Photo by Steve Frommell, d3photography.com

We've reached the penultimate week of the Division III football season. Automatic bids will be won this weekend while many other playoff hopes will be dashed. There is important action in all six regions this weekend and our Quick Hits crew is here with observations on the biggest games in Week 10. 

Our regular crew is Greg Thomas, Pat Coleman, Ryan Tipps, Adam Turer, Frank Rossi, plus a guest. This week that guest is longtime friend of the Hits and former Thomas More quarterback, Kevin Niehus.

— Greg Thomas

Which game is the Game of the Week?

	Greg's take: No 18 Trintiy (Texas) at No. 19 Birmingham-Southern. The SAA champion will be crowned in Alabama on Saturday. As our Top 25 and the NCAA's Regional Rankings suggest, these are evenly matched teams and should produce a thrilling game with conference championship on the line.
	Pat's take: No. 12 UW-La Crosse at No. 3 UW-Whitewater. Too many storylines to count here, plus this game has the opportunity to be in the top 10 for highest attendance all time in Division III, perhaps even the best-attended on-campus game in D-III history.
	Adam's take: No. 12 UW-La Crosse at No. 3 UW-Whitewater. The Eagles have solidified their position as a top two team in the WIAC this year. Matt Janus enters Perkins Stadium for the first time as a head coach. Can his team shock the nation and shake up the WIAC (and Pool C)?
	Ryan's take: No. 13 Union at No. 24 Ithaca. It's been quite a fun year in the Liberty League with many quality teams at the top, and Union and Ithaca have largely been winning in convincing fashion -- yet both share 7-point victories against the next-best Liberty team, Hobart. All signs point to a great matchup.
	Frank's take: No. 12 UW-La Crosse at No. 3 UW-Whitewater. While I believe the loser of the game will still get a Pool C bid, this is La Crosse’s chance to polish their résumé since two of their games were not against D3 competition. This should be a close game.
	Kevin's take: I’m interested in watching, if I had to pick I would say No. 22 Washington & Jefferson at Carnegie Mellon for the PAC lead will be a back-and-forth affair in Pittsburgh.

Which Top 25 team is most likely to be upset?

	Greg's take: No. 23 RPI. The Liberty League has held to form with no major upsets so far this season, but this game comes on the heels of a thrilling Senior Day win over Ithaca and right in front of the Dutchmen Shoes game against Union. Add in uncertainty about George Marinopolous's playing status, and this game is the trappiest of trap games.
	Pat's take: No. 23 RPI. St. Lawrence is playing at home and they kept the game close against Hobart a couple of weeks ago. This pick somewhat assumes that George Marinopolous is not available after he left the 14-11 win against Ithaca with an injury, but since this game seems destined to be low-scoring, it is easy for it to get into a place where anything can happen, including an upset.
	Adam's take: No. 22 Washington and Jefferson. The Presidents travel to Carnegie Mellon to face the stingiest defense in the PAC. W&J and CMU are two of the three teams tied atop the conference standings, so this is a must-win for both. The Tartans' offense has been humming over the past five games.
	Ryan's take: No. 21 Baldwin Wallace. If Ohio Northern plays like they did last week against Mount Union, BW is going to end Saturday pretty disappointed.
	Frank's take: No. 13 Union (at No. 24 Ithaca). In what is a survival game for both with the loser potentially being a longshot for a Pool C bid, the emotion of the OT Hobart game might have been more than we all expected. It leads to a flat start by Union, enough for Ithaca to eke out a victory.
	Kevin's take: I’ll talk about why later, and yes, I’m taking the long-hanging fruit but I don’t see No. 13 Union winning this weekend at Ithaca.

Relative to your own preseason expectations, who will be the most surprising team to clinch a playoff spot this week?

	Greg's take: Redlands. I expected Chapman to really kind of run and hide from the rest of the SCIAC in 2021, but Redlands has shown resilience and steadily improved after their early season wipeout against Linfield. The Bulldogs are going to wrap up a well deserved return trip to the postseason with a win at Whittier tomorrow.
	Pat's take: Framingham State. With the late coaching change, and dragging Tom Kelley back out of retirement to coach, plus the way the first two games of the season went, it was not easy to envision the Rams being in position to clinch the MASCAC in Week 10. But, here they are, and they can do it with a win against second place Bridgewater State.
	Adam's take: No. 18 Trinity (Texas). Or No. 19 Birmingham-Southern. Whoever wins this battle of SAA unbeatens will clinch the title. The Tigers shared the title in 2019, but this league had been dominated by Berry in recent years. Trinity hasn't been in the playoffs since 2011, while the Panthers are seeking their first postseason berth.
	Ryan's take: DePauw. Having hovered around .500 the past couple of seasons, the Tigers have plowed through most of the toughest teams in the conference to be undefeated against D-III squads, and a win over Oberlin seals the playoff deal on Saturday.
	Frank's take: The winner of No. 18 Trinity (Texas) at No. 19 Birmingham-Southern. I thought the SAA would come down to Berry, Hendrix, and/or Centre this season. Kudos to these teams for stepping up, and kudos to BSC RB Chris Shufford for coming back to lead his team as well as he has.
	Kevin's take: Carnegie Mellon will at least be the most surprising team for me to be closer to a berth.

