The story goes, one day on a long ride to a playoff game at Thiel (which tells you how long ago this happened), Pat and Keith decided to pass the time by guessing not just the winner of each first-round playoff game, but the score. And there was born the expectations game: Do we expect a close game? A high-scoring game? A blowout? Does everyone agree on who will win? Those are the factors worth looking at.
Keith McMillan, Ryan Tipps, Pat Coleman, Adam Turer, Frank Rossi and Josh Smith each take their guesses at scores for each first-round game.
— Pat Coleman (d3photography.com photo)
| Mary Hardin-Baylor bracket |
Keith’s take: UMHB 55, Redlands 14
Ryan’s take: UMHB 63, Redlands 7
Pat’s take: UMHB 56, Redlands 7 |
Adam’s take: UMHB 52, Redlands 10
Frank’s take: UMHB 47, Redlands 10
Josh’s take: UMHB 56, Redlands 6 |
| Consensus: Mary Hardin-Baylor, by quite a lot. |
Keith’s take: Hardin-Simmons 31, Linfield 30
Ryan’s take: Linfield 33, Hardin-Simmons 28
Pat’s take: Hardin-Simmons 35, Linfield 34 |
Adam’s take: Linfield 24, Hardin-Simmons 23
Frank’s take: Linfield 35, Hardin-Simmons 24
Josh’s take: Linfield 24, Hardin-Simmons 21 |
| Consensus: A split decision favoring the visitors, but since all comers think the game will be close, looks like a toss-up. |
Keith’s take: Wheaton 29, Huntingdon 27
Ryan’s take: Huntingdon 35, Wheaton 31
Pat’s take: Wheaton 45, Huntingdon 13 |
Adam’s take: Huntingdon 40, Wheaton 34
Frank’s take: Wheaton 30, Huntingdon 20
Josh’s take: Wheaton 38, Huntingdon 24 |
| Consensus: Almost everyone thinks Huntingdon can score on Wheaton, with a couple people thinking they can score more. |
Keith’s take: N. Central 52, Rose-Hulman 35
Ryan’s take: N. Central 49, Rose-Hulman 7
Pat’s take: N. Central 56, Rose-Hulman 17 |
Adam’s take: N. Central 45, Rose-Hulman 24
Frank’s take: N. Central 37, Rose-Hulman 13
Josh’s take: N. Central 48, Rose-Hulman 14 |
| Consensus: North Central will win, but Rose-Hulman might score some points. Or might not. |
| Alfred bracket |
Keith’s take: Alfred 40, Bridgewater State 17
Ryan’s take: Alfred 41, Bridgewater State 10
Pat’s take: Alfred 54, Bridgewater State 7 |
Adam’s take: Alfred 35, Bridgewater State 6
Frank’s take: Alfred 40, Bridgewater State 24
Josh’s take: Alfred 38, Bridgewater State 28 |
| Consensus: If you’re an Alfred fan, stop reading after the first four predictions. |
Keith’s take: Husson 27, Western New England 24
Ryan’s take: Western New England 31, Husson 24
Pat’s take: Husson 45, Western New England 41 |
Adam’s take: Western New England 27, Husson 24
Frank’s take: Husson 30, Western New England 27
Josh’s take: Western New England 24, Husson 23 |
| Consensus: The biggest wild card in the entire first round. Three each way. But seven points is the widest margin. |
Keith’s take: Mount Union 33, Hobart 21
Ryan’s take: Mount Union 45, Hobart 23
Pat’s take: Mount Union 41, Hobart 31 |
Adam’s take: Mount Union 41, Hobart 20
Frank’s take: Mount Union 34, Hobart 20
Josh’s take: Mount Union 28, Hobart 10 |
| Consensus: Hobart will make a good showing, but Mount Union will win. |
Keith’s take: Johns Hopkins 38, Randolph-Macon 21
Ryan’s take: Johns Hopkins 34, Randolph-Macon 21
