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Welcome to Quick Hits

Triple Take has had a nice long run — nine years of appearing in this space on Friday mornings with our predictions for the week. But it’s time for Version 2.0, and this is it: Quick Hits. We’ll give you a few more opinions, and they’ll be shorter and snappier. More entertaining? Sure. More timely? Yes, we’ll get them out a little earlier, hopefully. No noon Friday predictions. And we’ll have one guest each week. This week, former Thomas More quarterback Kevin Niehus, an occasional D3football.com contributor, joins us with his take. Oh shoot, I said take. I mean his hits. And we know he took some hits in his day!

— Pat Coleman

Which stadium would you rather be at this weekend?

keith-mcmillan-150x200
Keith’s take: Titan Stadium. Interested in seeing what No. 18 John Carroll brings to the table at No. 6 UW-Oshkosh.
keith-mcmillan-150x200
Ryan’s take: Sea Gull Stadium. Salisbury/ Albright will be a slugfest.
Pat Coleman
Pat’s take: Homewood Field. Thankfully, I can make it. Thursday night game between ranked teams.
Adam Turer
Adam’s take: Faught Stadium, for Thomas More at Franklin (and the Griz Zone tailgate).
Frank Rossi
Frank’s take: Butterfield Stadium. Beginning of the Behrman era (Union), beginning of end of Welch era (Ithaca).
Guest
Kevin’s take: Faught Stadium. If I hadn’t just moved my family to Boston, I’d be there.

Which Top 25 team is most likely to get upset?

Keith McMillan
Keith’s take: No. 16 Albright. Facing No. 23 Salisbury’s triple option is a bit easier with all offseason to prepare.
Ryan Tipps
Ryan’s take: No. 21 Texas Lutheran. Games between Texas teams are often big “what-ifs.”
Pat Coleman
Pat’s take: No. 16 Albright. Salisbury will have a big surge from opening its new stadium.
Adam Turer
Adam’s take: No. 11 Thomas More. A lot of new Saints starters on the road against an experienced playoff team.
Frank Rossi
Frank’s take: No. 16 Albright, though tough to consider this an upset vs. Salisbury
Guest
Kevin’s take: No. 17 Cortland. Travels to Heidelberg in what could be a shootout.

Who is going to regret their long trip most?

Keith McMillan
Keith’s take: Central, to No. 19 Whitworth.
Ryan Tipps
Ryan’s take: Adrian. But kudos for scheduling Pacific.
Pat Coleman
Pat’s take: Me. Because I’m pretty sure my daughter isn’t going to like the non-D3 colleges we visit.
Adam Turer
Adam’s take: Southern Virginia. Traveling 433 miles to break an 11-game losing skid could bring a long drive home.
Frank Rossi
Frank’s take: TCNJ. Just a tough draw to open with at UW-Whitewater.
Guest
Kevin’s take: John Carroll, starting a new quarterback at UW-Oshkosh with no margin for error in the OAC.

Which high-profile quarterback will prove the toughest to replace?

Keith McMillan
Keith’s take: Joe Callahan. Great programs usually have someone in the pipeline, though.
Ryan Tipps
Ryan’s take: Joe Callahan, in part because Wesley’s opener is so difficult
Pat Coleman
Pat’s take: Matt Pawlowski. Wesley has had a string of standout QBs over 15 years. Guilford has had just two.
Adam Turer
Adam’s take: Joe Callahan, who is showing that he didn’t even peak at Wesley.
Frank Rossi
Frank’s take: Mike Lefflbine. (67% of St. Lawrence’s offensive yards in 2015)
Guest
Kevin’s take: Joe Callahan. Hosting Delaware Valley. Big game.

Over-under on Illinois College vs. Rose-Hulman

Keith McMillan
Keith’s take: 70. They scored 84 last year and 142 two years ago, but a 38-31 game wouldn’t break 70.
Ryan Tipps
Ryan’s take: 61. Yup. Only that.
Pat Coleman
Pat’s take: 90. Tempted to do The Price is Right rules and just take one point over whatever the highest bid is.
Adam Turer
Adam’s take: 92.5. I’ll lean under, slightly, due to improved Rose-Hulman defense
Frank Rossi
Frank’s take: 117.
Guest
Kevin’s take: 85.

Who breaks a 10-plus game losing streak?

Keith McMillan
Keith’s take: Someone. It’s 23 for Earlham and 11 for Southern Virginia. They meet in Week 1, and can’t tie, so …
Ryan Tipps
Ryan’s take: Allegheny, under its new defensive-minded coach.
Pat Coleman
Pat’s take: Southern Virginia. Because if they don’t, not only is it a long ride home, but an even longer season.
Adam Turer
Adam’s take: Earlham. And it will be cathartic for reasons beyond football.
Frank Rossi
Frank’s take: McDaniel, vs. Catholic
Guest
Guest’s take: Allegheny. New coaching staff. Saturday night home game vs. Thiel.

We invite you to add your predictions in the comments below. Download the Around the Nation podcast on Mondays, where Pat and Keith review the picks that were prescient, and those that were terribly off base.