 Steven Webb scored three touchdowns in Hobart’s first-round win against Washington and Lee. Hobart photo by Andrew Markham |
The top two seeds in each bracket survived the first round, but there was certainly a lot to be excited about last Saturday from top to bottom. And, of course, we’re looking to repeat those thrills as we enter into Round 2, with 16 of the nation’s best teams still alive.
The CCIW and the MIAC can still boast two teams in the field. And every team playing this weekend is in the D3football.com Top 25 poll.
Pat, Keith and Ryan again give you the game-by-game score predictions. Remember, these postseason Triple Take predictions are not intended to be lines on the games, but rather a broad test of expectations vs. outcome.
If you’re feeling prescient, leave your final score guesses for any or all games below, and be sure to come back afterward to see how you did. Keep an eye on the scoreboard page throughout game day, and if you’re posting on Twitter, be sure to use the hashtag #d3fb.
For more info on the 32-team race to Salem, including the brackets, info on each team and feature stories, check our playoffs home page.
LINFIELD BRACKET
Ryan’s take: Linfield 38, North Central 33
Keith’s take: Linfield 31, North Central 30
Pat’s take: Linfield 31, North Central 20
Ryan’s take: UW-Oshkosh 41, Bethel 17
Keith’s take: UW-Oshkosh 31, Bethel 17
Pat’s take: UW-Oshkosh 34, Bethel 21
ST. THOMAS BRACKET
Ryan’s take: St. Thomas 28, Elmhurst 10
Keith’s take: St. Thomas 21, Elmhurst 13
Pat’s take: St. Thomas 28, Elmhurst 17
Ryan’s take: Hobart 31, Wittenberg 24
Keith’s take: Hobart 27, Wittenberg 19
Pat’s take: Hobart 17, Wittenberg 10
MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR BRACKET
Ryan’s take: Mary Hardin-Baylor 45, Franklin 21
Keith’s take: Mary Hardin-Baylor 42, Franklin 28
Pat’s take: Mary Hardin-Baylor 38, Franklin 13
Ryan’s take: Wesley 31, Cortland State 10
Keith’s take: Wesley 23, Cortland State 17
Pat’s take: Wesley 41, Cortland State 16
MOUNT UNION BRACKET
Ryan’s take: Mount Union 45, Johns Hopkins 14
Keith’s take: Mount Union 42, Johns Hopkins 21
Pat’s take: Mount Union 52, Johns Hopkins 7
Ryan’s take: Salisbury 38, Widener 24
Keith’s take: Widener 28, Salisbury 22
Pat’s take: Salisbury 28, Widener 27
First round was exciting! This round appears to be some of the best football in recent years. Clearly with the exception of the mighty purple raiders game, any game is up for grabs. Here are my predictions:
North Central 30 Linfield 27 OT
Oshkosh 38 Bethel 24
St. Thomas 21 Elmhurst 17
Wittenberg 28 Hobart 21
Mary Harden-Baylor 45 Franklin 17
Wesley 38 Cortland St 7
Widener 30 Salisbury 27
Mount Union 58 John Hopkins 10
Linfield 35 North Central 17
Bethel 22 UW-Oshkosh 21
St. Thomas 38 Elmhurst 14
Hobart 35 Wittenburg 24
Mary Hardin-Baylor 42 Franklin 28
Wesley 28 Cortland State 7
Salisbury 24 Widener 21
Mount Union 35 Johns Hopkins 14
Great to see these comments backing a couple of the road teams (“upset” picks)! For others who want to throw in their $0.02, here’s the list of games for easy cutting/pasting purposes:
North Central at Linfield
Bethel at UW-Oshkosh
Elmhurst at St. Thomas
Wittenberg at Hobart
Franklin at Mary Hardin-Baylor
Cortland State at Wesley
Johns Hopkins at Mount Union
Salisbury at Widener
North Central 24 Linfield 21
Oshkosh. 28 Bethel 24
Elmhurst 21 St. Thomas 20
Hobart 35 Wittenberg 28
Mary Hardin-Baylor 42 Franklin 21
Wesley 38 Cortland 17
Mount Union 49 Johns Hopkins 14
Widener 21 Salisbury 17
North Central 35 at Linfield 31
Bethe 17 at UW-Oshkosh 21
Elmhurst 10 at St. Thomas 28
Wittenberg 27 at Hobart 31
Franklin 17 at Mary Hardin-Baylor 38
Cortland State 14 at Wesley 27
Johns Hopkins 10 at Mount Union 42
Salisbury 17 at Widener 24
North Central 31 Linfield 27
UW-Oshkosh 38 Bethel 17
St. Thomas 30 Elmhurst 14
Wittenberg 21 Hobart 20
Mary Hardin-Baylor 42 Franklin 20
Wesley 35 Cortland State 10
Mount Union 45 Johns Hopkins 7
Salisbury 31 Widener 17
North Central 21 at Linfield 27
Bethel 24 at UW-Oshkosh 35
Elmhurst 24 at St. Thomas 35
Wittenberg 21 at Hobart 24
Franklin 27 at Mary Hardin-Baylor 42
Cortland State 17 at Wesley 35
Johns Hopkins 14 at Mount Union 42
Salisbury 21 at Widener 24
I have no “upsets” picked – though the North Central/Linfield and the Salisbury/Widener games could go either way and not really be “upsets”. I think the only real upset potential would be Bethel at Oshkosh because the Titans are flat and/or wore down from the long season. The Grizzlies could also take an early run at UMHB, but I don’t think they can sustain it.
