Triple Take: Score predictions for Round 2


Two-thirds of our Triple Take crew will be calling the Wesley-Ithaca game on Saturday.
Wesley athletics photo

Half the field is now gone after an exciting Round 1 of the playoffs. Teams that had Cinderella seasons – Gallaudet and John Carroll among them – and other squads will now have to watch the remaining four weeks of Division III football away from the sidelines.

All four of the top seeds survived the first round, and three of the four seeds that were likely the No. 2 seeds also advanced.

This week, Pat, Keith and Ryan again give you the game-by-game score predictions.These postseason Triple Take predictions are not intended to be lines on the games, but rather a broad test of expectations vs. outcome.

For more info on the 32-team race to Salem, including the brackets, info on each team and feature stories, check our playoffs home page.

We invite you to leave your own score predictions in the comments below, or reach out to us on Twitter.

MOUNT UNION BRACKET
Ryan’s take:
Mount Union 41, Wittenberg 34
Keith’s take: Mount Union 30, Wittenberg 20
Pat’s take: Mount Union 42, Wittenberg 24
Consensus: Mount Union, perhaps a close game.

Ryan’s take: Wesley 35, Ithaca 17
Keith’s take: Wesley 24, Ithaca 16
Pat’s take: Wesley 35, Ithaca 10
Consensus: Wesley, perhaps comfortably.

BETHEL BRACKET
Ryan’s take:
Bethel 34, Wartburg 14
Keith’s take: Bethel 24, Wartburg 17
Pat’s take: Bethel 45, Wartburg 17
Consensus: Bethel, comfortably.

Ryan’s take: North Central 28, UW-Platteville 24
Keith’s take: North Central 35, UW-Platteville 33
Pat’s take: North Central 35, UW-Platteville 30
Consensus: North Central in a tight game. Although none of us picked Platteville to win, since everyone thinks it will be a one-score game or less, nobody is ruling Platteville out.

UW-WHITEWATER BRACKET
Ryan’s take:
UW-Whitewater 31, Franklin 21
Keith’s take: UW-Whitewater 28, Franklin 14
Pat’s take: UW-Whitewater 31, Franklin 17
Consensus: UW-Whitewater.

Ryan’s take: Linfield 49, Hampden-Sydney 20
Keith’s take: Linfield 51, Hampden-Sydney 21
Pat’s take: Linfield 49, Hampden-Sydney 14
Consensus: Linfield, comfortably.

MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR BRACKET
Ryan’s take:
Mary Hardin-Baylor 45, Rowan 13
Keith’s take: Mary Hardin-Baylor 28, Rowan 0
Pat’s take: Mary Hardin-Baylor 51, Rowan 9
Consensus: UMHB, comfortably.

Ryan’s take: St. John Fisher 27, Hobart 24
Keith’s take: St. John Fisher 21, Hobart 16
Pat’s take: St. John Fisher 31, Hobart 28
Consensus: St. John Fisher in a tight game. Similar to the North Central/Platteville game, this low margin suggests nobody is ruling Hobart out.

Feel free to add your score predictions for all of the games below!

Around the Nation podcast: Stories of the first round


The Wartburg defense came out fired up and locked down Illinois Wesleyan.
IWU athletics photo by Marc Featherley

Subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in iTunes.

There were some great games in the first round. Some of them were supposed to be great games between evenly matched teams, and in most cases, we got them.

And then there was what Wartburg did on Saturday. Just wow, folks. Keith McMillan and Pat Coleman try to figure out what happened and what we all missed about a Knights team that crushed Illinois Wesleyan on the road in their opening-round game.

Plus, Pat actually talks to Keith about defense, rather than vice versa, Continue reading

Triple Take: Predicting the winners — and the scores


The Framingham-Ithaca game is one of our first-round toss-up picks.
Framingham State athletics photo

For 32 teams across the country, the regular season has built up to this weekend and, if their hopes play out, more weekends to come. They now have the chance to prove their worth on the national stage.

D3football.com’s coverage will be going strong over the next few weeks, and that began with our 32-team capsules, one of the cornerstones of our postseason reporting. They offer insight on how to tell if a team is playing well or poorly, along with how far into the bracket we think each team can make it. We also took a long-view look at who might surprise and disappoint by the time the first three rounds are in the books.

The week’s features culminate with Triple Take, which we do a little differently for the postseason. From now until the second weekend in December, Pat Coleman, Keith McMillan and Ryan Tipps will not only pick the winners of games in Triple Take, but we’ll also project the scores. It’s a transparent test of our perceptions week in and week out. (And we each make our picks independently.) Continue reading