


Playoffs-Rnd-1.png
 
Let’s get in-depth on these matchups and see what’s what. First up is the Mankato bracket.

(1) TUPD vs. Bye – Our 2024-25 MacNaughton Cup champion and Bill Began Award winner finally put it all together by picking with his head instead of his heart. He led the way with a league best pick percentage of .652 and piled up a third best 53 bonus points. After finishing fourth in week 1, he was either in first or second the rest of the season including spending 17 weeks in the pole position. None of this matters because BIllyLP or beaverhockeyfan have a good chance at the “upset” in the second round.

(8) StevieYNot vs. Bye – The 24-25 ROY award goes to this first time contestant screen name who squeeked into the last bye seed by .002 percentage points over MTUHuskyGold. Spending most of the season outside the top 10, the last three weeks is the best time to get hot. The winner of the MTUHuskyGod/AgentClass match will face a contestant who booked one weekly win along with a .600 pick percentage and 43 bonus points.

(16) BillyLP vs (17) beaverhockeyfan – This season we welcome BillyLP back to the contest after taking last year off. Two weekly wins were a good sign along with a .596 pick percentage and 43 bonus points. Missing a week left this contestant mired in the third quartile throughout most of the season but it’s clear the mojo is still there. Veteran contestant beaverhockeyfan started the year hot and ended the season with 7 top-5 finishes (including a weekly win), but spent most of the season in the middle of the field. A .585 pick percentage with 36 bonus points compares a little less favorably to BillyLP’s numbers so this matchup will come down to whichever contestant can leverage their years of experience.

(9)MTUHuskyGold vs. (24) AgentClass - Our 2024-25 Jeff Sauer winner, MTUHuskyGold, spent the first part of the season towards the bottom of the standings before catching fire midway through and rocketing up the leaderboard. Driven by 60! bonus points and a .598 pick percentage, it’s clear he comes at you with all guns blazing. Not to be outdoneAgentClass dropped in the standings after taking a bit of a breather. Their .581 pick percentage and 29 bonus points may look to be on the low side, but prior to the sabbatical they were hovering around the 14/15 spot for multiple weeks. This matchup is a lot closer than it first appears.
 
Next up is the Sioux Falls bracket.

(2) Bronco Hockey Fan vs. Bye – Our MacNaughton Cup runner up made it to the semi-finals in 2021-22 where he lost to eventual Mason Cup winner SweeneyHawksHockey. Spending all 21 weeks within the top 4 and 14 weeks in the co-pilot’s seat might make one think that yes, this could be the year. And don’t forget the .630 pick percentage and 54 bonus points which was good enough to finish as the runner up in the Race for the Sauer. It’s been a bridesmaid season so far. Will this be the year Bronco Hockey Fan makes it over the hump?

(7) Icd80 vs. Bye – While finishing with the same .600 pick percentage as StevieYNot, it was the 49 bonus points that put Icd80 solidly in line for the #7 seed (and only one point short of capturing the #6 seed). As one of the most consistent contestants in the field, Icd80 had eleven top-10 finishes and spent 17 weeks within 2 places of that 7th spot.

(15) John J. MacInnes vs (18) potternmu – Aside from being the week 1 winner, this season has been a bit of a struggle for John J. MacInnes. While 50 bonus points is solid, the .563 pick percentage is definitely below par. On the other side we see potternmu with similar but opposite struggles. A respectable .605 pick percentage but a disappointing 26 bonus points pits each contestant’s strength against their opponents’ weakness. Digging a bit deeper we find…who am I kidding, it’s a Husky/Wildcat matchup! Forget about stats, forget about numbers, this is a “two men enter, one man leaves” grudge match for the ages.

(10) iwearpurple vs. (23) Footballguy51 – Six top-5 finishes and a formidable pick percentage of .628 should be good enough to earn iwearpurple a coveted first round bye, right? Normally that’s true, but a lackluster 27 bonus points torpedoed what was otherwise a rock solid season. On the other side we see Footballguy51 posting a similar 29 bonus points but with a “challenging” .499 pick percentage. On paper you’d have to give this one to iwearpurple, however, for the third year in a row, Footballguy51 came away with the pick of the year when he was the only contestant to pick the NMU sweep over Bemidji. Do no overlook the possibility of a Hail Mary being thrown on the last play of the game.
 
