BEVERLY HILLS, MICHIGAN – A few weeks ago we talked about how the Power Rankings work and how a player can rise in the rankings. The easy answer written in the Week 6 Recap was to throw better. Apparently I was wrong, and the real answer is to get engaged and play on the eve of your wedding.
That approach worked for Kentucky Mike this week, who’s wedding is this upcoming weekend (or **was** the weekend following Week 8, depending when you’re reading this). The sense of urgency, knowing his freedom was about to be taken away, must have fueled his 21.9 KPM (second-highest KPM of his career behind his 2024 Week 19 KPM of 22.9).
Kentucky Mike jumped from #13 to #10 in the Power Rankings because of his 6.8 PPR, 84% accuracy, 1.7 CPR. See, Matt! Just throw better and you’ll climb the rankings!
Kentucky Mike posted a 5-3 record, while also winning the head-to-head match-up in seven of his eight games. Most impressive of all, he threw a 10.5 PPR against KP in Game 16, helping him and Joe S. bun run KP and Bushie in only four rounds.
The best part of his 10.5 PPR in Game 16 is it trumped a double-digit PPR game from JV earlier in the night, finally ending the non-stop boasting from JV and allowing us to avoid writing about JV’s game.
The moral of the story, kids, is everything improves when you get married, including your cornhole skills. So go ahead, do it.
Speaking of bun runs, this week was loaded with them – four total, compared to only six total for the season coming into this week. Joe S. must have a fetish for middle-aged men’s butt cheeks because he dished out three of the four bun runs this week, averaging 7.8 PPR in bun run games compared to 5.9 PPR in non-bun run games. Hmmmm….
GAME OF THE NIGHT
Game 17 featured a match between two top-5 players, Roger and Nick, versus two players ranked outside the top-20, Mike V. and Austin. This mismatch was on pace for a blowout when Roger and Nick took a 10-4 lead after six rounds.
However, Mike V. added five points in the seventh round (won 6-1 over Roger), then Austin gave his team the 12-10 lead with three more points in the eighth round (won 5-2 over Nick). Courtside spectators inched closer to the edge of their seats and conversations hushed as focus shifted to the game.
The top-5 duo flexed their muscles and strung together a quick 10-0 burst to recapture the lead, 20-12:
- Roger won round 9, 8-6 and added 2 points
- Nick won round 10, 8-6 and added 2 points
- Roger won round 11, 8-3 and added 5 points
- Nick won round 12, 6-5 and added 1 point
Mike V. drained three cornholes in the 13th round, earning five points with a 9-4 advantage over Roger. He passed the bags back to Austin, his team now down just 20-17.
In round 14 Austin piled bags in front of the hole, daring Nick to throw aggressive shots. It was an effective strategy causing two of Nick’s bags to carom off the board. Austin had a 3-1 lead in the round with one bag remaining – anything in the hole on the final shot would’ve clinched an upset win. Austin missed a push attempt, giving Nick some life…and an airmail attempt on his final bag to steal one point and win the game.
Nick chose to give up one point by boarding his final bag because he’s a pussycat. Score is now 20-18.
Roger ended any threat of an upset in the 15th round by beating Mike V., 5-3.
The 21-18 win provided more relief than joy.
On the flip side, Mike V. and Austin had plenty to feel good about, despite coming up short. Both players battled their opponents to a minus-2 differential for the game (-0.29 differential per round for Austin and -0.25 differential per round for Mike V.), demonstrating they’re capable of playing with some of the best players in the league. Special credit to Mike V. for throwing a 6 PPR for the game, exceeding his season-average of 4.4 PPR (he was throwing 6.43 PPR before posting a 3-point round to end the game).
MUSHROOM STAMP MOMENT
Although I vowed not to dedicate any real estate to JV this week, he does deserve recognition for how well he played. He’s the undisputed earner of the Mushroom Stamp Moment (“MSM”) this week for his Game 7 performance, where he threw a 10.2 PPR during his five rounds of the game – rounds of 10, 10, 7, 12 and 12 while leading his team to a 21-10 victory. Kentucky Mike’s 10.5 PPR game is fractionally better, but JV accomplished his 10+ PPR during a longer game, which is arguably more difficult.
