Commentary
North Carolina A&T started out losing two games on the road, first at a mediocre FCS opponent and then against a decent (3-3) FBS team. Since then they’ve won three straight, two of those by decisive margins. They’ve seen the Kennesaw attack plenty of times, so they may have enough for an upset.
Dartmouth’s undefeated record seems like a credible match for New Hampshire. This could be a good measuring stick as to where the Ivy sits this year.
I can see the North Dakota – Southern Illinois going either way. The Hawks are coming off a two-game losing skid and will need to win to have any chance for a successful season. And I can envision a letdown by the Salukis after their emotional OT win at SDSU. So UND could just be desperate enough to pull off the upset. On the other hand, with two conference losses already, UND may not be all that motivated. If that happens and SIU comes out jacked, it could be a really bad day for the Hawks.
Missouri State is probably pissed about losing on the road to anemic Youngstown State (2-3) and could come out at home with their hair on fire. Or, having had their bubble burst, they could come out flat. Indiana State has won the games they should have won … and remember that one of their losses was at FBS Northwestern.
The South Dakota at Northern Iowa game has every appearance of being a pickum’, based on their records and comparatively close rankings. The Panthers will be home and anxious to avoid losing two in a row. South Dakota will be more than ready to go, having just played its way into the top-25.
Neither VMI nor Mercer are ranked, but both need to get rolling if they hope to catch East Tennessee State, or earn an at-large bid out of the SoCon. (I picked Mercer as the favorite because they are 3-0 in conference, while VMI is 2-1.) I expect this to be a back-and-forth game that could go either way.
On their records, the Nicholls at Incarnate Word game looks like a mismatch. However, the three losses for Nicholls came in two FBS games, and the third against a ranked FCS opponent. Incarnate Word is good, but Nicholls is better than their record would indicate.
Chattanooga is another team whose record is a bit misleading. They’ve lost to two ranked FCS teams, and then stayed with FBS Kentucky pretty well, finally losing 28-23. Turns out Kentucky is better than we knew … now 6-0 and ranked #11.
Both Towson and Rhode Island are coming off good wins. Still, on paper, this looks like a mismatch … and it probably is. Nevertheless, I included it for two reasons: Towson is at home, and Rhode Island has been notorious for suffering at least one unexpected meltdown some time during its season. They could be ripe for one.
Thanks. I absolutely neglected to hit the submit button. Much like Mike apparently forgot to hit the record button last week for the Griz Fan Pod guys. lol. Fixed.
