Worth the replay?
Saturday, October 31'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 tension30/30Swings24/25Comeback17/20Decided late15/15Back-and-forth10/10Drama 96 × pre-game weight 0.85 (pre-game Watchability 69) = 82
▸ Why this grade
Late tension22/30Swings15/25Comeback3/20Decided late6/15Back-and-forth8/10Drama 53 × pre-game weight 0.91 (pre-game Watchability 82) = 49
▸ Why this grade
Late tension0/30Swings21/25Comeback5/20Decided late0/15Back-and-forth3/10Drama 29 × pre-game weight 0.99 (pre-game Watchability 99) = 29
▸ Why this grade
Late tension1/30Swings20/25Comeback9/20Decided late0/15Back-and-forth0/10Drama 29 × pre-game weight 0.68 (pre-game Watchability 37) = 20
▸ Why this grade
Late tension0/30Swings12/25Comeback0/20Decided late0/15Back-and-forth8/10Drama 20 × pre-game weight 0.59 (pre-game Watchability 19) = 12
▸ Why this grade
Late tension0/30Swings7/25Comeback0/20Decided late0/15Back-and-forth3/10Drama 10 × pre-game weight 0.51 (pre-game Watchability 2) = 5
▸ Why this grade
Late tension0/30Swings6/25Comeback0/20Decided late0/15Back-and-forth0/10Drama 7 × pre-game weight 0.63 (pre-game Watchability 26) = 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.