Week Eight Picks

We have our first big end-of-the-year matchup this week that will have a major impact on the conference standings. It might be difficult to be undefeated in picks again this week, but here goes:

Eureka at MacMurray - Game of the week right here. In fact, it might be the game of the season up until this point. Eureka has been on a crazy hot streak, winning their last 5 games with an average of 43.8 points per game and 257.8 rushing yards per game. MacMurray's defense is no pushover though, only allowing 16.9 points per game and 303.6 yards per game. RB Chazz Middlebrook apparently has been nursing an injury and was held out of last weeks game, but will be back this week and will face his toughest test of the year; a Eureka defense that has only allowed 84.6 yards rushing per game. This is gonna be a good one. I think Eureka's defense gets the best of Middlebrook and the MacMurray offense and wins, 17-14.

Northwestern at Martin Luther - Martin Luther is better, but they still aren't good yet. Northwestern just barely falls into that category this year, but their solid defense will be able to handle the Martin Luther offensive attack. Low scoring has been the name of the game for Northwestern, and I'm guessing this one won't be much different. Northwestern wins, 21-14.

Minnesota Morris at Iowa Wesleyan - If these two teams weren't 1-5 and the result of this game wasn't utterly meaningless, I might think about throwing the game of the week title on this one. Two just about equally bad teams going at it means we may actually get a good game of football. I'll take the home team in this one, 42-35.

Westminster at Greenville - Here's another one that could be a great matchup. It all depends on which Westminster team shows up; the one that got destroyed by Eureka 48-6 in week six, or the one that showed up on the road and beat the snot out of Crown last week. I think the latter occurs and Westminster takes it, 35-21.

St. Scholastica at Crown - Scholastica showed up last week in a rout of Martin Luther, and even though they are on the road, I think they will continue their winning ways against the last-place and only winless team in the UMAC. Crown has a lot of growing to do before they can be competitive in games like these. CSS pounds Crown, 42-14.

The fate of the UMAC rests on the Eureka-MacMurray game this weekend. Will MacMurray continue their undefeated dominance and stroll into the last game of the year with the UMAC championship on the line, or will Eureka stage the upset and argue their case for the UMAC crown? St. Scholastica has big games against these teams in the last two weeks, and a loss for Eureka effectively eliminates them from championship contention. It's getting down to the nitty-gritty here in the UMAC! Hold onto your butts for some great late season competition!