K-Mack’s already done a nice job looking at this weekend’s action so I’ll just quickly throw my two-cents (plink, plink) in the jar.

Wish you were here: While the showdown between No. 7 Hardin-Simmons and No. 11 Linfield should be a lot of fun, I’m pretty satisfied with where I’ll be this week — Edwardsville, Pa. for No. 12 Delaware Valley vs. No. 19 Wilkes.

This game has played a big part in deciding who will win the conference title the last three years. In 2003 Wilkes upended upstart Delaware Valley, knocking the Aggies out of first place for good. In 2004 Del Val clinched the school’s first ever NCAA playoff appearance for a team sport by beating Wilkes 12-0. In 2005 a late field goal by Bill Miller was the margin of victory in the game and the season as the Aggies nosed out Wilkes for the title.

I don’t know how much offense there will be on Saturday, but the two defenses are very good. Maybe first one to 10 wins.

Down sleep on this one: Christopher Newport opened the season by getting drubbed 32-0 by No. 3 Rowan and then bounced back to upset then-No. 6 Mary Hardin-Baylor. Salisbury basically did the opposite, opening with a win over then-No. 15 Washington & Jefferson and then getting beaten handily by Brockport last week. This is a crucial game for both teams who come in 1-1.

Just throwing it out there: Big weekend for the CCIW and the UAA. Elmhurst and Chicago meet after winning their openers by a combined score of 86-0. Wheaton (Ill.) gets a good test in 2-0 Washington University. If you can’t get to a game on Saturday, you could hopefully still watch that second one via streaming video on WETN.

Most likely Top 25 team to lose: Obviously at least two will lose with the aforementioned games between ranked teams. But Bethel could make it three against No. 23 Concordia-Moorhead who is coming off a loss, a bye and a road trip. UW-Whitewater isn’t “likely” to lose, but NAIA Azusa Pacific is a big test and hasn’t lost to a Division III team in a long time.

Super Ridiculous Pick of the Week: It wasn’t that long ago that Hartwick lost some heartbreaking games to Ithaca. In 2002 and 2003 the Bombers rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Hawks 19-18. Since the 2003 loss Hartwick has won 8 games total with some Arena Footballicious scores along the way (70-41, 59-41).

Ithaca has given no reason to pick against them in the first two weeks with convincing wins over Buff State and Huntingdon. Meanwhile Hartwick needed a shootout victory over Endicott in Week 1.

So naturally this is a perfect candidate for this week’s super ridiculous pick of the week – Hartwick 42 Ithaca 41 2 OT

And finally…

A pretty cool souvenir: When a certain MIAA team is done playing Austin College this week, they should return home with Austin’s nickname and become the Kalamazoo Kangaroos.