post

Quick Hits for Week 3

Sure, we’d all love to be in Hawaii, where Pacific is playing Occidental, but the D3football.com budget is really tight. We’re lucky to be able to send one person to Texas, but we really wouldn’t miss Linfield playing Mary Hardin-Baylor if at all possible. Our guest for this round of Quick Hits is Logan Hansen, a Wartburg grad who has a computer ratings system he uses to rank D-III teams and predict games. You can follow him at @LogHanRatings on Twitter. Photo by B. Scott Presley, d3photography.com

— Pat Coleman

Belton, Hawaii, or somewhere else?

keith-mcmillan-150x200
Keith’s take: Hawaii, if D3football.com is paying. Otherwise, somewhere else. Like W&J/Thomas More.
ryan-tipps-150x200
Ryan’s take: Belton. I picked it as my game of the year in Kickoff.
Pat Coleman
Pat’s take: Belton. I leave for Austin on Friday morning. See you at the Mary Hardin-Baylor/Linfield game!
Adam Turer
Adam’s take: Somewhere else. There’s a Top 25 matchup that is also a conference rivalry 25 minutes from my house. See you in Crestview Hills.
Frank Rossi
Frank’s take: Belton. I haven’t had an authentic breakfast burrito since the 2008 playoffs, and I’ve yet to get to see the new UMHB stadium.
Guest
Logan’s take: Des Moines. I have a friend’s wedding, otherwise Hawaii, because it’s Hawaii.

Which Top 25 team is most likely to get upset?

keith-mcmillan-150x200
Keith’s take: No. 15 Cortland. No. 9 North Central if you want someone not facing a Top 25 opponent.
ryan-tipps-150x200
Ryan’s take: No. 19 Huntingdon. Belhaven is proving to be tougher than I expected.
Pat Coleman
Pat’s take: No. 14 Delaware Valley. Of course, King’s is a lot less likely to sneak up on anyone now.
Adam Turer
Adam’s take: Wesley. I’m not yet sold on the Wolverines, but I’m buying CNU, especially at home.
Frank Rossi
Frank’s take: No. 9 North Central vs. Illinois Wesleyan. Being on the road against a conference rival for the first D3 game is a challenge.
Guest
Logan’s take: No. 7 Wheaton at 25%. Because it’s too easy to pick Top 25 vs. Top 25 games.

St. Lawrence and Northwestern have allowed no points through two games. Who allows more on Saturday?

keith-mcmillan-150x200
Keith’s take: Northwestern.
ryan-tipps-150x200
Ryan’s take: Northwestern, though both will get scored on at least a little.
Pat Coleman
Pat’s take: St. Lawrence. Endicott is 0-2, sure, but they’re the better opponent than who Northwestern is facing.
Adam Turer
Adam’s take: Northwestern.
Frank Rossi
Frank’s take: Northwestern. St. Lawrence faces 0-2 Endicott, while Northwestern faces 1-0 Minnesota-Morris. It’s science.
Guest
Logan’s take: St. Lawrence. My model has St. Lawrence giving up a touchdown more.

If you were a bird, what kind of bird would you be?

keith-mcmillan-150x200
Keith’s take: Isn’t that a Nelly Furtado song? I’d be a Seahawk. From Salve Regina.
ryan-tipps-150x200
Ryan’s take: A Sea Gull. Salisbury is riding a high, and that’ll carry over into NJAC play.
Pat Coleman
Pat’s take: An Owl. Well, a Prof, actually. It’s just that the Rowan Profs use an owl as their mascot. Home to William Paterson.
Adam Turer
Adam’s take: A Blue Jay. Johns Hopkins can make a statement at home against a Moravian team that has been very impressive since the beginning of 2015.
Frank Rossi
Frank’s take: A purple macaw. I mean, that bird hasn’t had its feathers in a ruffle during many regular season games in 11 years…
Guest
Logan’s take: Anything but a Kohawk. Literally means “like the hawk,” as if that clears it up.

Who bounces back best from a noteworthy loss?

keith-mcmillan-150x200
Keith’s take: St. Norbert.
ryan-tipps-150x200
Ryan’s take: Ohio Northern. No fourth-quarter collapses this time around.
Pat Coleman
Pat’s take: Hampden-Sydney. Although I must admit some trepidation because Ferrum is playing well.
Adam Turer
Adam’s take: Albright gets into the win column and keeps its MAC hopes alive.
Frank Rossi
Frank’s take: Ohio Northern. It’s a survival game at Heidelberg, and the Utica loss taught the Polar Bears a lot about closing games out after starting strong.
Guest
Logan’s take: John Carroll. 19-point favorites vs. Baldwin Wallace after Week 1 loss to UW-Oshkosh.

Which future conference matchup will be most interesting this week?

keith-mcmillan-150x200
Keith’s take: Catholic-Coast Guard.
ryan-tipps-150x200
Ryan’s take: Texas Lutheran at Louisiana College. Neither has beaten a D-III team yet this year and each needs a win — bad.
Pat Coleman
Pat’s take: Catholic-Coast Guard. Listeners to the last podcast know why. You should listen to the podcast!
Adam Turer
Adam’s take: Ithaca at Hobart. Future Liberty League rivals (for now).
Frank Rossi
Frank’s take: Ithaca at Hobart. It’s under the lights, has some recent playoff history attached, and matches up teams that haven’t played to potential in 2016 — that part changes Saturday.
Guest
Logan’s take: Ithaca at Hobart. Ithaca’s D should keep this close, but they need to score somehow.

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.