No. 17 Central Missouri (4-1, 4-1) at No. 1 Pittsburg State (4-0, 4-0)Prediction: This game is close until the end. Pittsburg State 30 UCM 28

No. 9 Northwest Missouri (4-1, 3-1) at Central Oklahoma (1-4, 1-4)
Saturday, Oct. 6; 1 p.m.
Wantland Stadium; Edmond, Okla.

I smell upset. Just kidding. Not really. Northwest looked UNSTOPPABLE last week. Wait, they scored 66 points. They WERE unstoppable. The Bronchos gave Western all they had, even after being down 3 scores in the fourth quarter on the road.

And now they return to Edmond, where they knocked off Washburn just a few weeks ago. Easily the best QB/RB combo of the teams in the bottom half of this conference, Adrian Nelson and Joshua Birmingham are both worth keeping an eye on.

But as long as Northwest QB Trevor Adams plays a fraction as good as he did last week, the Bearcats will be just fine.

Prediction: UCO hangs around, but Northwest leads by 2 scores most of the game. Northwest Missouri 38 Central Oklahoma 28

No. 4 Missouri Western (5-0, 4-0) at Northeastern State (0-5, 0-5)Prediction: Missouri Western 50 Northeastern State 10

No. 24 Washburn (4-1, 4-1) at Lincoln (0-5, 0-5)PredictionEmporia State (5-0, 5-0) at Southwest Baptist 1-4, 1-4)Prediction: Emporia State 52 Southwest Baptist 3

Lindenwood (4-1, 3-1) at Fort Hays State (1-4, 1-4)Truman State (3-2, 2-2) at Nebraska-Kearney (0-5, 0-5)PredictionSouth Dakota Mines (1-4 as D2 Independent) at Missouri Southern (3-2, 3-2)Prediction: Kellen Cox all day. Missouri Southern 28 SD Mines 7