CCHA Pick ‘Em 2023-24: Augie's In!

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

The quarterfinal round is complete. Right out of the gate we have an UPSET ALERT! with Poke Check's Cinderella run continuing via an 8-3 upset over Critical Thinker to claim victory in the Bemidji bracket. In the Mendota Hts. bracket PuckMaster's Cinderella run ended at the hands of SweeneyHawksHockey 9-3. Over in the Mankato bracket, we have another UPSET ALERT! Bronco Hockey Fan came away with the 9-6 victory over SectionP. Finally, in the third UPSET ALERT! of the round, mbenecke edged out MTUHuskyGold in the closest match, 9-8. On to the semifinals, here are the matchups:

(26) Poke Check vs. (12) mbenecke
(14) Bronco Hockey Fan vs. (2) SweeneyHawksHockey

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

We are down to the final two! Our very own mbenecke brought PokeCheck's Cinderella run to an end 7-6. On the other side, SweeneyHawksHockey took care of fellow MAC and Nacho member BroncoHockeyFan 8-6. It took 4,946 games to get to a final matchup that will be one for the ages. Fun fact: this matchup is a replay of the 2018-19 semifinal match which saw mbenecke walk away with a seat to the championship round against...BroncoHockeyFan who won it all that year. Will SweeneyHawksHockey finally get his revenge? Stay tuned and good luck to the final two!

Playoffs – Championship Round!

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Footballguy51 is making his move and is now 2 points back of mbenecke who is now tied for the lead with Critical Thinker in our playoff side contest. TUPD is fading and MacNaughton champ Hockey John is treading water. Last chance for Pick 'Em glory for all of us but 1. Make it count this week, folks.

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AZZ Contestant    Playoff Points (last round)
Critical Thinker       37  (28)
mbenecke               37  (21)
Footballguy51          35  (19)
TUPD                   33  (23)
Hockey John            28  (18)

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

The championship picks are in. Both contestants are seeing this game play out in similar fashion. It'll come down to the number of goals Tech scores and whether the game goes to OT. The staff here at Pick 'Em central ran the numbers and it looks like (12) mbenecke is the winner if the game goes into OT and Tech scores 3 goals or less while (2) SweeneyHawksHockey is the winner in all other cases given that ties go to the higher seed. Best of luck to you both!

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Contestant           Winner         Away   Home   S/O   OT
SweeneyHawksHockey   Michigan Tech    4      2     0     0
mbenecke             Michigan Tech    3      2     0     1

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Entries are in for our side contest. There could easily be a 3-way tie for first!

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AZZ Contestant    Winner  Away  Home  S/O  OT
Critical Thinker   MTU      4     3    0    1
mbenecke           MTU      3     2    0    1
Footballguy51      BSU      3     5    0    0
TUPD               BSU      2     3    0    0
Hockey John        BSU      2     4    0    0

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Congratulations to the 2023-24 Mason Cup Winner SweeneyHawksHockey who came away with the hardware after a hard fought 6-6 tie over mbenecke. This was one of the closest matchups in Pick 'Em history...had Bemidji scored to send the game into OT the order would have been reversed. But it was not to be so our final stick tap goes to SweeneyHawksHockey! Congratulations! And congratulations once again to our MacNaughton Cup champion and Bill Beagan Trophy winner Hockey John, and our Jeff Sauer Trophy winner puckdude40

How'd we do in our little side contest? Well, mbenecke and Critical Thinker were tied with 37 points each with Footballguy51 lurking 2 points back going into the championship game. WOW! Cream rises to the top as mbenecke's 6 points was more than enough to walk away with the bragging rights. I know it doesn't make up for losing the Mason Cup in a tie to a guy from Miami State, but hey, it's something. Congrats, dude!

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AZZ Contestant     Last  Finals  Total
mbenecke            37      6      43
Critical Thinker    37      1      38
Footballguy51       35      3      38
TUPD                33      4      37
Hockey John         28      4      32

Thanks everyone for another fantastic year of CCHA Pick 'Em. See everyone in the fall.

[mbenecke]

Tie goes the higher seed? I would’ve sworn my PairWise ranking would’ve beaten a guy from Miami! I demand a recount! Run the numbers again!

Congrats to Hockey John on the hardware this year. What a run! Always rooting for BG guys on the side in this thing.

Thanks for putting this game together each season, TUPD. Always a pleasure.