Pat’s take: Johns Hopkins 51, Randolph-Macon 10 |
Adam’s take: Johns Hopkins 31, Randolph-Macon 13
Frank’s take: Johns Hopkins 34, Randolph-Macon 23
Josh’s take: Johns Hopkins 42, Randolph-Macon 17 |
| Consensus: Various ways of saying Johns Hopkins will win. |
| St. Thomas bracket |
Keith’s take: St. Thomas 55, Northwestern (Minn.) 7
Ryan’s take: St. Thomas 52, Northwestern (Minn.) 13
Pat’s take: St. Thomas 63, Northwestern (Minn.) 7 |
Adam’s take: St. Thomas 56, Northwestern (Minn.) 0
Frank’s take: St. Thomas 35, Northwestern (Minn.) 10
Josh’s take: St. Thomas 49, Northwestern (Minn.) 3 |
| Consensus: St. Thomas in a win worthy of a 1-seed. |
Keith’s take: Coe 16, Monmouth 13
Ryan’s take: Coe 31, Monmouth 27
Pat’s take: Coe 31, Monmouth 24 |
Adam’s take: Coe 28, Monmouth 27
Frank’s take: Monmouth 27, Coe 24
Josh’s take: Coe 21, Monmouth 7 |
| Consensus: Fairly confident Coe will win, but not by much. |
Keith’s take: St. John’s 30, UW-Platteville 28
Ryan’s take: St. John’s 42, UW-Platteville 33
Pat’s take: UW-Platteville 31, St. John’s 27 |
Adam’s take: UW-Platteville 24, St. John’s 21
Frank’s take: UW-Platteville 34, St. John’s 30
Josh’s take: UW-Platteville 35, St. John’s 34 |
| Consensus: A great game with the slight edge to UW-Platteville. Total of scores, UW-Platteville, 185-184. |
Keith’s take: UW-Oshkosh 49, Washington U. 20
Ryan’s take: UW-Oshkosh 42, Washington U. 27
Pat’s take: UW-Oshkosh 56, Washington U. 10 |
Adam’s take: UW-Oshkosh 52, Washington U. 28
Frank’s take: UW-Oshkosh 34, Washington U. 14
Josh’s take: UW-Oshkosh 54, Washington U. 3 |
| Consensus: UW-Oshkosh, even if Wash U might score some points. |
| Whitewater bracket |
Keith’s take: John Carroll 28, Olivet 10
Ryan’s take: John Carroll 56, Olivet 3
Pat’s take: John Carroll 40, Olivet 14 |
Adam’s take: John Carroll 42, Olivet 10
Frank’s take: John Carroll 42, Olivet 21
Josh’s take: John Carroll 42, Olivet 10 |
| Consensus: John Carroll will win. And apparently hit all of its extra points. |
Keith’s take: Wesley 24, Stevenson 23
Ryan’s take: Stevenson 35, Wesley 34
Pat’s take: Wesley 38, Stevenson 28 |
Adam’s take: Wesley 38, Stevenson 14
Frank’s take: Wesley 40, Stevenson 30
Josh’s take: Wesley 35, Stevenson 17 |
| Consensus: Generally Wesley in a good game, but not unanimous. |
Keith’s take: Thomas More 35, Wittenberg 24
Ryan’s take: Wittenberg 28, Thomas More 27
Pat’s take: Thomas More 27, Wittenberg 21 |
Adam’s take: Thomas More 42, Wittenberg 24
Frank’s take: Wittenberg 20, Thomas More 17
Josh’s take: Thomas More 28, Wittenberg 24 |
| Consensus: Thomas More as the home in a 4-5 game is getting those kind of predictions. |
Keith’s take: UW-Whitewater 35, Lakeland 10
Ryan’s take: UW-Whitewater 59, Lakeland 7
Pat’s take: UW-Whitewater 56, Lakeland 14 |
Adam’s take: UW-Whitewater 49, Lakeland 13
Frank’s take: UW-Whitewater 35, Lakeland 7
Josh’s take: UW-Whitewater 63, Lakeland 7 |
| Consensus: UW-Whitewater, although a four-touchdown range in what UWW might score. |
We invite you to add your predictions in the comments below, or tweet at us at @D3Keith, @NewsTipps and @d3football. Download the Around the Nation podcast on Mondays, where Pat and Keith review the picks and the highlights from Round 1.
