Week 8 Predictions: Tommy's Picks

Tommy's Picks (5 of 5 Week 7,  25 of 33 on the season) As has been well documented by now, I had a pretty amazing week last week. The only thing more impressive than my prognostication abilities is my humility and therefore I will speak no more about my exploits. I will simply get right down to business. I must make a confession, however. I did take a peak at Jay's predictions before making mine and since I still have some ground to make up, I may have been tempted to take a shot on an underdog.

Presentation @ St. Scholastica - Jay already took all of the Saints vs. Saints jokes - I mean he really rode that horse into the ground - so I am forced to be a little more creative in my analysis. I have dubbed this one "Saints vs. Aints". See what I did there? I used rhyming to poke fun at one team. I don't really see much point in offering any sort of actual analysis on this one as St. Scholastica is clearly light years ahead of Presentation. Instead, I will pose the rhetorical question, What exactly is Presentation's plan for their athletic program moving forward? As I am sure everyone knows by now, the Aints... I mean Saints are no longer with us in the UMAC. They have moved on to bigger and better things. They are now an Independent School freeing them up from having to waste their time with the lowly schools of the UMAC and putting them alongside other elite programs including Notre Dame, BYU, and Macalester. I am not entirely sure why Presentation is no longer with us. I have heard rumors that they were kicked out and others that they left by their own accord. I do not want to speculate as we hold ourselves to the highest standard of reporting excellence here at UMAC Central - maybe UMAC commissioner Corey Borchardt could answer that one for us. Someone tweet at Corey and see what he has to say. Regardless, I can't imagine that being removed from a conference is going to bode well for the Aints - dog gone it, I keep doing it - Saints. If I were a high school recruit I do not believe that I would be enticed by the Independent Presentation College Saints. But, then again, what do I know? Anyway, back to the game. Scholastica wins big at home. St. Scholastica 38 Presentation 7
 
Greenville at Westminster - Did Plassmeyer really throw 77 times last week? Is that an accurate stat or is Jay trying to pull a fast one on us? I guess when you throw 77 times it doesn't make it as bad when you throw 4 interceptions. I mean, I don't think I could do anything 77 times without making four mistakes. I bet you have found four mistakes in this post already. Greenville should not have any trouble with this team. They are significantly better than Westminster and should compile about 600 rushing yards against that defense. Not so fast my friend! Greenville is notorious for playing down to competition. Last week they took their foot of the throttle and almost blew a huge lead to Eureka. They barely snuck out with a win over MacMurray earlier this season. Part of me thinks that Greenville comes out flat and lays an egg in this one. A bigger part of me thinks that Westminster is lousy and Greenville will learn from last week's second half. Greenville 45 Westminster 20

Northwestern @ Eureka - I don't really know why Jay didn't make this our game of the week. Either he is really down at Eureka or really high on MacMurray. I can't blame him for being down on Eureka, though, as they have continued to fall just barely short game after game. In fact, ever since their SID tweeted at us about how focused on winning the Red Devils are they are a combined 0-1. (That's a joke. We appreciate all angry tweets from loyal but biased fans.) If there is one team that is built to beat Northwestern it might be Eureka. I have been saying all season that you have to pass on the Eagles and if there is one thing I know for sure it is that the Fighting Durleys will come out passing. The key to this game will be two-fold 1) Can Eureka force NWC to get into a four-man front to get pressure on Durely? Northwestern will want to come out in their base 3-4. If they can get pressure with 3 and drop 8 into coverage the Red Devils do not have a prayer of winning. (Ironic, Devils praying.) If Eureka can force Northwestern into their 4-4 defense and still give Durley a little bit of time they just might have a shot 2) Eureka has to stop the Eagle's offense. Bottom line, this is not going to happen. Eureka's best bet is to force a few turnovers and not give up big plays to Brian Lecheler. Northwestern will win this game because they are better on both sides of the ball. They will run the ball at will and their defense will obliterate Eureka's offensive line. I'm predicting at least 7 sacks. Northwestern 41 Eureka 17

Minnesota Morris @ Crown - Crown started out the season on a high and has slowly come back to reality after getting blown out back to back weeks by the two best teams in the conference. Morris started out a little shaky but has hit their stride as of late. While conventional wisdom would say to pick the Cougars, I am going to go with Crown in this one. Hopefully, their confidence has not been too shaken after getting rocked the last two weeks. I think UMM comes into this one a little over confident and Crown puts it all together for a big win at home. Give me Wes Safford and Amos Schmidt to each have the game of their career. (Always happy to provide Cougar Nation with a bit of bulletin board material.) Crown 31 Minnesota Morris 28
 
GAME OF THE WEEK

Martin Luther @ MacMurray - Jay thinks this will be a good matchup. I do not. I think Martin Luther, despite their record is actually a middle of the road team in the conference. I like them to get hot at the end of the year. Luke Rothe is a good athlete and the one thing that their offense does is give you a lot of crazy looks. Doesn't work so well against teams that are prepared for it. But, if there is one team in the conference that I can see getting very, very confused by MLC's crazy formations it is the Highlanders. The Knights are feeling good after putting up some points in the second half against NWC last week, albeit against what I would assume was mostly second-teamers. Still, Martin Luther keeps getting better week after week and I actually do like what their coaching staff is doing with those kids. Luke Rothe does it all on offense and Martin Luther's defense shuts down the Highlanders. I will actually have to go find a logo for Martin Luther to pick them for the first time this year. Martin Luther 24 MacMurray 14