Full coverage of NCAA Division III football from D3football.com
We’re barely underway and I’m about ready to close the book on Wheaton. Here’s the way the first six minutes have gone so far:
Wheaton got the ball first, punted.
Punt went 26 yards.
Then Pete Ittersagen, Wheaton’s top corner, got hurt.
Nate Kmic ran for a 52-yard touchdown.
Wheaton went three-and-out, giving up only its eighth sack of the season.
Wheaton punted for 25 yards. Mount Union ball on the Wheaton 35.
… as I write this Wheaton picks the ball off.
As I said on the front page, this should be a good week of games, at least outside of the top two teams in Division III. Looking forward to what should be classics in the other six games, especially these two East Region games.
As in the past, Keith McMillan and I are making our picks indpendently, without consulting each other. But as you can see, we’re on the same page on which games will be the most competitive, even if we don’t know who will win them.
Predicted scores:
East
Pat: Springfield 42, St. John Fisher 39; Rowan 17, Wilkes 15.
Keith: St. John Fisher 35, Springfield 34; Wilkes 13, Rowan 12
South
Pat: Wesley 24, Carnegie Mellon 20; Mary Hardin-Baylor 40, Washington and Jefferson 17.
Keith: Wesley 17, Carnegie Mellon 7; Mary Hardin-Baylor 42, Washington and Jefferson 14.
North
Pat: Mount Union 49, Wheaton 10; Capital 22, North Central 20.
South: Mount Union 31, Wheaton 9; Capital 24, North Central 17.
West
Pat: St. John’s 17, Whitworth 14; UW-Whitewater 42, UW-La Crosse 28.
Keith: St. John’s 31, Whitworth 21; UW-Whitewater 35, UW-La Crosse 21.
Other storylines
The rematches: Rowan blew out Wilkes in the first round last year. Springfield beat St. John Fisher in a regular season game in October. Mount Union ended Wheaton’s season in 2002, 2003 and 2004, while UMHB did the same to W&J in 2004. Capital beat North Central in the playoffs last season. UW-Whitewater and UW-La Crosse play every year in the WIAC, obviously.
Who’s healthy? Will Justin Beaver play for UW-Whitewater? Is Joel Clark back to 100% for Whitworth? Eric Lowry, Wesley’s top kick returner, may not play.
Who wins in the East? As Keith and I showed, the bracket is up in the air.
Enjoy your travels and cheer responsibly. Let’s play ball!
Thanksgiving is a time to … uhhh …. give thanks, right?
Here’s some things we should be thankful for as D-III fans.
We should be thankful we don’t have to deal with or worry about the BCS. When I read and hear the constant commentary about who should get to play Ohio State for the national title, I’m grateful we have five teams lined up in the bracket to play our Ohio team.
We should be thankful we’ve had three consecutive competitive Stagg Bowls and five such games in six years. Compare that to 1994-99, where the game was never decided by fewer than 20 points.
We should be thankful there are enough people at the NCAA who care about Division III to get our selection show on national television, and hope that the telecasting package the NCAA has put together for Division II football gets translated up a level for Division III next year.
I’m thankful that my 19-month-old still recognizes me, considering I’ve been working in Connecticut the past three months and the rest of the family is still in the D.C. area. 🙂
I’m thankful that my 180,000-mile car has gotten me everywhere I’ve needed to go in recent years. Hopeful it can get through the end of the football season, but not positive it will.
I’m thankful there are so many Division III fans that this site has become self-sustaining over the past couple of years. (And that Google does a good job at selling our space.)
And I’m thankful for the recent influx of registered users over the past couple weeks. A lot of them have been players whose playing careers have just ended. We’re glad you are sticking around, and we’re also thankful for your contributions on the field. Bring your classmates.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.