Three weeks remain in the 2024 regular season and tickets to the postseason are about to be issued. There are playoff bid clinching scenarios this weekend, as well as plenty of other high leverage games in exciting conference races. This week we’re closely watching the MAC, the PAC, the MASCAC, while Surf’s up in the SCIAC, and after all of that you might need a tasty NJAC breakfast snack. Our panel of experts are back to kickstart November and the countdown to Selection Sunday in this week’s Quick HIts.

Our regular crew is Greg Thomas, Patrick Coleman, Frank Rossi, Logan Hansen, and Riley Zayas.

— Greg Thomas

Which game is the Game of the Week?

	Greg's take: Delaware Valley at King’s. MAC supremacy is on the line in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday. Led by senior quarterback Russell Minor-Shaw, King’s is the lone undefeated team remaining in MAC play. Despite having their long conference win streak snapped earlier this year, Delaware Valley can get the inside track to their seventh straight MAC championship. But wait, there’s more! First year head coaches Mike Cebrosky (King’s) and Mike Isgro (Delaware Valley) were teammates at…Delaware Valley.
	Pateick's take: No. 19 Washington & Jefferson at Case Western Reserve. Perhaps last week was Case getting up to speed to play at the top half of the PAC, perhaps it was a night game on the road, or perhaps something else entirely. We'll know a little more about where Case falls in the PAC pecking order after Saturday afternoon in both Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
	Frank's take: Muhlenberg at No. 22 Johns Hopkins. With JHU’s offense coming back together again, and with last year’s epic ending still fresh in the minds of the Mules, this Centennial tilt has broad NPI implications, especially since the tiebreaker is still indefinite if a three-way tie develops from a Muhlenberg win.
	Logan's take: No. 19 Washington & Jefferson at Case Western Reserve. Every game among the top 5 teams in the PAC is essentially a playoff game for the rest of the season. This one sticks out more to me than CMU/Westminster this week because the favorite (W&J) is on the road, which should make this slightly more competitive, and both offenses are capable of going on runs if they can protect the ball.
	Riley's take: No. 19 Washington & Jefferson at Case Western Reserve. The PAC has produced some of this season's best games, and I have a feeling we'll see another one in Cleveland on Saturday. After falling narrowly to Westminster a week ago, CWRU desperately needs a win here to stay in contention for the PAC title. There are five one-loss teams in the PAC right now, and CWRU is in the midst of a brutal four-week stretch that also includes matchups against Grove City and Carnegie Mellon. W&J cannot afford a misstep either, but with a victory would be in firm position to finish the regular season at 9-1. The clash between W&J's passing attack -- the PAC's best at 313.6 yards/game -- and CWRU's pass defense -- which has given up just under 112 yards/game and intercepted five passes -- is going to be a major determining factor in this one.

Which Top 25 team is most likely to be upset?

	Greg's take: No. 21 UW-River Falls. The carnage in the WIAC continues as the Falcons head into Perkins Stadium to face a Warhawks team playing to stay in the Isthmus Bowl hunt.  It’s the home finale for Whitewater, it’s homecoming, it’s Hall of Fame weekend.  There’s never a good time to play at Whitewater, but this weekend may be the worst timing for a Falcons team trying to stay in playoff contention.
	Patrick's take: No. 21 UW-River Falls. Predicting the WIAC is a fool's errand this season, so who's to say who's a favorite or what the home field is worth?
	Frank's take: No. 17 Carnegie Mellon (vs. Westminster). The Titans are having fun this season with expectations outside their circle being low — and we saw it play out last week. They could cause chaos in the PAC, and the Tartans will need to be ready for that possibility.
	Logan's take:  My model has 5 games where Top 25 teams have an 80% chance of victory or lower: UWL - 80% @ UW-Stout UMHB - 77% @ ETBU JHU - 70% vs. Muhlenberg W&J - 58% @ CWRU UWRF - 54% @ UWW With Kaleb Blaha's hamstring still bothering him, No. 21 UW-River Falls' offense has still been good, scoring 68 against MSJ without Blaha playing and 71 against UWEC in limited service, but they've struggled against conference mates who are used to their system. I expect UWW to respond after mostly holding UWP in check for 3-1/2 quarters last week.
	Riley's take: No. 20 UW-La Crosse (at UW-Stout). Without a second half collapse at River Falls two weeks ago, Stout would be undefeated in WIAC play right now. Instead, the Blue Devils are 3-1, tied with Oshkosh and Platteville, and playing at home for the second straight week. For as strong as La Crosse has been in stopping the run, it seems Stout has an opportunity to take advantage through the air. Blue Devils' QB Adam Moen is coming off back-to-back 343-yard passing performances and is averaging 8.3 yards/attempt in WIAC play, the third-best mark in the league. La Crosse's pass defense has been shaky at times over the last four games, which could open the door for Moen and Stout to pull off a second Top 25 home upset this season.

Which game is higher scoring- West Conn at Mass-Dartmouth or Salisbury at TCNJ?

	Greg's take: I think I’m probably going against the grain a bit on this one and pick Salisbury at TCNJ. Salisbury has been a points machine all year while TCNJ and the nation’s second leading passer Trevor Bopp are playing in their home finale.
	Patrick's take: Salisbury at TCNJ. Even losing a starting quarterback hasn't exactly slowed the Salisbury offense, and TCNJ has scored a lot of points this season as well.
	Frank's take: WestConn at Mass-Dartmouth. I’ve attended games of both, and it’s possible we see 100+ points between them.
	Logan's take: Both games could (should?) see a total of 80 points. I think I trust Dartmouth's defense the most out of these four teams, so I'll lean Salisbury/TCNJ for the larger point total.
	Riley's take: West Conn at Mass-Dartmouth. Mass-Dartmouth's balanced attack averages 524 yards/game, almost evenly split between the run and the pass. That has certainly left opposing defenses in limbo, as the Corsairs lead the MASCAC in rushing and rank second in passing. The passing is second only to West Conn, whose offense has been humming for much of this fall, seen by the Wolves' league-best 57% third-down conversion rate and 464.6 yards/game. Both have scored touchdowns on at least 80% of their trips to the red zone, and while credit should be given to the defenses in this matchup, who have been at the top of the MASCAC in their own right, the offensive firepower is going to be too much. The combined score will go over 75 in this one.

Which under the radar game are you following?

	Greg's take: St. Norbert at Wisconsin Lutheran. Aurora is likely to wrap up another NACC championship this weekend, but the race for a spot in the Lakefront Bowl is on and these squads enter Week 9 tied at 4-1 in conference play. Wisconsin Lutheran is enjoying a strong season as the Warriors have only lost this season to undefeated teams Lake Forest and Aurora and their five wins match the most in a single season since 2014.
	Patrick's take: Bowdoin at Bates. A game under the lights on Nov. 2 in Maine is what a rivalry calls for, and that's how the last two games of the CBB rivalry this week and next week will be. This will probably be the best battle of 2-5 teams this week, although I did not call the research department in for that statement.
	Frank's take: I’ll be attending Howard Payne at Hardin-Simmons tonight - I’m curious to see if HPU plays HSU any closer than in Week 1. An upset here would be epic, but I doubt that’s in the cards.
	Logan's take: I don't know if it should classify as under-the-radar, but the SCIAC-Surf clash between Chapman and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps needs to be on everyone's radar this Saturday night. Chapman won the first matchup on the road by a 41-13 score, but that game was bookended by a 4 point win vs. 1-6 Cal Lutheran and a loss to Pomona-Pitzer (whose only conference loss is to C-M-S). This game likely decides the Surf Division, and should be considerably more competitive than the first matchup.
	Riley's take: Denison at Wabash. It might be under-the-radar nationally, considering neither is nationally ranked nor in the Top 50 in NPI, but this is the game of the week in the NCAC. Wabash hasn't beaten Denison in Crawfordsville since 2019, and the Big Red has won the last two meetings. But the Little Giants are the favorite here, at 5-0 in the NCAC, and to have a chance at upsetting DePauw in the 130th Monon Bell Classic, they need to get past Denison first. The Big Red, who come off an open date at 4-1 in league play, won't give in easily. With a very capable offense that has steadily progressed, Denison will be Wabash's toughest test since playing at UW-Platteville back in Week 3.

Who will be in first place in the SAA after this weekend?

	Greg's take: The MAC didn’t deliver a four way tie a couple of weeks ago, but the conditions are good this week in the SAA to set up a four team chase over the final two weeks of the season.  I’ll take Berry to beat Centre at home, Trintiy to win at Hendrix, and Millsaps to win at Rhodes to create the Berry-Centre-Millsaps-Trinity tie.
	Patrick's take: Centre, alone. I know chaos is fun to predict, but it doesn't usually turn out that way. Centre is playing really well.
	Frank's take: Three teams. Berry should hold serve at home, causing a three-team pile-up in the SAA.
	Logan's take:  My favorite type of question, because I don't need to do anything except multiplication. Here's each team's odds of winning this weeked, and the odds of each combination of first place teams: Centre (4-0, @ Berry): 16% Berry (3-1, vs. Centre): 84% Trinity (3-1, @ Hendrix): 88% Millsaps (3-1, @ Rhodes): 53%   4-way tie: 0.84×0.88×0.53 = 39% Centre-Berry-Trinity: 0.84×0.88×(1-0.53) = 35% Only Centre: 16% Centre-Berry-Millsaps: 0.84×(1-0.88)×0.53 = 5% Centre-Berry: 0.84×(1-0.88)×(1-0.53) = 5%
	Riley's take: Three teams: Berry, Centre, and Trinity (Texas). Centre is 4-0 in the SAA, but the Colonels' toughest trip still awaits. A week after making the long trek to Texas for a 38-28 win at Southwestern, they head to Berry, facing a Vikings team that doesn't need to look far in the past for motivation. Last week's 38-35 overtime loss at Trinity is certain to have lit a fire in them, and they'll be playing with their season on the line Saturday. If they win, and Trinity gets past Hendrix, Berry, Centre, and Trinity will all by tied at 4-1 atop the SAA standings, causing some chaos with just two weeks left.

Pork Roll or Taylor Ham?

	Greg's take: Everybody wins at breakfast, but in the first edition of the Breakfast Bowl, I’m giving a slight lean to the home team. Both teams come in 3-4 on the season, but the slight advantage afforded to home teams coupled with the recent comparative results against the NJAC’s best team give the advantage to Rowan and a year of Pork Roll bragging rights.
	Patrick's take: I'm going with Pork Roll. I mean, it makes more sense that that's what it should be called anyway, and I'm also picking Rowan.
	Frank's take: Pork Roll. Rowan at home will be tough here.
	Logan's take: The Pork Rolls have been a little up & down in their first season with a new staff, which is to be expected, but they've definitely been more up than down. Likewise, the Taylor Hams saw some unexpected success a year ago under their first year head coach, but have taken a significant step back in their follow-up campaign. In what should be a defensive battle, I'm siding with the offense that's shown more explosive potential - Go Pork Rolls
	Riley's take: Pork Roll. Rowan is playing with a different edge this season, and it has kept the Profs in contention in several impactful matchups, including in the seven-point loss at Salisbury last week. There's no question that Montclair State's defense is top-tier, and I don't expect a high-scoring duel. But Rowan's passing game has emerged as an offensive strength, with 250-plus yards in three of the last four, which included Top 25 matchups against Johns Hopkins and Salisbury. The utilization of a two-quarterback system also throws some wrinkles into the way a defense prepares for Rowan, especially with how effective Nate Maiers and Matt Welsey have been as of late.

Got picks? Put them in the comments!