Which game are you following that no one else on the panel is following?

	Greg's take: Albion at Hope. 1:00 p.m. Eastern is a really busy window tomorrow, but I am going to dedicate a window to check in on what should be the MIAA title game. Hope has by flying under the radar after their early season loss to Coe, which has turned out to be a pretty good result. Albion slipped against Adrian, but has course-corrected and kept themselves in position to win the MIAA.
	Pat's take: Lycoming at Widener. This game always brings back good memories of the classic 1998 contest that is basically the D3football.com origin story.
	Adam's take: Ferrum at Washington and Lee. The Generals have been playing with fire all season, but have yet to be burned. After three thrilling wins on the road, the Generals can clinch the ODAC title with a win in their home finale.
	Ryan's take: John Carroll at Heidelberg. While neither team has a playoff shot and all eyes are on how Mount Union and Baldwin Wallace finish the season, John Carroll and Heidelberg will be a great matchup between the No. 3 and 4 OAC teams, despite being so easily overshadowed in these final weeks of the regular season.
	Frank's take: Springfield at MIT. After we finish our “In the (D3FB) Huddle D3Blitzer” show Saturday afternoon (our version of Red Zone coverage), this game gets primary focus since the NEWMAC title is still wide open. Based on my reading of the tiebreakers, Merchant Marine’s playoff life depends on MIT winning this game.
	Kevin's take: No. 21 Baldwin Wallace at Ohio Northern. I’m watching two former Thomas More University coaches square off in the OAC. Dean Paul’s Polar Bear squad is coming off a close one at Mount Union and I think he’ll amazingly have the kids ready to play Baldwin Wallace. Jim Hilvert has done a nice job of building the program at BW.  If I still lived in the Midwest, this is where I’d be this Saturday.

Which team regionally listed this week won't get to see where they are ranked in next week's rankings?

	Greg's take: Heidelberg. I don't expect a pretty game, but the loser of John Carroll at Heidelberg will pick up a third loss and certainly be replaced in next week's rankings. I give the John Carroll defense a slight edge over Drew Sims and the Student Princes.
	Pat's take: Coe. And they might not even need to lose to drop out, because I feel that the third team in the CCIW is going to have better credentials once all the criteria are considered.
	Adam's take: Husson. A third loss will knock the Eagles out of the Region 1 rankings, even though the matchup with Salve Regina will increase Husson's strength of schedule.
	Ryan's take: Widener. With a loss to Lycoming, I can easily see the Pride losing their Regional Ranking spot.
	Frank's take: Lakeland. Aurora just seems to be heading toward the end of the season on a freight train, which bodes poorly for the Muskies. Their SoS figure needs a boost, but a loss would knock them out of the Regional Rankings next Wednesday.
	Kevin's take: Lycoming or Widener. The team that loses this rivalry game is going to have a hard time staying in this ranking.

Which team will stumble before their rivalry game?

	Greg's take: I've already named a couple, but I'll go with Franklin, falling to Rose-Hulman ahead of the Victory Bell game against Hanover next week. RHIT winning, plus help from Hanover, would put the Engineers back in the NCAA tournament.
	Pat's take: Wabash. It seems to be a lost year for the Little Giants, which is tough to say considering they are 6-2 so far. But even though Wittenberg is not its formerly dominant self, the Tigers should be able to handle the Little Giants.
	Adam's take: Hampden-Sydney. The Tigers host Bridgewater, the 2019 ODAC champs who have stumbled to an 0-4 start in league play this year. Both programs have played their share of close contests this season. The Tigers would like nothing more than to spoil any playoff hopes of Randolph-Macon in Week 11. They can't overlook the Eagles this week.
	Ryan's take: Wabash. Yeah, I know my fellow alums are going to hate me for saying that, but there's no question that Wittenberg will be a really tough outing this week, with the Monon Bell Classic on the horizon.
	Frank's take: The loser of No. 13 Union at No. 24 Ithaca. With Cortaca and the Dutchman’s Shoes games next week, someone will stumble here. As I suggested earlier, it might be Union in this Pool A elimination game.
	Kevin's take: I referenced this earlier but I think No. 13 Union stumbles this week before the game next week against RPI.  Ithaca is very balanced and I feel like that and being at home will be enough to pull out a tough win.

Got picks? Put them in the comments!