Have you ever heard the phrase, “If ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ were candy and nuts, we’d all have a merry Christmas?” In that sense, this week’s schedule looks like a holiday finger food smorgasbord.
If ONU beats Capital we could be headed for a three-way tie in the OAC. St. Olaf is undefeated but they haven’t played SJU or C-M yet. If Albion beats Hope, they’ll be in first in the MIAA but they still have to play Alma.
Conditional statements (if … then) make my head hurt and cause flashbacks to sophomore high school geometry class. So maybe we can get more clarity and less ifs and buts after tomorrow.
That being said, here are my two-cents worth (plink, plink) for this weekend:
Wish you were here: I’ve never been to Collegeville so a hypothetical trip to SJU-St. Olaf would be fun. But I’d pass on that to go to Ada, Ohio where No. 11 ONU battles Capital, who sits just outside the Top 25 and on the fringes of the playoff race.
No disrespect to Wilmington and Marietta, but this is probably the Polar Bears’ last major hurdle to the playoffs that doesn’t involve off the field decisions at the NCAA or OAC level. Capital needs to win to keep their Pool C hopes alive. After last week, I’ve given up making predictions for the OAC. But it would be fun to see how this plays out.
Don’t sleep on this one: Two sub-.500 teams try to keep their playoff dreams going. Bluffton gets Mount St. Joseph. Bluffton (3-4) beat Hanover who beat MSJ. Then again, Mount Union beat JCU who beat ONU. Elsewhere Albion hosts Hope (3-4) who will try to keep their MIAA title dreams afloat. (Hope floats…get it? It was a movie with — eh, never mind.)
I also suspect a rejuvenated Brockport team will give Orihel-ess Rowan a fight in Glassboro. I’d be interested to hear thoughts from any observers on either QB since both figure in their team’s immediate (Rowan) or long-term (Brockport) plans.
Most Likely Top 25 Team to Lose: I’m yet to predict correctly a result in the next category. Think Houston Texans bad. Think Houston Astros with runners in scoring position bad. Think Houston sports fans’ collective opinion of Gordon Mann bad.
But I’ve been solid here, even quasi picking Brockport over Wesley last week. So this week’s pick is…no one. They all win. Del Val and ONU get the biggest scares.
The Super Ridiculous Pick of the Night: We dole out the first automatic qualifying bid into the playoffs. Witt beats OWU. Earlham beats Kenyon. Wabash beats Allegheny. Little Giants, with tie breaker over Witt, clinch the NCAC.
Saturday Night’s Alright: As the days get shorter and the air gets colder, it seems like our selection of good Saturday night games gets more sparse. JCU hosting Otterbein is intriguing, but it’s not being webcast to our knowledge and 6 PM isn’t really night time. PLU and Willamette could be entertaining if the Lutes play an inspired game. You can catch both broadcasts off the scoreboard.
And don’t forget to turn your clocks back tomorrow evening. We’re a full service organization at D3football.com.
Full service? Only in New Jersey. Everywhere else we’re self-service. 🙂
My two bits (hah, take that two cents and raise you 23):
Game that should be close but won’t be: Husson at Becker. Hey, I might be totally wrong, but they don’t play until Sunday, so it’ll be a while before you can prove me wrong.
Game that shouldn’t be close but will be: Hardin-Simmons vs. McMurry. The crosstown rivals could be in for a barn-burner.
Farewell tour: Moravian and Lycoming were in the same conference yet managed to go four-plus years without playing each other before meeting in 2003. And now Moravian is heading out. That’s a pretty drastic step. Could be Moravian’s last trip to Williamsport for a while.
Unlucky 13: Fans of both schools have hoped that my presence at the Salisbury/Wesley game will bring them good luck. Seems unlikely that I can have such an effect on the battle of Rte. 13.
And I’ll take Rowan or Delaware Valley for my Top 25 team upset pick.
Hey, we don’t have to change our clocks here – well, at least this year…
Hmm, yeah, by the way, I couldn’t be more glad that that is over after this year. If I have to answer one more e-mail from a clueless person in Michigan or Ohio asking why we have their game time wrong …
for a game taking place in Indiana, of course, I should specify. 🙂
The Liberty League picture should be a little less opaque after this weekend. Union is probably favored over St. Lawrence, though nothing is a given in the LL. RPI gets the nod over WPI. The real fireworks begin next week with Union and Hobart. The Statesmen are idle today.
Just giving out some info here, Ferrum 55- Greensboro 0. Yea it was 42-0 at half and Ferrum’s 3rd string was all be solid in the second. LETS GO FERRUM
55 to nothing…..hmm. My prediction of 34-28 Panthers was a little off. I think someone chimed in a 55-10 prediction. Close.
Apparently the defense showed up today…as did the offense, special teams, etc. A good solid win. That is what you are supposed to do to teams with one win.
Well Blackhatsonthehill, this game was nothing to watch. Honestly Coach Davis has the second string playing during the second quarter. The first half ended with an interception return for about 55 yards to the 7 yard line as time expired. Both Ferrum’s defense and offense showed up big time. This game was never even close. Should have been there.
hahaha….. i told yall…..FERRUM’s D had alot to prove and they stepped up big. granted it was greensboro, but wasn’t it CNU who played greensboro close…i believe the final was 28-15….even tho FERRUM played a weak team they shold gain more respect by handing such an @$$ whoopin out. mayb FERRUM will have some more closet fans come out and show their support. FERRUM will prove they can score with and against anyone. Their D is going to continue to step up big for the O jus as they’ve done all year.
Well, apparently someone forgot to tell Monmouth that they’re called quarters because there are 4 of them. The Scots raced to a 21-0 first quarter lead and then lead Carroll 28-7 at the half. The final was 35-27! I suppose a win is a win, but Carroll made a game of it late with 10 points in the final 10 minutes. The Pioneers are now 5-4 and are probably the second best team in the league! They lost 14-10 to Carthage in week 1, 38-36 to Lawrence in the upset of the year, and 48-28 to St. Norbert after the Green Knights scored 3 times on 2 INT TD’s and fumble return TD.
Maybe the Scots saw that their trip to the playoffs was well in hand at halftime and forgot to show up for the second half. At any rate, a good win vs. a good team, and the Scots will be in the postseason. Congratulations to Coach Bell and the entire Monmouth College community.
Just wanted to add that MC had a 69-14 win on the road against 1-7 Grinnell (similar to the 55-0 Ferrum win this week) and gained exactly 1 vote the following week in the D3football.com poll. The Scots also lead 42-0 at halftime and 62-7 at the end of three quarters. Their 2nd and 3rd strings outscored GC 27-14 in the second half.
After watching this game b/t Ferrum and Greensboro, there is no doubt that Ferrum should be ranked. All year people have said why Ferrum should not be ranked, but after an 8-0 start, Ferrum College Football has finally done enough to determine that they belong.
Pat Coleman, thanks for the shoutout. The McMurry-HSU game was a good one.
It was broadcast locally on the CBS affiliate. McM led at the half and then led early in the 4th. HSU made the big plays and got the turnovers.
HSU had field position. They had TD drives of 26, 42 and 42 and a FG drive of 16 in the second half!
Congratulations to HSU! Estimated attendance was 7000-8000 at the neutral site, Shotwell Stadium, even with local TV coverage!
Beating Greensboro isn’t really a measuring-stick win to the rest of Division III. I think most voters would say there’s not a thing you can do against a 1-7 team that would positively sway them.
Big game still coming. Week 11. That’s the date circled on my calendar for Ferrum, at least.