Worth the replay?
Monday, September 7's games ranked by how good they turned out to be: late drama, comebacks, lead swaps and overtime. No scores, no winners, so you can decide what to watch without spoilers.
Best games of the season →- #1SMUatFlorida StCFB· ESPNDown to the wireB57/100
▸ Why this grade
Late tension30/30Swings17/25Comeback1/20Decided late14/15Back-and-forth8/10Drama 69 × pre-game weight 0.82 (pre-game Watchability 65, estimated) = 57
Ranked from each game's win probability as it was played (ESPN's for football and basketball; ours, from the goals, for hockey): how in doubt it was near the end, how far the winner came back from, how late it was decided, how big its momentum swings were and how often a team erased a deficit, with a bonus for overtime. That drama is then weighted by how good a matchup it was going in (its pre-game Watchability score), so a thriller between top teams ranks above an equally wild game between minor ones.