Playoff Preview!

First off let me start by patting myself on the back for a solid regular season of predictions! I finished off the season at like 80% and that means I graduated and can predict the playoff game for Scholastica!

Fourth time is the charm? Scholastica as usual has a really tough match-up the first round against St. Johns. As I really don't need to point out, but I will... The MIAC is significantly better than the UMAC is. This causes teams like St. Johns to be prepped and ready for the playoffs, while Scholastica hasn't really had an opponents close to that caliber all season. To sum up what people think St. Scholastica's chances are here is a picture.

If only... and I mean if only there was someone who could help the snowball from going to 

hell... Oh wait, one of the coaches is a nun! Check mate Hell! Though the Saints might need a little more than a great Nun coach to be able to pull off a win here. Perfect Football is the only way the saints will pull off this game. St. Johns is just a great established program and they're a relatively rounded team too. This game will hopefully have a lot of fans too with that warm 34 degree game time temps. So what do I think is going to happen here? Tyler Harper is just a QB that wins games and he has shown that all season. He has some of his targets figured out and even against a top team like St. Johns, Scholastica has some WR that are bigger than their corners. That high ball will be Scholastica's best chance of moving the ball down the field. I expect the running game to be relatively non-exsistant as it has been for every NCAA game in school history. Robinson and "The Gas" are special backs though and if anyone can end that drought it might be them. Defense wise Scholastica is going to need some bad turnovers and a little bit of luck to happen to keep this score low. If there's a fumble or a pick you've got to take it to the house. Defensive points would give Scholastica a higher chance of pulling off the biggest upset in Div 3 history. I will streak across the field if they win, so that could either be motivation or could be demotivating maybe... Anything can happen in a football game and that's what I'm holding out for. Hey you never know what can happen!

  

Final Score

Scholastica 26 St. Johns 22

ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS!

Here we go folks... For 95% of you seniors playing on Saturday this will be the last game of your college football career. For a lucky 5% they've got a shot at one more game and most likely play a top 5 team in the nation. "WE WANT WHITEWATER!" -said no UMAC team. Some teams are just clawing at one more win this year to consider themselves not a complete loser or maybe to just get that bad taste out of their mouths from the whole season. All eyes are clearly on one game this week, but that doesn't mean I wont post all the games for those guys who are still playing for sentimental value. Sadly this will likely be my last predictions of the season and I hopefully will stroll out the season with another 5 for 5.

Let start the show off with a good one

Morris vs MacMurray

This one is actually going to be a good game. If only the Morris football players showed as much enthusiasm in their games as they do watching their volleyball team, they would have a few wins. Morris is coming off basically a shut out to Scholastica and Macmurray is coming off a shellacking from Northwestern. So which team has been defeated more by that big loss? I've already seen MacMurray jump off a big loss against Scholasica earlier in the season and then came the next week with a strong game. I will have to assume the same thing will happen here against the non-existent offense for Morris.This is one of those games though where Morris once again has a shot at their first win, but since they lose to Martin Luther they shouldn't win this one

Final Score
MacMurray 26 Morris 13



Northwestern vs IWC

Last week I picked IWC to win and I was correct. Which if they were playing anyone besides one of the top three teams in the UMAC I would pick them again, but alas they play Northwestern and I think they'll lose this one. Northwestern does have to travel to the land of the corn for this game, but I think they'll be hoisting up the coveted "Corn Stalk" after this big win. So with IWC ending this season with a loss what does that mean for the future? That I couldn't tell you... but I will say they seem to be on the up and up. ("seem to be" being a key phrase here) Northwestern took the first steps towards being at the top again this year and I think they might top it next year.

Final Score
Northwestern 30 IWC 18


Westminster vs Martin Luther

Do I even really have to talk about this game? OK, Alright I will... quit twisting my arm. Martin Luther doesn't have a shot in this game here in this game. If by some chance they did that would be on Westminster completely screwing it up.