North Central 31 at Linfield 30
Bethel 17 at UW-Oshkosh 34
Elmhurst 20 at St. Thomas 28
Wittenberg 28 at Hobart 27
Franklin 28 at Mary Hardin-Baylor 49
Cortland State 17 at Wesley 27
Johns Hopkins 21 at Mount Union 34
Salisbury 24 at Widener 21
I have been following Division III football since 1996 and I don’t remember a weekend with the opportunity for more upsets. With the exception of Mount Union and maybe Wesley, the other games might surprise. Just because Mount beat up on Franklin in September doesn’t have any meaning now. Franklin is very athletic, with a great quarterback. North Central and Elmhurst are sleepers After last weekend, Wittenberg may be for real? Salisbury-Widener was a toss up, anyway. It will be interesting to see how this thing plays out !!
I forgot to mention Bethel and Oshkosh. Oshkosh may have all that it takes to go all the way, but look at scores in the past when they played Mount Union and then look at Bethel against the same opponent. Different players and different years but there may some thing to the pattern?
I can’t imagine St. Thomas winning by less than five touchdowns. They are so deep and so YOUNG they may not lose another conference game for years. I think they have or soon will reach the level of Mt. Union and Whitewater. Their resources guarantee it, I read their latest fund raiser gathered Five…Hundred…MILLION dollars!! With cash like that they can give “academic” scholarships to anyone they choose. With tuition pushing forty grand at MIAC schools the Tommies can buy whoever they want.
Geiger from St. Thomas has a right to be proud of his team and what they have accomplished, but he is talking like a Big Ten or SEC fan, not someone who has to deal with the realities of financial aid packages and “academic” scholarships at a Division III school. Who has deeper pockets than Washington University, the University of Chicago and Johns Hopkins, etc. but that doesn’t mean a lot in Division III.
Just a parting shot at Geiger. He must be a jealous St. John’s fan because no one with any knowledge of St. Thomas and fund raising at any college or university, let alone a small Catholic one, would through around a number like $500,000,000. St. Thomas. St. Johns,St. Norbert, St. John Fisher, John Carroll, and Salve Regina may not have a combined endowment of that amount. I think he might be off two decimal points and was meant $5 million which is realistic.
The correct number is over 500 million dollars raised at St. Thomas, you can look it up. Here is one link, there are dozens of others:
http://www.minnpost.com/political-agenda/2012/10/university-st-thomas-raises-more-500-million-capital-campaign
My apology. That is truly amazing, especially the amount for student financial aid which is part of it. Usuallly the $$ just goes for buildings.
Yep — that story is worth reading. Also there’s a story about St. Thomas choosing to stay in Division III, which is on the front page, under What We’re Reading.
I think St. Thomas is different that the aforementioned U of Chicago, Washington U and John’s Hopkins as STU seems to have put a focus into developing a championship football team. That makes the $500 Million more amazing with their focus on the athletic side. Capital U in Columbus, OH seemed to have a focus on the Football team and athletics in the early 2000s, but recently stepped back in those areas, and you can see the result in the football team the past few years.
Capital was very good for about a 4 year span. If it wasn’t for mount union in the way they may have even won a couple championships. Also in that 4 years they had maybe one of the best ever QBs in d3. Rocky Pentello,
We have four indexes in the ASC Pick’em game: Lazindex, Bornpowerindex, Compughter and Atomic Football.
They predicted the UMHB-Franklin game at 26, 25, 32 and 29 points. The 46-point margin was even more than they expected.