Aaron Syverson was last seen being taken off the field with a broken leg last fall, but he's back and presumably ready to go for St. John's. Photo by Caleb Williams, d3photography.com

Welcome to Quick Hits! If you're new to Division III football or D3football.com, this is our weekly predictions page. We bring together a panel of Division III football writers and observers and give you the best take on what the best games are, which teams are on upset alert, and a variety of other categories. Six panelists with six questions will get you ready for the upcoming weekend in Division III football!

Longtime Quick Hits readers will know that Greg Thomas, Pat Coleman, Ryan Tipps and Frank Rossi are regulars on the panel. This season we're excited to welcome Wartburg graduate Logan Hansen and his statistical perspective as well as Tru to the Cru Founder Riley Zayas as regular contributors. 

— Greg Thomas

Which game is the Game of the Week?

	Greg's take: You're about to get a heavy dose of what's going down in Collegeville on Saturday, so I'll spotlight our other Top 25 game, No. 11 Muhlenberg at No. 1 Mary Hardin-Baylor. When we last checked in with the Mules, they were navigating the traditional Spanish dining timeline in Barcelona.  This weekend's trip to Belton is goign to be less leisurely, but no less educational- we'll get a chance to see how Muhlenberg stacks up to the best as they begin the post-Hnatkowsky era.
	Pat's take: No. 4 UW-Whitewater at No. 5 St. John's. These teams last met in the regular season in 2002 but have played four playoff games since then. This is an atypical opener for the Johnnies, who are among the highly ranked teams scheduling big this season.
	Ryan's take: No. 4 UW-Whitewater at No. 5 St. John's. While not the only matchup between Top 25s, this is clearly the most exciting one.
	Frank's take: No. 11 Muhlenberg at No. 1 UMHB. Because of the depth of both the Centennial Conference and the American Southwest Conference, the loser of this game could end up in a dire circumstance for the rest of the season this early.
	Logan's take: Can I name co-games of the week? In the ~15 years I've followed DIII, I can't remember having two marquee matchups like UWW/SJU & UMHB/Muhlenberg in Week 1. I might as well let my Midwest bias flag fly early and give No. 4 UW-Whitewater at No. 5 St. John's the nod.
	Riley's take: No. 4 UW-Whitewater at No. 5 St. John’s. UW-Whitewater might have the toughest non-conference schedule in the country, facing Saint John’s, UMHB, and Berry on three consecutive weekends. The Johnnies are in a similar position, with UW-River Falls in Week 2 and Bethel in the MIAC opener. Both teams come off one-loss seasons, and with some key departures, this matchup will be an excellent measuring stick to see where each program is early in 2022.

Which Top 25 team is most likely to be upset?

	Greg's take: Huntingdon taking down No. 7 Linfield probably isn't the *finger quotes* most likely upset, but if you read 20 Questions earlier today, then you already saw this and I feel obligated to double down. This is a looong trip and the Wildcats are going to be green at quarterback. Huntingdon almost pulled off an upset of UW-Oshkosh in the 2021 lid lifter- not only will the Hawks play games of this caliber, they often bring out the best games Huntingdon plays.
	Pat's take: No. 15 Delaware Valley. Two similarly hard-nosed programs in a game where the score is likely to be lower suggests that the upset potential is there.
	Ryan's take: No. 20 RPI. The Engineers graduated A LOT of star players, and Dickinson was an up-and-coming team in the 2021 season -- and may now be ready for its breakout.
	Frank's take: No. 16 Cortland. Wittenberg is due for a bounce, and Cortland has some graduations to fill, especially at QB. This is a chance for the Tigers to make some noise early in the season.
	Logan's take: Purely by my model, No. 4 UW-Whitewater has a 45% chance to lose to No. 5 St. John's, but that's no fun. A handful of other Top 25 teams have competitive games, including Heidelberg (Adrian), RPI (Dickinson), and Del Val (Westminster), but my gut says No. 16 Cortland hosting Wittenberg is the most likely upset.
	Riley's take: No. 16 Cortland. Wittenberg is incredibly deep and retains the majority of its leaders on both sides of the ball, which is one reason I expect the Tigers to improve on last year’s 7-3 record and win the NCAC. The Red Dragons will be hard to beat on their home turf, but are replacing three senior linebackers who led the team in tackles, and starting quarterback Brees Segala. If Wittenberg can gain momentum on offense early, the Tigers have a legitimate shot to pull off the upset.

Several teams are traveling a long way to play in Week 1- who will carry an important win back with them in the team’s checked luggage?

	Greg's take: Whitworth, at Carnegie Mellon. The Pirates have an opportunity, with a win in Pittsburgh, to be a serious Pool C candidate. This win, a decent result against Linfield in the NWC regular season, and loss column attrition from teams in the competitvely balanced WIAC, could very well leave the Pirates as one of the top teams in Region 6 at tournament selection time.
	Pat's take: No. 7 Linfield. The longest trip of the week will bring a big reward for the Wildcats.
	Ryan's take: No. 7 Linfield at Huntingdon. Gonna use this opportunity to give kudos to the USAC-contender Hawks for scheduling up (in a big way!) for the second year in a row -- even if a loss is a likely result for them.
	Frank's take: Cal Lutheran (at Southwestern). The other big travel game in Texas Saturday night is an interesting one, with a Cal Lutheran team capable of making noise in the SCIAC facing a Southwestern team that hasn’t had a winning season since 2018.
	Logan's take: Huntingdon isn't the odds-on favorite in the USAC, but they're the safest bet to win that conference. No. 7 Linfield's likely to win against the Hawks, which will be a decent feather in their cap come playoff selection & seeding.
	Riley's take: No. 7 Linfield. Linfield is, for the first time in quite a while, without starting quarterback Wyatt Smith, who graduated following last season. That leaves a major hole that the Wildcats must fill, and playing against a Huntingdon team that is consistently in the playoff hunt and received votes in the preseason Top 25. Linfield must travel 2,298 miles, but even with that long-distance expedition, the Wildcats west-coast style offense should power them to a quality non-conference win.

