Half the season is over already! Thank goodness NFL football goes until January, we can't be almost done with football season so soon! When the season completes and the UMAC champion inevitably gets beat down in the first round of DIII football playoffs, we need something to remind us of UMAC football; that something can be sitting on our couches watching Greenville alum Nicholas Morrow make tackles for the Oakland Raiders. But, until then, we've got some football to play.
Greenville at Crown - Whoo boy, this could be a good one. Greenville has been up and down this year, and not surprisingly, it has been correlated with where they are playing. They played Northwestern and Macmurray tough at home, but lost to Martin Luther after making the trip to Minnesota in week four. If that narrative holds true, I'm gonna go out on a limb and pick Crown. It's going to be a tight game either way, unless Greenville shows up and plays to their full potential. I think Crown is due. If we're being honest, I'd say Greenville has the better team, but I'm just feeling an upset. Crown wins 28-24.
Westminster at Eureka - If not for the obvious matchup, I'd say this game's got game of the week potential here. Westminster has shown that they have the talent to play with the upper tier teams in the UMAC, but the question will be, who shows up? Barely-beat-Minnesota-Morris Westminster, or blow-out-Martin-Luther Westminster? I think Eureka takes this one; being home is advantageous here, even though Westminster doesn't have a cross-country road trip. Eureka wins, 35-21.
Iowa Wesleyan at St. Scholastica - Do I have to give in depth analysis here? One of the best teams in the UMAC vs. one of the worst. This is also Scholastica's homecoming, so there will be no taking it easy. CSS spanks Iowa Wesleyan, 49-6.
Northwestern at MacMurray - Here is my actual game of the week pick. MacMurray is undefeated, but has not been playing very well lately, and Northwestern lost to Greenville last time they took a road trip. Northwestern needs to focus up and win out if they want a chance at the title, and MacMurray needs to shape up that #11 DIII ranked offense and get moving. MacMurray's offense is averaging 35 points a game and Northwestern's defense has only allowed more than 14 points to one UMAC opponent, so this should be a great matchup. I'm taking MacMurray in a close one, 14-10.
Minnesota Morris at Martin Luther - Now here's an interesting matchup: a team coming down from a hot streak and a team that just picked up its first win face off to see who will stay in the bottom tier of the UMAC. Martin Luther has proven that they have some talent, but is it enough to beat the bad teams and compete with the good ones? They will have to get over the shellacking they took at Westminster and get back on the horse. I think they do, and they beat Morris handily, 35-14.
I'm 14-6 overall in my picks right now...meh, not too shabby. Well, I'm still currently at work right now so it looks like I may not make it to a game this weekend. That also means I may not be tweeting/retweeting updates from around the UMAC until later today, but stay tuned in, as I may just stay up forever to be the best informant ever for the worst conference in DIII football...but probably not.
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