Worth the replay?
Wednesday, October 21'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 tension1/30Swings12/25Comeback6/20Decided late0/15Back-and-forth3/10Drama 21 × pre-game weight 0.89 (pre-game Watchability 78) = 19
▸ Why this grade
Late tension6/30Swings9/25Comeback6/20Decided late0/15Back-and-forth0/10Drama 22 × pre-game weight 0.57 (pre-game Watchability 14) = 12
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.