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Bye Week; Predictions Of Other Games

This is the bye week, as you've problably noticed by the lack of a preview, press roundup, and postings the past couple days. For those that care, here are my picks this week for the games that are going on today.

Patriot League:
Colgate at Dartmouth. Dartmouth will be better, but Colgate I'm sure will be eager to prove that their win against UMass was no fluke. Colgate 21, Dartmouth 10.

Princeton at #21 Lafayette. I'll be attending this game as part of my duties as I-AA.org diarist. This looks to be a defensive struggle. It seems unlikely that Princeton will sneak up on the Leopards this year, and they are eager to go 3-0. Look for a lot of defense, and a Leopard win. Lafayette 17, Princeton 6.

Bucknell at Cornell. The Bison can't seem to get anything right lately (despite a lot of injuries), but it's hard to picture them righting the ship at Cornell. Cornell 31, Bucknell 13.

Brown at Georgetown. Georgetown's home opener in their new refurbished stadium will be a great day for Hoya football, and the Hoyas will be game to play the Bears. I think the Bears pull it out, however, as they shake off the rust and win in the 4th. Brown 31, G'Town 14.

#16 Harvard at Holy Cross. An upset here? No way. The Crusaders will find out the hard way that the Crimson ain't Sacred Heart. Harvard 42, HC 14.

Columbia at Fordham. This "Liberty Cup" battle is always close, and I think Fordham pulls out a win they need to have. Fordham 31, Columbia 28.

Other I-AA Top 25:
Western Oregon (D-II) at #2 Eastern Washington. Smackdown. EWU 63, WO 0.

#3 Southern Illinois at Western Michigan (I-A). Southern Illinois will be game, but Western Michigan will pull it out at the end in the Saluki's fist good test of the season. WMU 24, SIU 21.

West Chester (D-II) at #4 Delaware. Smackdown #2. Delaware 77, WC 0.

#5 Northern Iowa at Iowa (I-A). As much as I'd like to make Panther Nation happy, with Iowa's embarassment to State last week, this should get ugly fast. Iowa 56, NIU 3.

South Dakota State at Montana. Montana at home. Period. Montana 41, SDSU 15.

#7 New Hampshire at Towson. The Wildcats will crush any faint hope the Tigers have this season of challenging for the title.. UNH 35, Towson 3.

Delaware St. at #8 James Madison. Just what the Dukes ordered. JMU 63, DSU 10.

#9 William & Mary at Rhode Island. This game will be closer than people may think, but it's hard to see a loss here. W&M 27, URI 17.

Weber St. at #10 North Dakota St. The Bison will continue to dominate. NDSU 48, Weber St. 12.

Samford at #11 Furman. Furman stuggling for the third straight week? Hard to picture it. Furman 31, Samford 16.

#12 Montana St. at #19 Cal Poly. The game of the week. Montana St. looks to me a monster out of the Big Sky, and I think they take this one. MSU 35, Cal Poly 28.

#13 Northwestern St. at Louisiana-Lafayette (I-A). The brutal road strech of the Demons continues. I can't see the upset after 3 bruising weeks. LL 35, NW St. 13.

#14 Georgia Southern at Wofford. The Eagles in a must-win? Sure looks like it. Despite their problems, I think the Eagles end up on the winning side. GSU 24, Wofford 17.

#17 Sam Houston St. at Texas Tech (I-A). Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. TT 55, SHSU 10.

#20 Coastal Carolina at Appalachian St. If the Chants win this, I'm a believer. But it's awful hard to win in Boone. I'm thinking, letdown game. App St. 35, Coastal 24.

#22 McNeese St. at Southern Mississippi (I-A). This will be closer than you think, but Southern Miss should prevail in the end. SM 30, McNeese 21.

#23 South Carolina St. at Bethune-Cookman. This is where I smell the upset this week. B-CC 25, SCSU 22.

Stony Brook at #24 Hofstra. Hofstra handles another cupcake. Hofstra 55, SB 3.

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