Matt here, with a moment of honesty to start. Last week, you may have noticed I picked a lot of sweeps. That’s pretty crazy since splits seem to rule this year in the WCHA. I did it because I was trailing Shane and hoping to pick up a few wins. Since he picks splits so often, I was hoping he’d pick the wrong teams to win on the wrong night. Meanwhile, I could steal a win or two. It was a desperate more that flailed and put me further back. I’m back to picking straight and taking a few coaches’ advice and not worrying about the standings. Here we go.
Alaska Anchorage at Ferris State
Shane: Lots of intrigue here as Ferris State tries to increase its lead over idle Minnesota State atop the standings and Alaska-Anchorage tries to cling to a home-ice spot. The Seawolves have made their hay at home and haven’t been so good on the road. The Bulldogs have yet to lose in Big Rapids. Bulldogs 4-2, 3-1
Matt: The key point Shane made above is the Bulldogs have yet to lose in Big Rapids. I can’t see that streak ending now, not when Ferris can put some serious distance between itself and the Mavericks in the MacNaughton Cup chase. Bulldogs 3-1, 3-2
Northern Michigan at/vs. Michigan Tech
Shane: Amid the muck of the middle of the standings, each of these two rivals could end up in a home-ice spot after the weekend just as easily as they could barely above ninth place. They split a home-and-home series early in the season, winning at their own barns. I see no reason why that won’t happen again. Huskies 4-3, Wildcats 2-1
Matt: The weather is just beautiful in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for this home-and-home series. Currently, Marquette — the site of Saturday’s game — is a wet, sloppy mess after a warm day yesterday (42 degrees!) and a heavy, wet snow last night. Thankfully that slop will all freeze up as the temperature drops throughout the day to the teens. Meanwhile in Houghton, where tonight’s game is scheduled to be played, there is a blizzard warning until 8 a.m. on Saturday because of some minor 25-35 and 40-50 mph wind gusts in the forecast. These allegedly produce “white out conditions.” Sweet, eh? Good thing this series is being broadcast for fans locally on TV. I may have to join them tonight since my Corolla is not “blizzard friendly.” Huskies 3-2, Wildcats 3-2
Lake Superior at Alabama Huntsville
Shane: No team is happier to be home this weekend than the Chargers. Can they pull off a rare win? The Lakers are wallowing in that unenviable ninth-place spot after splitting their last three series. There’s a good opportunity to move up but they’ll have their own long road trip. Lakers 5-3, Chargers 2-1
Matt: The high in Huntsville today is supposed to be 57. Tomorrow, it’s going to be 64. Just out of spite, I want to pick LSSU to lose 57-0 tonight and 64-0 on Saturday to the Chargers, but I’m also a little angry at the UAH athletic department for tweeting about the start of baseball season recently. I’m punishing both schools with a loss this weekend. Chargers 1-0, Lakers 2-1.
Last week: Shane 7-2-1, Matt 5-4-1. Overall: Shane 117-56-21, Matt 112-61-21.
