Central/Bethel and UW-W/Wabash banter

Alright, so, the previous blog post has devolved into a St. John Fisher/Mount Union back and forth and there is some good discussion there about Mary Hardin-Baylor and Wesley.

But there are two other games that are taking place on Saturday as well, and we’re sure people want to talk about them without having to wade through all the other so-called discussion.

Three West teams remain alive out of the original seven selected, with Wabash crashing the party in the North Region to represent the North in its own bracket. I’ll move some of the related comments over here but want to get people started, especially on the teams getting out from under St. John’s shadow.

Triple-take: Picking second-round games

Second round of games, with just eight being played on Saturday, four at noon and four at 1 p.m.

Before we begin our predictions of the Week 13 games, let’s take a look back at Week 12.

Winners straight up: Keith McMillan 13-3, Pat Coleman 12-4, Gordon Mann 11-5. Of note, of course, all three missed on Curry beating Hartwick and Muhlenberg beating Salisbury. Keith redeemed his pick against UW-Eau Claire by calling N.C. Wesleyan over Washington and Jefferson.

Closest score on each game: Mount Union/Ithaca (42-18 actual score) goes to Pat (predicted 42-10), TCNJ/RPI (17-13) goes to Keith (13-10), Hartwick/Curry (21-42) goes to Gordon, if anyone (43-42), St. John Fisher/Hobart (24-7) goes to Gordon (31-28), Central/Olivet (38-17) goes to Pat (41-14), St. John’s/Redlands (41-13) goes to Pat (27-17), UW-Eau Claire/St. Norbert (24-21) goes to Pat (24-20), Bethel/Concordia Wis. (28-0) goes to Gordon (35-7), N.C. Wesleyan/W&J (35-34 OT) goes to Keith (38-35), Mary Hardin-Baylor/Trinity (52-23) goes to Keith (42-24), Muhlenberg/Salisbury (31-21) goes to Pat, if anyone (27-31), Wesley/Hampden-Sydney (45-17) goes to Keith (35-13), UW-Whitewater/Capital (34-14) goes to Keith (24-12), North Central/Franklin (44-42) goes to Pat (35-34), Wabash/Mt. St. Joseph (31-21) goes to Pat (30-21) and Case/Widener (21-20) goes to Keith (22-14).

Gordon Mann has been unable to join me and Keith because of his holiday travel schedule, and as it turns out, we have no dissenting view on any of this weekend’s games.

This week’s predictions
New Jersey at Mount Union
Pat:
Mount Union 38, TCNJ 7
Keith: Mount Union 28, TCNJ 6

Curry at St. John Fisher
Pat:
St. John Fisher 31, Curry 10
Keith: St. John Fisher 31, Curry 17

St. John’s at Central
Pat:
Central 27, St. John’s 24 (OT)
Keith: Central 24, St. John’s 22

UW-Eau Claire at Bethel
Pat:
Bethel 35, UW-Eau Claire 27
Keith: Bethel 27, UW-Eau Claire 17

N.C. Wesleyan at Mary Hardin-Baylor
Pat:
Mary Hardin-Baylor 48, N.C. Wesleyan 21
Keith: Mary Hardin-Baylor 45, N.C. Wesleyan 35

Muhlenberg at Wesley
Pat:
Wesley 28, Muhlenberg 20
Keith: Wesley 20, Muhlenberg 14

North Central at UW-Whitewater
Pat:
UW-Whitewater 38, North Central 17
Keith: UW-Whitewater 31, North Central 14

Wabash at Case Western Reserve
Pat:
Wabash 30, Case 19
Keith: Wabash 26, Case 19

Big question will be if quarterback Mitch Schaeuble plays for UW-Eau Claire after he ended last week’s game at St. Norbert with blurred vision. St. John’s, playing Central, kings of the comeback win, is most likely to make us regret both picking against them, followed by Muhlenberg.

Game Day from Allentown

That’s where Keith McMillan and I are this weekend — we’re here and you’re there … somewhere. Good week to be playing — if you’re in the tournament, you still have a chance.

Cold and a tad windy here for the Muhlenberg/Salisbury game. Great day for running the football and defense, which is what these teams are already known for.

We’ve previewed this weekend to death, so we’ll just throw it open for you guys. I’d have said y’all, but we’re north of the Mason-Dixon.