Triple Take, Our second wind

Posted on November 26, 2010 by ryantipps

Sixteen teams are left, but half of them come from just four conferences.

The CCIW, MIAC, NJAC and OAC each went 2-0 last week.

Pat Coleman, Keith McMillan and Ryan Tipps continue the countdown to Salem, once more not picking just the winners but the scores as well.

And, worth being said again from last week, these postseason Triple Take predictions are not intended to be lines on the games, but rather a broad test of outcome vs. expectations.

Let’s see what’s to be said about Round 2:

Wesley Bracket
Ryan: Wesley 31, Montclair State 17
Keith: Wesley 24, Montclair State 14
Pat: Wesley 24, Montclair State 13

Ryan: Mary Hardin-Baylor 38, Thomas More 31
Keith: Mary Hardin-Baylor 35, Thomas More 28
Pat: Mary Hardin-Baylor 49, Thomas More 21

Mount Union Bracket
Ryan: Mount Union 42, Delaware Valley 14
Keith: Mount Union 31, Delaware Valley 21
Pat: Mount Union 42, Delaware Valley 10

Ryan: Alfred 21, Cortland State 13
Keith: Cortland State 20, Alfred 17
Pat: Cortland State 23, Alfred 21

St. Thomas Bracket
Ryan: Linfield 38, St. Thomas 27
Keith: St. Thomas 28, Linfield 27
Pat: Linfield 31, St. Thomas 30

Ryan: Bethel 21, Wheaton 20
Keith: Wheaton 24, Bethel 23
Pat: Wheaton 30, Bethel 21

North Central Bracket
Ryan: North Central 34, Ohio Northern 27
Keith: North Central 35, Ohio Northern 23
Pat: Ohio Northern 21, North Central 17

Ryan: UW-Whitewater 45, Trine 17
Keith: UW-Whitewater 49, Trine 21
Pat: UW-Whitewater 42, Trine 17

Game Day: The best 90 minutes

Posted on November 20, 2010 by d3football

With quarterback questions, the Wheaton running game will be even more important on Saturday.

The best 90 minutes of the season, bar none, is coming our way this afternoon. That’s from about 2:10 p.m. until 3:40 p.m. ET on the Saturday of the first-round games, where the noon games all come down to their finishes and the 1 p.m. games (noon CT) soon follow. In that swath of time, we’ll be eliminating 14 of the 32 teams on the Road to Salem, with the loser of the Bethel-Wartburg game and the Cal Lutheran-Linfield game coming later in the day.

To get us through, we again lean on the live blogging capabilities of Cover It Live, and you can join in the chat itself starting shortly before game time in the EST either by typing in the chat window (no registration needed) or by using Twitter and employing the #d3fb hashtag.

<a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=7de4d5288b" >D3football.com: Playoff first round</a>

Triple Take: First-round scores

Posted on November 19, 2010 by ryantipps

In a battle of two run-oriented teams, Thomas More’s Rob Kues has nonetheless completed more passes than Washington and Lee has even attempted.

The NCAA brass has gotten out its erasers and given 32 teams a clean slate.

Our expectations are put to the ultimate tests as champions and runners-up of top conferences clash with those of their weaker counterparts. We see where the parities and disparities lie — within geographic reason, of course.

And no season is without its Cinderella stories: Johns Hopkins in 2009, Franklin in ’08, Bethel in ’07, etc. It’s the unexpected — the flashes of greatness that players show during playoff time — that captivates us. Every year, we keep our ears to the ground hoping to hear yet another underdog make some noise.

From now until the third weekend in December, Pat Coleman, Keith McMillan and Ryan Tipps will not only pick the winners of games, but we’ll also project the scores. It’s a transparent test of our perceptions week in and week out.

These postseason Triple Take predictions are not intended to be lines on the games, but rather a broad test of outcome vs. expectations.

Wesley Bracket
Ryan: Wesley 30, Muhlenberg 7
Pat: Wesley 42, Muhlenberg 10
Keith: Wesley 37, Muhlenberg 10

Ryan: Hampden-Sydney 21, Montclair State 17
Pat: Hampden-Sydney 28, Montclair State 10
Keith: Hampden-Sydney 17, Montclair State 14

Ryan: Washington and Lee 31, Thomas More 24
Pat: Thomas More 45, Washington and Lee 42
Keith: Washington and Lee 26, Thomas More 23

Ryan: Mary Hardin-Baylor 45, Christopher Newport 21
Pat: Mary Hardin-Baylor 56, Christopher Newport 14
Keith: Mary Hardin-Baylor 42, Christopher Newport 7

St. Thomas Bracket
Ryan: St. Thomas 48, Benedictine 10
Pat: St. Thomas 61, Benedictine 7
Keith: St. Thomas 49, Benedictine 0

Ryan: Linfield 35, Cal Lutheran 24
Pat: Linfield 35, Cal Lutheran 24
Keith: Linfield 34, Cal Lutheran 27

Ryan: Wartburg 20, Bethel 17
Pat: Bethel 13, Wartburg 10
Keith: Wartburg 14, Bethel 13

Ryan: Coe 38, Wheaton 34
Pat: Wheaton 34, Coe 30
Keith: Wheaton 27, Coe 24

Mount Union Bracket
Ryan: Mount Union 56, St. Lawrence 3
Pat: Mount Union 63, St. Lawrence 0
Keith: Mount Union 63, St. Lawrence 0

Ryan: Delaware Valley 20, Salisbury 14
Pat: Salisbury 45, Delaware Valley 42
Keith: Salisbury 22, Delaware Valley 21

Ryan: SUNY-Maritime 28, Alfred 21
Pat: Alfred 31, SUNY-Maritime 8
Keith: Alfred 28, SUNY-Maritime 21

Ryan: Cortland State 38, Endicott 7
Pat: Cortland State 20, Endicott 3
Keith: Cortland State 27, Endicott 9

North Central Bracket
Ryan: North Central 42, St. Norbert 13
Pat: North Central 45, St. Norbert 10
Keith: North Central 44, St. Norbert 17

Ryan: Ohio Northern 23, Wittenberg 14
Pat: Ohio Northern 41, Wittenberg 21
Keith: Ohio Northern 27, Wittenberg 17

Ryan: Trine 35, DePauw 20
Pat: DePauw 21, Trine 17
Keith: Trine 35, DePauw 21

Ryan: UW-Whitewater 48, Franklin 14
Pat: UW-Whitewater 50, Franklin 21
Keith: UW-Whitewater 45, Franklin 13