D1AA gets its share of upstarts each year, which is something we enjoy seeing.
University of Connecticut, a team GRR now has at #29 in our D1AA rankings; SUNY Binghamton, which pulled off a nice tie with Boston College and are now in the GRR Top 35; Maryland is a team to watch also. We see UConn vs Boston College this week, which is something we're very interested. Maryland takes on GRR's #9 in Virginia Tech. That game is a 2-0-1 team vs a 1-1 team. A win for Maryland would throw the D1AA MARC South into a big mess.
In the MAC, we have what could be a preview of the conference final, with #8 Bowling Green vs #2 Louisville. For Bowling Green they have struggled a little with discipline, but they are seeing some solid performances in the forwards, with Phil Tracey a big man at No. 8. Keep an eye on Xavier Everett, who is an impact player of the bench, and their kicking game is strong.
Louisville is coming off a non-conference loss to Notre Dame which Head Coach Emil Walton said was valuable.
"Our game against Notre Dame was exactly what we needed over the past two years," said Walton. "Facing a quality team like Notre Dame mid-season has given us valuable time to address and rectify key issues as we prepare for the rest of the year. For the Bowling Green game, it’s always a strong rivalry, but in the MAC, anything can happen. Last season, we lost to both WMU and BGSU during the regular season but came out on top when it mattered. At this point, it’s one game at a time, and our focus is fully on Saturday."
Sophomore wings JB Meier and Jack Eberle have been nice breakout players for the Cardinals, and keep an eye on freshman Matthew Woods as well.
Also on the slate worth an extra look: Alabama vs Tennessee in SCRC, Columbia at UMass, and Arizona State not favored at Arizona but still a good early test for the Sun Devils.
