One week has come and gone. Season 16 is now running full force. To those who had a good first week, congratulations! Keep it up. To those who did not have a good first week, no need to worry yet. With a possible 2 victory points per week and 4 per pay per view, that means we have 32 more victory points up for people to possibly win. So, it's definitely still anyone's game.
The prediction poll for week 2 is live on the homepage of the website, so don't forget to make your predictions. This week has point spreads. For example, Ben is a 6 point favorite over Austin, so if you predict Ben to win, he has to win by at least 6 for your prediction to be correct. Here are the current standings for this mini game:
1) Austin, Ben, Jeff: 4
4) Madelyn: 3
5) Everyone else: 0
The highest score by the end of the season gets the 1st draft pick for next season. And don't forget that the game of the week is worth 2 points each week.
Now, let's have a look at week 2...
First, we have a match between Jeff and Terry. Jeff scored 33 in week 1, defeating Jacob. Terry scored 19 in a loss against Madelyn. For Terry, this is a chance to score a solid victory to rebound. For Jeff, this is a chance to stay in the top ranks in the league with what could be his best team since Season 12. To preview this game (and the other games this week), we simulated the results numerous times. Our simulation gives Jeff a 73% chance to win this game and has him as an 8-point favorite. But, Terry has never been kind to our oddsmakers, winning as an underdog in playoff games on several occasions. It's Cagle Corporation vs Cagle Corporation in this battle of former champions!
Next, we have Madelyn's encore from last week's record breaking win. However, The New Day is now limited to just one show and there have been no tag team championship matches announced for them or the Street Profits. So, she is not expected to score anywhere close to last week's 63 points. Had they played last week, Madelyn would have defeated Phillip by 38.5 points. Our simulation gives Madelyn a 86% chance to win and has her as a 14-point favorite, a number far lower than 38.5... But, Phillip's team did score the 5th most points last week, so they are more than capable of putting up big numbers. The question in this one is how far will Madelyn's score drop from last week. Will it drop far enough or will Phillip's team score high enough to score what would be an impressive victory?
Brandon and Jacob scored the two lowest point totals in week 1, but both of them have some star power on their team. This game looks like the closest of the week 2 games in our simulator, giving Jacob a 57% chance to win with him as a 2-point favorite. But, both of these teams have the talent to put up big numbers. The winner here will be whichever team manages to do that this week. And if neither team finds a way to do it (as was the case in almost 25% of our simulations), then this one should look very similar to week 1, where Jacob would have won 18.5-16.5. One of these teams will at least get 1 victory point this week and the loser of this game will likely be sitting in 8th place in the week 2 standings, so this is a big game for both teams.
Finally, in this week's game of the week, we have #2 Ben vs #3 Austin. A rematch of a Season 6 playoff game and the Season 8 championship game, a battle between teams that scored almost 100 combined points in week 1, and what will almost certainly be a high scoring game. The biggest match of the week for these two teams will likely be Asuka defending her championship against Lana tonight.
The simulation gives Ben a 67% chance to win this game and has him as a 6-point favorite. In 15% of the simulated games, one of the two teams scores more than 50 points. In 58%, both teams score more than 30. Only in 3% of the games do both teams score under 30. Here are some of the more wild simulated outcomes:
- Ben:55 beats Austin:44
- Austin:38 beats Ben:7
- Ben:40 ties Austin:40 (happened in 2% of all simulations)
- Ben:67 beats Austin:47 (definitely the most insane of the possible outcomes)
When asked about this game, Ben said "My next opponent is none other than Austin. He and I have gone back and forth for years but he's back on track with the good guys. I'm certain that he knows what's best for business and that he will do what needs to be done to keep things the way they should be."
In reply, Austin said, "He's right that I know what's best for business. I just think we have different ideas for what actually is best for business. But, we can at least agree that each of us should get at least 1 victory point this week."
Week 2 starts tonight!
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