College Hockey Insider by Mike McMahon

College Hockey Insider by Mike McMahon

Weekend Preview: Can Western Michigan’s top-ranked team defense hold up against Michigan?

Plus: Friday picks, a viewing guide for Friday, and more

Mike McMahon's avatar
Mike McMahon
Oct 23, 2026
∙ Paid
Photo: Ashley Blanchard/WMU Athletics

This weekend’s preview is admittedly abbreviated. As our podcast listeners know, Tyler is running three races this weekend to raise money for charity. I’m writing this Thursday night, and his first race is Friday morning.

Like, very early Friday morning.

He has to be at the starting line around 4 a.m. Eastern.

So, with my alarm going off in about three hours, this issue includes some quick-hit notes heading into the weekend, as well as a viewing guide for Friday’s games and my Friday Pick’em. We’re keeping it short and sweet so I can catch at least a few hours of sleep before the earliest of early-morning wakeup calls.

I hadn’t been doing picks for the first few weeks, because I wasn’t sure how popular the feature was. As it turns out, many of you have been emailing and messaging me asking for them, so they’re back!

Quick Hit Weekend Preview

Here’s a look at just some of the action this weekend.

Western Michigan at Michigan: Both teams enter the weekend undefeated. The Broncos have been great defensively to start the season, but can that hold up against Michigan’s high-powered attack?

Western Michigan is only allowing 0.5 goals per game. But, they haven’t faced a team yet that looks like Michigan.

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