It wasn't that hard last week to pick the games last week as there weren't too many, and we maybe were a little lucky as we got all six DIAA-vs-DIAA winners correct.

The winning margins? Actually not all that close, as we figured many of the games would be closer than they were. And we thought maybe Oklahoma might take down Lindenwood-Belleville. Why? Yeah, what were we thinking. OK, so Lindenwood-Belleville won easily.

So now this week we've got a couple of Lonestar games, but most of the attention is on the national Fall Playoffs. 

So there's a little bit of that.

St. Joe's vs NC State is a fascinating matchup because you've got the 2018 fall runner-up, St. Joseph's, against the 2018 DII champion.

"We have a lot of respect for NC State," said St. Joe's Head Coach Dan Yarusso. "We have experience with playing against teams that have moved up from DII, like Rowan and Towson, and we don't take them lightly. We can't afford to."

NC State won DII with a stifling flanker pairing and attention to detail in the little things. They will look to hit St. Joe's hard and make it difficult to move the ball. Meanwhile, the Hawks will want to ship the ball to the outside and will need Noah Niumataiwalu to put players such as Jonathan Ahern and No. 8 Galen Kelly in space. 

"We rely on our skill," said Yarusso.

So that's a contrast in styles.

Western Michigan against Tennessee is a very difficult game to pick. WMU is big and powerful and can control things in tight—Joseph Backe, Manny Bravo, Justice Delli Bovi. Tennessee is very savvy, and has emerged from some very competitive games to become SCRC conference champions. We're picking WMU, but it's really a pick 'em.

Bowling Green won the fall championship last year by taking space and time away from St. Joseph's. It was that unflinching defense that did the job. Against a somewhat injury-hit Kennesaw State we think that with a strong back row of Levi Muter, John Stuhldreher, and Daniel Waltermeyer patrolling the gain line, they'll take care of business.

Virginia Tech against Iowa Central Community College is a very difficult game to pick, as well. Tech is excellent. They could win this game. They could roll through it all. They run their offense through an excellent scrumhalf in Wesley Pan, a powerful No. 8 in Ieuan Israel, a really useful second row pairing in Kelly Fernandi and Robert Trimber, a snappy front row, and and a pretty useful backline.

But Iowa Central can explode on you. They have beaten some very, very good teams this season, they are healthy, and play a chaotic game as well as anyone. People should not look at Iowa Central as invincible—they didn't win DII last year, remember. But they are very good, and we think they have a chip on their should.

Here's how we see it: