FB: Southern Athletic Association

[Ron Boerger]

Does Maryville have the dubious honor of being the best 0-3 in the country after the Heidelberg win at Mount Union?

Believe it or not, Heidelberg is 3-0/2-0 OAC. 

[The Third Division]

Saw LaGrange for the 2nd week in a row against an SAA opponent - it was very hot today (as it likely was many other places) - the 1st 5-10 minutes of the 1stquarter had my brain telling me to fall over everytime i went from squatting to standing up - this subsided as I got used to the heat, made sure I was hydrated, and thankfully there was a slow breeze.

Other than that, LaGrange won this one on a missed Centre field goal.

[Ron Boerger]

A lot of that (missed FGs) going on yesterday.  And it's not like they were all long - this one was a 33-yard attempt.

The game story for the Centre-LaGrange game says the Colonels play Bridgewater next week as part of the "Southern Athletic Association/Old Dominion Athletic Conference Challenge" which to the best of my knowledge hasn't been a thing for years (a one-year series due to B-SC's failure in 2024).  RMC-Maryville yesterday is the only other instance of the two conferences squaring off before conference play begins this season. 

[Ron Boerger]

This week's SP+ predictions:

• CMU 16.0, @Berry 36.3
• Maryville 16.4, @RMC 37.2
• NC Wesleyan 33.9, @Sewanee 17.0
• LaGrange 16.3, @Centre 18.5
• Hendrix 18.0, @Millsaps 37.9
• Southwestern 26.0, @Schreiner 27.8
• PLU 8.2, @Trinity 42.9

This week's Hansen predictions:

• CMU 17.5, @Berry 30.0
• Maryville 14.3, @RMC 31.3
• NC Wesleyan 30.8, @Sewanee 21.5
• LaGrange 17.5, @Centre 17.2
• Hendrix 25.8, @Millsaps 40.9
• Southwestern 41.3, @Schreiner 19.8
• PLU 15.3, @Trinity 35.7

The two differ on LaGrange-Centre and much more noticeably on Southwestern-Schreiner, where Hansen only gives the Mountaineers an 8.5% chance of winning.

Actual results:

• Berry 16, CMU 10
• RMC 42, Maryville 14
• LaGrange 16, Centre 14
• Hendrix 36, Millsaps 27
• Sewanee 24, NC Wesleyan 17
• Trinity 24, PLU 6
• Schreiner 31, Southwestern 28

SP+ 4-3 (missed Sewanee by a lot, LaGrange, Hendrix by a lot; overstated Berry and Trinity), Hansen 4-3 (missed Sewanee, Hendrix and Southwestern by a lot; overstated Berry).

Another unimpressive week as the conference goes 3-4 and none of the wins were what you could call impressive.  Berry continues to skate by, Trinity can't find its passing game (though its run defense continues to be hella stout, giving up 24 yards of which 20 came on a QB scramble), Southwestern manages to lose to a first year team, giving up a game-winning drive with under two minutes to go, Millsaps apparently forgot what they did in their first two games.  A second-place 9-1 Berry or Trinity still might get a bid, but anyone else will have to win the conference to have a shot at the playoffs as the conference NPIs are dreadful.  Courtesy D3Datacast:

7. Berry
9. Trinity
109. Millsaps
128. Sewanee
201. Maryville
207. Centre
208. Southwestern
232. Rhodes

(240 teams)

[tigerguy]

Horn went out with what looked like a leg injury, possibly a hamstring or tendon.  He went to the tent for a while, came out but did not return.

Was hoping this was just cramping but agree Horn appeared to pull up before end of the run so looking like he may be out a few weeks. Hondo hadn't played well the first two weeks in spot time, but it is handy to have a backup qb that has a full season of starts under his belt.