Some fake plants look better than others.

Sometimes you’ll see a vase of flowers or bowl of fruit and not be entirely sure whether it’s real or not. So you get a closer look, check for little plastic joints or “made in China” inscriptions on the leaves. Maybe you take a sniff to see if there’s an aroma. Sometimes you even have to touch the plant to know for sure. Then someone walks by and wonders why you’re fondling the plastic posies.

This week we get a closer look at some teams to see if they are real contenders for conference titles. We’ll look under the “leaves” of 3-0 Carleton as the Knights travels to MIAC master No. 4 St. John’s. We’ll give Mississippi College the whiff test as the 3-0 Choctaws head to Texas to play No. 5 Hardin-Simmons. We may even conspicuously brush Merchant Marine to see if the 3-1 Mariners can much up the Liberty League race against preseason favorite Union.

By the end of Saturday, we’ll know which of these teams are rooted in their conference races and which are just waxy fruit glossed up with early season wins. Moving away from weak allegories, here are some other thoughts…

Wish you were here: If I could be anywhere in the country on Saturday, it would be in Pella, Iowa for Central versus Wartburg.

The Central Dutch have very quietly moved up the Top 25 rankings. They were 18 in the preseason…then 17…16…14…and now 13. Perhaps just as quietly, the Wartburg Black Knights are undefeated and, as Keith McMillan points out in this week’s Around the Nation, are building confidence that they can win the IIAC again.

Don’t sleep on this one Howard Payne doesn’t play Hardin-Simmons or No. 12 Mary Hardin-Baylor for a couple weeks, but if the Yellow Jackets aren’t careful this week, those games won’t matter as much. I think Sul Ross State will make things interesting when they host HPU in Alpine, Texas. SRSU is 3-0 and coming off an emotional win over ETBU. Fear los Lobos. On the other hand…

Zzz: No. 1 Mount Union has beaten its opponents by a combined score of 197-21. Heidelberg hasn’t beaten anyone in approximately 113 weeks. This week they meet, in Alliance no less.

Most likely Top 25 team to lose: Central, who has the toughest test against Wartburg. Whitworth plays traditionally strong NAIA member Azusa Pacific, but the Cougars have lost two straight to WIAC teams, albeit very good ones in No. 2 Whitewater and No. 8 La Crosse.

Super Ridiculous Pick of the Week: Yes, Kalamazoo has averaged just six points against Adrian the past two years. Yes, Adrian is likely to be pretty feisty after last weekend’s 2OT loss dropped them to 1-2. Yes, the Bulldogs were preseason favorites in the MIAA. But K’zoo has lost both games by the same score (17-14) this year. They can’t lose by the same score three weeks in a row, right?

Kalamazoo 17 Adrian 14

Record thus far for these selections: 0-for-ever

And finally…

Slightly unique, though only slightly: The Blue Tigers of Lincoln (Mo.) travel to Millsaps