Weekend picks: Dec. 1

Uh oh. Matthew is ahead of me. The horror. Giving too much credit to the WCHA cost me. Mea culpa NCHC! Last week, I went 3-4-2 (.444) while Matthew went 5-2-2 (.666). Matthew now leads our season picks race, as I am  48-26-10 (.630) while Matthew is 49-25-10 (.642).

Let’s see if I can catch him.

Friday-Saturday, Dec. 1-2

No. 1 Denver at No. 16 Minnesota Duluth
Candace: This is a tough one to pick, but I’m going with Denver to get a sweep, simply because of Denver’s offense. Denver 3-2, 4-2
Matthew: UMD has a thing lately about getting results in series openers, and at home I think it’ll happen again here. Minnesota Duluth 3-2, Denver 3-1

No. 10 Western Michigan at No. 6 North Dakota
Candace: Can North Dakota take advantage of Western’s road weakness and get a sweep? Probably not. North Dakota 3-2, Western Michigan 4-2
Matthew: Western isn’t as strong away from home, and UND will be looking to bounce back from the Union series and should get a bump from Cam Johnson’s return. This will probably be a split, but it’s tough to tell who wins which night. North Dakota 3-2, Western Michigan 3-2

No. 2 St. Cloud State at No. 20 Omaha
Candace: I’m tempted to pick a split, but St. Cloud looks really strong right now. St. Cloud State 3-2, 4-2
Matthew: Mike Gabinet spoke this week about Omaha trying to make Baxter Arena a tougher place to play, and I think that’s happening but I don’t know if the Mavericks take points from this series. St. Cloud State 3-2, 3-1

No. 5 Cornell at Miami
Candace: Cornell has looked really good, and Miami has been inconsistent. I’m going with a hunch. Cornell 4-2, 3-2
Matthew: Cornell has started the season on a serious roll, but I’m going to go homer-ish a little here and call for a split. Miami 3-2, Cornell 3-2