Week Nine Picks

Dang. It's week nine already. Two more weeks of football for most teams, and two more weeks to play football for the last time for a bunch of college seniors. Who will get the chance to play one more game, and get blown out by a robust MIAC team that may make it to the NCAA DIII football championship? Only time will tell. I was so excited about the prospects of the final two weeks of the year that I forgot to gloat about being 5-0 in my picks last week! Who called Eureka beating out MacMurray? That would be muah, thank you very much. Overall, that makes me
28-7 before this weeks picks. Can I go 5-0 for the third week in a row? We will see...


St. Scholastica at Eureka - Is there any doubt that this is the game of the week? In fact, I think this is the actual UMAC game of the week. This is going to be a great matchup, pitting one of the better offenses in the UMAC against the best defense in the UMAC. Eureka made short work against what was possibly the best offense in the UMAC last week, and I think being at home without a long road trip will bode well for them. Their offense will keep rolling with LeAnthony Reasnover leading the charge. I'm rolling with Eureka as long as they're rolling. I say they win in a close one, 28-24.


Greenville at Iowa Wesleyan - This game should be an interesting one, although meaningless save for some pride. Greenville has been mediocre at best, even though they were able to pull off an upset against a decent Northwestern defense. Iowa Wesleyan has been straight up bad, only defeating the last two teams in the UMAC, Crown and Minnesota Morris. They did beat Morris just last week, and they are at home, but I'm still going with the better team on paper. Greenville wins, 35-28.


Northwestern at Minnesota Morris - Northwestern has had a solid defense all year, but has not been able to take advantage as their offense has literally been the worst in the UMAC. Oops, I forgot about Minnesota Morris, who has the actual worst; but Northwestern isn't far behind. If the paper matchup says anything, it would be that Morris won't be able to get anything going in this one. Northwestern will have to hope that they can ride last weeks wave of 270 rushing yards to a score or two this weekend. Northwestern wins this one, 17-6.


MacMurray at Westminster - This one should be a little scary for MacMurray. If they lose this one, it effectively eliminates them from UMAC championship contention. Westminster has been good at home, and like I said over and over again at the beginning of the year, they hold that wild card presence. If I were MacMurray, I would not be taking this one lightly, especially in wake of last week's loss. I think MacMurray will get back on track though and win this one, 28-21.


Martin Luther at Crown - Crown's defense has been horrendous this year, both in terms of scoring and yardage. While Martin Luther's defense hasn't been anything really special, their offense has been effective when they are able to run the ball. If Crown's offense is able to keep up in this one, I'd say were going to be up for a shootout. I think Crown takes this one at home, 35-28.


Man, it's been a fun few weeks. Eureka beats MacMurray, and now we have these huge matchups this week and next that will determine the UMAC champion. It'll be fun to see who gets the honor of UMAC champ and the honor to get stomped in the first round of the NCAA DIII playoffs. But hey, if you make it there, you have that to hang your hat on at least. Let's just enjoy these last few weeks of college football, and have some fun!  I'll try to update everyone on the results of games on Saturday through Twitter and Facebook, stay tuned in anticipation of the unfolding of the UMAC.