Worth the replay?
Sunday, October 4'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 →▸ Why this grade
Late tension30/30Swings23/25Comeback19/20Decided late15/15Back-and-forth5/10Drama 92 × pre-game weight 0.85 (pre-game Watchability 71) = 78
▸ Why this grade
Late tension30/30Swings25/25Comeback12/20Decided late15/15Back-and-forth8/10Drama 89 × pre-game weight 0.79 (pre-game Watchability 59) = 71
▸ Why this grade
Late tension30/30Swings21/25Comeback14/20Decided late15/15Back-and-forth10/10Drama 90 × pre-game weight 0.78 (pre-game Watchability 57) = 70
▸ Why this grade
Late tension30/30Swings15/25Comeback0/20Decided late15/15Back-and-forth3/10Drama 63 × pre-game weight 0.94 (pre-game Watchability 87) = 59
▸ Why this grade
Late tension30/30Swings15/25Comeback3/20Decided late13/15Back-and-forth10/10Drama 71 × pre-game weight 0.77 (pre-game Watchability 54) = 55
▸ Why this grade
Late tension21/30Swings14/25Comeback8/20Decided late13/15Back-and-forth8/10Drama 62 × pre-game weight 0.71 (pre-game Watchability 42) = 44
▸ Why this grade
Late tension30/30Swings23/25Comeback11/20Decided late15/15Back-and-forth8/10Drama 86 × pre-game weight 0.51 (pre-game Watchability 2) = 44
▸ Why this grade
Late tension30/30Swings12/25Comeback0/20Decided late15/15Back-and-forth3/10Drama 60 × pre-game weight 0.57 (pre-game Watchability 13) = 34
▸ Why this grade
Late tension19/30Swings8/25Comeback0/20Decided late0/15Back-and-forth3/10Drama 30 × pre-game weight 0.70 (pre-game Watchability 40) = 21
▸ Why this grade
Late tension1/30Swings14/25Comeback6/20Decided late0/15Back-and-forth3/10Drama 24 × pre-game weight 0.65 (pre-game Watchability 31) = 15
▸ Why this grade
Late tension18/30Swings5/25Comeback0/20Decided late2/15Back-and-forth0/10Drama 25 × pre-game weight 0.51 (pre-game Watchability 2) = 13
▸ Why this grade
Late tension6/30Swings5/25Comeback0/20Decided late0/15Back-and-forth3/10Drama 13 × pre-game weight 0.59 (pre-game Watchability 19) = 8
▸ Why this grade
Late tension8/30Swings3/25Comeback0/20Decided late0/15Back-and-forth3/10Drama 13 × pre-game weight 0.52 (pre-game Watchability 5) = 7
▸ Why this grade
Late tension4/30Swings4/25Comeback0/20Decided late0/15Back-and-forth0/10Drama 8 × pre-game weight 0.53 (pre-game Watchability 6) = 4
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.