Final Score
Westminster 32 Martin Luther 16


Eureka vs Crown

Another tough match-up here with these two lower teams. Crown has done enough here this season though to make me believe they can win this game. With a win here I would be willing to say that Crown hasn't been a complete disappointment this year, but still a little bit of one. Eureka not much to play for here besides a little bit of pride. Crown is beatable for you in this match-up, but not easily

Final Score
Crown 30 Eureka 24


Greenville vs Scholastica

Every year we talk about the other teams that have a shot at winning the UMAC since the AQ started, but it has always come down to these two teams in the pack. The fact that they continue to make these two teams face off the last game of the season always adds to suspense of the UMAC AQ. Last year when these two teams faced off I was covering it down in Greenville, and it was a close one almost all game. The big break in that game was when Harper with seconds left on the clock to half elected not to throw an incomplete pass and kick the field goal and just ran it. He avoided one tackle and rushed in for a big touchdown as time expired, and I think that really was the deciding factor in that game. Greenville has an advantage in this game because of the previous three teams that they played (Westminster, IWC, and Northwestern) have set them up for a tougher game. Scholastica on the other had faced off against Martin Luther, Eureka, and Morris. These three teams are bottom of the barrel in the UMAC and I think it might take Scholastica a ways into the first quarter to get acclimated to a real opponent again. Callaway for Greenville will be basically impossible to keep out of the end-zone this game, but the question is how many times are they going to get him in there. This might be a drive for drive game where both teams need to score every time they get the ball if they want to keep this close. It's not that I don't think Scholastica will be able to stop the option of Greenville, but I think the speed at first will be enough to put some points on the board and when Scholastica starts to get the hang of that option Greenville will have to convert 3rd down passes if they want to keep up those points. Scholastica obviously will have home field advantage in this game and will also have an advantage when it comes to the weather. Game time temperature is going to be 32 degrees in Duluth and Scholastica is currently practicing in that weather. Greenville has been practicing in the mid 50s all week and that might play a little factor in this game, but than again... it might not affect a dang thing. You better expect that Greenville has set up a game plan first and foremost to stop the run game of Scholastica. Robinson's five touchdowns didn't make it easy to fly him under the radar. That means Scholastica's offense might come down to the pass and inevitably the ability of Harper. Harper is going to have to do what he does best in this game and just win it. Spreading the ball around this game is going to be a must and I hope to see some big hitters for Scholastica for some quick points. No predictions for this game beside the final score... because in this week that's all that matters.

Final Score
Scholastica 34 Greenville 30


Well there you go, it was a fun season of predictions and I look forward to next years battles! If you're looking for me on Saturday I will be the guy in the press box with the AED right next to him.
 

Guess Who's Back!

Me. I am back. Did you guess it correctly? I hope so... kinda easy. Just a slaughtering with a 5 for 5 correct predictions to get back on track. I will admit I was kinda nervous that I was losing my touch, but turns out I am still the King Midas of the UMAC. I could probably even tell you was going to win all of the elections tomorrow, but since a lot of politicians advertise with me I think it's in my best interest to keep those to myself. Kind of a snoresville games this week with any games that matter being complete blow-outs, but I gotta recap them anyways.

Northwestern vs MacMurray

Let's be real here for a second. We all knew this was going to be a blow-out. Northwestern had found themselves out of the first place hunt and just needed a team to take their aggression out on. I don't really know what else to say about this game. Northwestern>MacMurray can sum it up pretty good.

IWC vs Eureka

Hey! I got you right on this one IWC! Thanks for the help on the blog for once. I'm still a little surprised though at how close of a game this was. Top teams in the UMAC are winning by 40+ against Eureka and you only pull of an eight point victory. You've got to understand at least a little bit of my skepticism on whether or not you've made it in the top half. Still you had to go to Eureka and win on the road so I'm not trying to take away the W from you or anything. I just think with that Coach Park defensive mentality you should be able to hold teams to less points than 28, especially Eureka this year.

Scholastica vs Morris

Hahaha, Sorry I had to laugh a little bit at myself when I even thought for a second Morris would pull a miracle close game here. I actually thought from what I was told that Morris had a solid defense. I think that person may have lied to me as Scholastica put up 40 on the Robinson show. I'm really impressed with this guy and I think if the Scholastica lifting program does anything for him that he could be a Monster next year. (more than he already is) I am interested to see the Gas get back more into the mix if he can and start up that 1-2 punch. (pick who the 1 is and the 2 is. Doesn't matter)

Crown vs Martin Luther

Hey Crown! Glad to see that you didn't make this a close one in the end. Martin Luther having a rough season here and Crown came in and finished their hopes of another win. Crown will at least be able to hang their heads a little higher after some late season wins when we wondered if they would even get one.

Greenville vs Westminster

This game was a big big bummer. I really thought this one would be a game that would be worth watching and maybe would come down to the end. Greenville looks scary good with a big win over a team like Westminster. Greenville has played some solid teams the past few games and I think it's prepared them for a tough battle coming


To sum up this whole post in a few seconds. I was 5 for 5 this week and I'm so already ready for next weeks game so I barely tried here.