TalonsUpPuckDown said:
(16) BillyLP vs (17) beaverhockeyfan – This season we welcome BillyLP back to the contest after taking last year off. Two weekly wins were a good sign along with a .596 pick percentage and 43 bonus points. Missing a week left this contestant mired in the third quartile throughout most of the season but it’s clear the mojo is still there. Veteran contestant beaverhockeyfan started the year hot and ended the season with 7 top-5 finishes (including a weekly win), but spent most of the season in the middle of the field. A .585 pick percentage with 36 bonus points compares a little less favorably to BillyLP’s numbers so this matchup will come down to whichever contestant can leverage their years of experience.
Click to expand...
That is what I get for thinking the Beavers would turn things around......

The marathon is over, time for the sprint. FEAR THE BEAVER!
 
On to the Mendota Hts bracket.

(3) SweeneyHawksHockey vs. Bye – Last year’s Mason Cup champion gave it a real run at the end but came up just short finishing just one point behind Bronco Hockey Fan for the #2 spot. Are we looking at a little revenge on the way to a repeat? Well, 9(!) top 5 finishes and two weekly wins coupled with a .632 pick percentage and 52 bonus points would indicate that, yes, this could be SweeneyHawksHockey’s year…again.

(6) puckdude40 vs. Bye – Our #6 seed took a roundabout way to securing a bye spending the first part of the season mired towards the bottom of the field. The turnaround came in week 6, finishing second and never looking back rising as high to third in the standings before settling into his current spot. What does the winner of the Manurespreader/[Puck Master[/b] match have to look forward to? A string of 11 straight weeks with a pick percentage greater than .610. The only crack in the armor is 42 bonus points ranks middle of the pack.

(14) Soulbeaver vs (19) PokeCheck – The #14 seed never seemed to find the mojo finishing with a .568 pick percentage. Soulbeaver’s picking just wasn’t up to par this year with an uncharacteristic 19 weekly finishes in the bottom half of the field. The positive is the 48 bonus points posted for the year. On the other side of the aisle we find PokeCheck who has a nearly identical .569 pick percentage and 40 bonus points. On paper this is statistically the closest matchup in the field – a true Pick ‘Em pick ‘em. Winner gets SweeneyHawksHockey so you got that goin’ for ya.

(11) Manurespreader vs. (22) Puck Master – The oddsmaker like Manurespreader’s rock solid .622 pick percentage, two weekly wins and 44 bonus points, but what they find concerning is the drop from the 5th position in week 9. Puck Master posts a .559 pick percentage and only 11 bonus points, but has been consistent throughout the season. This matchup comes down to the contestant who can pull it all together.
 
Let’s finish up with the Bowling Green bracket.

(4) mbenecke vs. Bye – Last year’s Mason Cup runner up got his wish – finish in a position where he plays his first playoff series at home. Starting off at the back of the pack, by week 5 mbenecke found his mojo and was challenging for both the MacNaughton and Beagan every week. Coming up short in the Battle for the Beagan by 2 points has to sting, but two weekly wins, two weekly second place finishes, and that .643 pick percentage sets him up well for a short, one-game match. The only chink in the armor – a middling 39 bonus points.

(5) giwan vs. Bye – The 2021-22 MacNaughton Cup champion recorded another solid year, picking up yet another first round bye. giwan never once found himself outside the top 10 and his 4 weekly wins was tied for the most. Finishing third in the standings for the Beagan with a .637 pick percentage is something to be feared, though the 47 bonus points is slightly off his traditional average.

(13) Hockey John vs (20) Tommiealum93 – Last year’s MacNaughton Cup and Began winner picked up right where he left off with solid play through the first 18 weeks of the season. It looked like he had a bye all locked up but he ended up stumbling across the finish line the last three weeks of the season. Averaging .631 on the pick percentage through week 18 was enough of a cushion to offset the 35 bonus points, but the question is which Hockey John will show up come playoff time. It was a rather uncharacteristic year for Tommiealum93 who finished well off their historical norms with a .608 pick percentage and only 22 bonus points, but this was accomplished in 16 fewer games than most. Add in five top-5 finishes and this matchup looks to be a tossup.

(12) GoNanooks vs. (21) CriticalThinker – Our last matchup of the playoffs pits .587/48 GoNanooks against .531/35 Critical Thinker; one contestant’s strength vs. their opponent’s weakness. Each contestant spent the better part of the season within 3 spots of where they finished and each contestant had a couple of solid weeks (GoNanooks had a weekly win while Critical Thinker had two second place finishes). Boil it all down and you get yet another tossup match.
 
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