Thank goodness there were no tied games this week. Why, you ask? Because I’ve been calculating my win percentage wrong … and I knew that I had to have been doing so all season. I am surprised that no one wrote to correct me until this week.
Frankly, I’m just as surprised that someone claiming to enjoy my weekly column wrote to correct me. I knew there had to be at least one single non-blood relative who enjoyed the column. Well, I’d hoped anyway.
Last week’s picks: 7-3-0
Season: 39-14-7
According to David Chute, a reader who very kindly wrote to me and lied about liking the column, I’ve been calculating the picks all wrong. According to David, the ties bring down my percentage, significantly.
(I am horrible with the maths. I’m not proud of this. I did scour the internet to find what I thought was a correct formula. Now we know how that worked out for me.)
Last week, my picks percentage was .700. Not bad, considering the chaos of last week’s results. My overall picks percentage? Using the formula that David sent, not so good: .582.
Ah, well.
This week, everyone one but Ohio State plays.
LSSU at UM. In net for the Lakers, Kevin Kapalka blanked Ferris State twice last week. The Wolverines, true to form, split the weekend, losing to the Irish Friday and winning Saturday. The last time the Lakers beat the Wolverines was Feb. 10, 2006. UM ended LSSU’s season last year by downing the Lakers in second round of the CCHA playoffs, outscoring the Lakers 11-2. The long-term odds are against this, but I’m not calling the Wolverines to win on Friday night, given what they’ve done this season. LSSU 3-2, UM 4-2.
Miami at BGSU. First-year BG head coach Chris Bergeron faces off against the program he helped build when the RedHawks and Falcons meet this weekend. Each team split a weekend series Nov. 12-13. Miami rides a seven-game win streak over the Falcons into this series. Any bets on how many goals Carter Camper will score? I say three total. Miami 4-2, 3-1.
MSU at ND. Each of these teams split a series last weekend. (Are you detecting a theme?) The Irish are 5-0-3 against the Spartans in their last eight meetings. Saturday’s game is at 5:05 p.m. ND 3-1, 3-2.
NMU at UAF. Each of these teams also split a series last weekend. The points Alaska earned kept the Nanooks where they were the week before, fourth place. The points Northern earned, however, moved the Wildcats into fifth place. NMU is 6-0-4 against UAF in their last 10 meetings. Northern last lost to Alaska Nov. 30, 2007. UAF 3-2, NMU 3-2.
WMU at FSU. Finally, two teams that did not split anything last weekend. The Broncos were idle and the Bulldogs were scoreless twice against Lake Superior. This series pits first-year Western coach Jeff Blashill against Ferris skipper Bob Daniels, the guy who coached Blashill when the new WMU coach was a Bulldog goalie. FSU is 8-2-3 against WMU in the last 13 meetings. FSU 3-2, WMU 2-1.
