Triple-take: The quarterfinals

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Looking like a tough weekend weatherwise in parts of the bracket this weekend.

I, for example, am projecting missed extra points in the North and West regional finals because of weather. But those are only a point or two either direction.

In last week’s picks, Keith and I both went 8-for-8 and Gordon was 7-for-8. Gordon got his in just under the gun, in a comment post eight minutes before kickoff.

Mount Union 59, New Jersey 7. Closest pick, Gordon (Mount Union 42-7). None picked TCNJ with more than seven points.
St. John Fisher 38, Curry 7. Closest pick, Pat (SJF 31-10). All three had St. John Fisher in the 30s.
Central 37, St. John’s 7. Closest pick, Pat (barely, Central 27-24).
Bethel 21, UW-Eau Claire 12. Closest pick, Gordon (Bethel 21-17).
Mary Hardin-Baylor 64, N.C. Wesleyan 0. Closest pick, Pat (UMHB 48-21).
Wesley 38, Muhlenberg 21. Closest pick, Pat (Wesley 28-20).
UW-Whitewater 59, North Central 28. Closest pick, Pat (UWW 38-17).
Wabash 38, Case Western Reserve 23. Closest pick, Pat (Wabash 30-19).

Here’s our take on the regional finals.

South Region
Pat: Mary Hardin-Baylor 41, Wesley 27
Keith: Wesley 34, Mary Hardin-Baylor 31 (OT)
Gordon: Mary Hardin-Baylor 28 Wesley 20

West Region
Pat: Central 20, Bethel 13
Keith: Central 29, Bethel 16
Gordon: Bethel 24 Central 21 (OT)

North Region
Pat: UW-Whitewater 34, Wabash 20
Keith: UW-Whitewater 44, Wabash 21
Gordon: UW-Whitewater 30 Wabash 17

East Region
Pat: Mount Union 40, St. John Fisher 17
Keith: Mount Union 45, St. John Fisher 27
Gordon: Mount Union 35 St. John Fisher 21

247 thoughts on “Triple-take: The quarterfinals”

  1. # mille125 Says:
    November 30th, 2007 at 8:36 pm e

    To Keith and Pat,

    Do you think that Mt Union and St John’s Fisher have the makings of a rivalry given that they will play at least four years in a row.? Will SJF win any of the remaining three games? Will this be good for D3 football?

    Yes, MUC and SJF is going to be a pretty good inter-region rivalry. Rivalries are better when the games are in doubt, so as long as the series doesn’t get lopsided, it should be good, and perhaps they’ll renew again after ’09.

    Hard to say whether SJF will win one not knowing how either team will be made up the next two years, but I would not put it past them.

    Strong non-conference matchups are definitely good for D3, especially between perennial top 25 teams. UWW-UMHB has been good, and so have a lot of the Texas and Wisconsin teams scheduling West Coast teams. The MAC schedule opened up a lot of schedules in the mid-Atlantic this year too, and that really helped teams get good competition early and helped us all gauge teams, which we need since we can’t catch the game on TV, generally.

  2. rickc42, i dont know where i am showing disrespect to umhb by stating facts about wesley’s defense over the last 2 years. if by chance umhb puts up 50+ i will be glad to give credit, but i dont see that happening. as usual, an overzealous fan makes outlandish predictions about their teams chances and expects others to just let them go without challenge. enjoy the game, i dont expect you will return here and give credit to wesley if they win.

  3. rickc42, by the way, if you call 408 rushing and 181 passing a very well balanced team, i find it hard to take your comments seriously.

  5. Picks for today:

    UMHB 27 – Wesley 24 (OT)
    Central 24 – Bethel 14 (Could see Central 6 – Bethel 0 if it is icy)
    UWW 28 – Wabash 17
    Mount 42 – SJF 21

  6. All of Central Iowa has been converted to a skating rink in the last hour or so. I can’t imagine the field is avoiding a covering of ice. Does anyone know the NCAA position on postponement in case of unplayable conditions? If we believe the weatherwomen, it wil get to 36 degrees later in the afternoon and just be rain, maybe we could sit it out for a couple hours and play under the lights??

  7. Re: SJFC-MUC

    The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle ran a nice (brief) article in Saturday’s edition. Nice to see coverage of Fisher athletics above the fold on the first page of the sports section — a rarity in a region with lots of pro and collegiate athletics going on.

    National Weather Service calls for cold but clear during the day in Alliance, a bad omen for Fisher IMHO. I was hoping for sleet and ice, something to force both teams to the ground. Fisher’s best shot at a win is a grind it out, ball control game on both sides of the ball, with under 40 points total scoring.

  9. The weather won’t be a factor unless the 26 degrees effects someones ball handling. Right now I don’t see any wind worth mentioning.
    Now sometime after six when Saint Johns Fisher’s players and fans are heading back and wondering what happened the weather is predicted to be sleet and snow and it’s great fun going through Pennsylvanian in the winter. My advice on traveling, stay over for the night.
    Mount will run and run, make a few changes and before you know the score will be 49-10 Mount.
    I still say that this is the best football team that I’ve ever seen at Mount and I’ve been watching them forever.

  10. dlippiel: “Anyone know of any webcasts or anyway for an Eastern fan to watch any of the games on Sat?”

    I know you’re probably looking for SJF/MUC, but I figured I’d throw this one out anyway. If you want to check out the audio/live stats of the UWW/Wabash game, just cruise over to the UWW Athletics website and check out the streaming radio broadcast. No video for the playoffs, but I’ve always found the radio broadcast to be pretty good.

    http://www.uwwsports.com/sports/gen/2007/followthewarhawks_09202007.asp

    Headin’ out to Perkins Stadium in a few minutes. Weather looks like it’ll be good to start, but then quickly deteriorate throughout the afternoon. Good luck to everyone. Have a good game and we’ll see you next week in the National Semis!

  11. my predictions:

    MUC 49-10 (going with LK’s record in rematch games)
    Bethel 21-14 (I will take a strong running game and good defense in bad weather)
    UWW 49-14 (Unfortunately the facts point to a big day for the warhawks on the ground–I hope I’m wrong here)
    UMHB 44-24 (the Cru is on a mission for a rematch near Janesville)

  14. SJF got a big play then was shut down and missed a field goal.

    Kmic had a 58 yard run then scored on a 2 yard run. 14-0 MUC very early in the game.

  19. 21-0 MUC first quarter. I think it’s safe to say that they might be better than last year. They are shredding the SJF defense.

  22. SJF moving it via the play action pass. Trying to make a game of it. 1st and goal SJF from the 7. Problem is, their defense has to take the field if they score.

  30. another stupid penalty for mount keep SJF’s latest drive alive. this is the one thing that bothers me about this team – it gets penalized A LOT

  32. it seems like SJF coaching staff is confused about what they want to do. not getting plays in on time, not having a play for 4th down. thats why Kehres is the best.

  33. wesley 63 yard touchdown pass called back on illegal man down field on wesley. 4 and 1 wesley did not make it 4 minutes and change in the 2nd quarter

  36. mount holds again. SJF getting some field position and moving into mount territory but unable to convert big plays.

  38. Yeah that late second quarter drive for Wesley ended when three straight runs at midfield after a nine yard gain on first down yielded the big zip. A real defensive struggle today in Dover!

  41. SJF defense showed up late and now is stopping the MUC offense. We’ll see if the trend continues in the second half.

  42. UWW interception on the first few plays of the game leads to a Justin Beaver touchdown. 7-0 Hawks early.

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