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

	Greg's take: I know other people are watching this game, but Hampden-Sydney at Wabash should get some of your screen time on Saturday afternoon. The Little Giants swept the Gentlemen's Classic series in 2014-2015 and they will have a strong chance to go 3-0 against their counterparts from Virginia- if they can avoid peeking ahead to Week 2.
	Pat's take: St. Norbert at Ripon. This is low-key a great rivalry and I'm glad to see this return this year as a non-conference game in Ripon coach Ron Ernst's final season.
	Ryan's take: Guilford at Greensboro. With Greensboro going winless last year and Guilford's only win coming against Greensboro, there's a heavy spotlight on this cross-town rivalry for these struggling teams.
	Frank's take: FDU-Florham at USMMA. It’s a matchup between two new head coaches, as Jameson Croall replaces Michael Toop at USMMA, and Anthony Van Curen replaces Jimmy Robertson at FDU.
	Logan's take: The easy answer is always your alma mater, with Wartburg travelling to Monmouth, but given last year's result of that game in Waverly, I'm more interested to see how Dubuque handles the trip to Marietta. Both teams are capable of creeping into their respective conferences' upper tier, but each team needs a bounce-back year.
	Riley's take: John Carroll at Washington and Jefferson. This is not a Top 25 contest, but if played a month down the road, I suspect it would be. Both teams have playoff potential this season and come off decent seasons in 2021 that saw both included in the first regional ranking. For either team, a win in this matchup could set them up for a spot in the Top 25 two or three weeks into September.

Who will have the most successful head coaching debut?

	Greg's take: Andrae Murphy, Dean. Murphy joined Around The Nation episode 306 to talk to D3football.com about returning to his alma mater and building a successful program at Dean. The Bulldogs travel to Fitchburg State for some Friday evening football. Fitchburg is coming off of a winless 2021 season and should provide Murphy with a great opportunity to start his head coaching career with a win.
	Pat's take: Joe Troche, Luther. I don't know what constitutes the most successful, but Luther has lost 12 in a row and 29 of its last 31. Seeing Presentation come to town is a blue turf dream come true.
	Ryan's take: Paul Crowley at Christopher Newport. Starting the year with the incumbent NJAC Offensive Player of the Year under center should help get the Captains off to a strong start against the Generals.
	Frank's take: Assuming you consider his brief stint as head coach in a stand-in role to not count here, Larry Harmon at UMHB, I believe, will help lead the defending national champions to a W on Saturday night in Belton.
	Logan's take: Is a win over the No. 11 team in the country the most successful, even if you're coaching the defending national champs with a preseason All-American QB? Or would it be more successful for an oft-underperforming team to take care of business at home in a winnable game, a'la Lewis & Clark or Bethany? I think relative to the stakes (interim tag, playoff hopes), Drew Nystrom at John Carroll (@ W&J) will be the happiest camper of the bunch.
	Riley's take: Larry Harmon. The new UMHB head coach has big shoes to fill as the successor to Pete Fredenburg and his debut is one of the more anticipated matchups in week one as No. 1 UMHB faces No. 11 Muhlenberg. But with the Cru at home, UMHB appears as the favorite to pull out a win, in turn giving Harmon his first Top 25 win as a head coach.

Which Week 1 game result will we be talking about before Selection Sunday?

	Greg's take: Westminster (Pa.) at No. 15 Delaware Valley. There's quite a bit of steam behind Westminster as this season opens up and Delaware Valley appears to be a sizeable favorite.  Whether we're talking about at-large selection or the seeding of playoff partiipants, this result seems certain to come back around in about 10 weeks.
	Pat's take: John Carroll vs. Washington & Jefferson. Not sure what we'll be saying about it but it's another great data point either for the OAC or PAC.
	Ryan's take: No. 10 Johns Hopkins at Case Western Reserve. The result here will eliminate one of these teams from Pool C contention and should impact seeding come playoff time for whichever may earn Pool A spots.
	Frank's take: No. 4 UW-Whitewater at No. 5 St. John’s. This game will shape a national landscape scenario, in that it will affect bracketing if both teams end up making the tournament. The winner could be a legitimate “No. 1 seed” while the loser could be forced on the road earlier than normal based on the loss.
	Logan's take: The co-games of the week are easy bets, and I just mentioned JCU at W&J, so I'll go with No. 10 Johns Hopkins at Case Western Reserve. Both teams are contending to win their conference, with three teams legitimately vying for the Centennial Conference crown, and five teams in the hunt at the top of the Presidents Athletic Conference. A Pool C resume-builder is a must for both teams.
	Riley's take: John Carroll over Washington and Jefferson. Playing in the same conference as Mount Union, chances are that JCU will be forced to contend for one of the few Pool C bids. But their chances could be greatly improved in that scenario with a win over W&J, an out-of-region opponent and likely to be regionally ranked. Could the Blue Streaks’ playoff bid come down to a Week 1 result? It is very possible considering that this will be JCU’s lone non-conference game of the season. If they make it count, it could be the reason they’re still playing come mid-November.

Got picks? Put them in the comments!