This week’s box score is below.
| Week 8 Power Rank | Name | Week 8 Wins | Week 8 Losses | Week 8 Win % | Week 8 Saves | Week 8 Chokes | Week 8 Comebacks | Week 8 KPM | Week 8 Gross Points Per Round | Week 8 Toss Accruacy | Week 8 Cornholes Per Round | Week 8 Cornholes | Week 8 Cornholes Per Game | Week 8 Gross Points | Week 8 Gross Points Per Game | Week 8 Net Points For | Week 8 Net Points Against | Week 8 Net Points For Per Game | Week 8 Net Points Against Per Game | Week 8 Net Point Differential | Week 8 Foot Snags |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kentucky Mike | 5 | 3 | 63% | 5 | - | - | 21.9 | 6.8 | 84% | 1.7 | 64 | 8.0 | 252 | 31.5 | 124 | 93 | 15.5 | 11.6 | 3.9 | 0 |
| 2 | Nick | 5 | 2 | 71% | 4 | - | - | 20.7 | 6.5 | 82% | 1.6 | 61 | 8.7 | 246 | 35.1 | 133 | 82 | 19.0 | 11.7 | 7.3 | 0 |
| 3 | KP | 5 | 3 | 63% | 5 | - | - | 20.3 | 6.4 | 84% | 1.5 | 62 | 7.8 | 262 | 32.8 | 126 | 99 | 15.8 | 12.4 | 3.4 | 0 |
| 4 | Joe S. | 6 | 1 | 86% | 5 | - | - | 20.0 | 6.3 | 83% | 1.5 | 52 | 7.4 | 220 | 31.4 | 134 | 55 | 19.1 | 7.9 | 11.3 | 0 |
| 5 | Matt H. | 6 | 2 | 75% | 6 | - | - | 18.8 | 6.0 | 82% | 1.3 | 60 | 7.5 | 268 | 33.5 | 148 | 90 | 18.5 | 11.3 | 7.3 | 0 |
| 6 | JV | 5 | 3 | 63% | 4 | - | - | 18.5 | 5.8 | 73% | 1.4 | 67 | 8.4 | 271 | 33.9 | 124 | 112 | 15.5 | 14.0 | 1.5 | 0 |
| 7 | Roger | 6 | 3 | 67% | 4 | - | - | 18.0 | 5.7 | 73% | 1.4 | 79 | 8.8 | 328 | 36.4 | 162 | 133 | 18.0 | 14.8 | 3.2 | 0 |
| 8 | Paul G. | 5 | 4 | 56% | 4 | - | - | 16.9 | 5.5 | 83% | 1.1 | 54 | 6.0 | 278 | 30.9 | 142 | 116 | 15.8 | 12.9 | 2.9 | 0 |
| 9 | Austin | 6 | 3 | 67% | 5 | - | - | 15.7 | 5.1 | 81% | 0.9 | 44 | 4.9 | 241 | 26.8 | 162 | 115 | 18.0 | 12.8 | 5.2 | 0 |
| 10 | Mike R. | 4 | 5 | 44% | 4 | - | - | 15.7 | 5.0 | 70% | 1.1 | 47 | 5.2 | 215 | 23.9 | 124 | 128 | 13.8 | 14.2 | (0.4) | 0 |
| 11 | Mike V. | 1 | 8 | 11% | 1 | - | - | 14.8 | 4.8 | 76% | 0.9 | 41 | 4.6 | 221 | 24.6 | 96 | 184 | 10.7 | 20.4 | (9.8) | 0 |
| 12 | Bushie | 1 | 8 | 11% | 1 | - | - | 14.3 | 4.7 | 74% | 0.9 | 41 | 4.6 | 224 | 24.9 | 79 | 178 | 8.8 | 19.8 | (11.0) | 0 |
| 13 | Canada | 3 | 5 | 38% | 2 | - | - | 13.8 | 4.5 | 71% | 0.8 | 34 | 4.3 | 184 | 23.0 | 87 | 139 | 10.9 | 17.4 | (6.5) | 0 |
| 14 | Flowers | 0 | 8 | 0% | - | - | - | 10.2 | 3.3 | 53% | 0.6 | 30 | 3.8 | 163 | 20.4 | 51 | 168 | 6.4 | 21.0 | (14.6) | 0 |