To say I've been looking forward to this week would be an understatement. I haven't seen Saginaw Valley State play in person since my last fall of school there in 2005. The No. 18 Cardinals open their season in Maryville on Thursday at No. 3 Northwest Missouri.

Welcome to MIAA football 2013, everybody. I hope you know how much I would have liked to preview the season a little more this year, but sometimes, life gets in the way. But I'm happy to return for a 5th year covering MIAA football, and thank you for coming along for the ride.

The magnitude of the SVSU-Northwest game doesn't just live within my own heart; It's the only matchup of nationally-ranked opponents on Thursday and one of just three the entire week.

Saginaw has been trying since my early days in University Center, Mich., to reach the elite status of D2 football currently held by the Duluths, Valdostas, Northwests and Grand Valleys of the world (okay, you can throw Pitt State in there if you want, too), while the Bearcats are hoping another early-season non-con loss won't derail any plans they have of living among the elite for another year.

But even though I'd like to spend 50,000 words talking about it, SVSU's trip to Missouri isn't the only big game in MIAA football. Defending conference champion Missouri Western opens their title defense Thursday night at Central Missouri, a team whose peaks and valleys have been matched only by Pittsburg State in my 4 years inside MIAA football.

So is Central Missouri closer to the conference titan they became in 2010, or just another "almost" in the always-excitingly-top-heavy MIAA? The outcome Thursday will go a long way in figuring that out.

That kind of does it as far as "exciting" games go in Week 1 of MIAA football, though I won't rule out any one of the other games becoming a big story once the games get underway.

Emporia State and Lindenwood, last year's MIAA bowl teams, are coming off (some might say) surprisingly successful seasons, and with cupcakes-a-plenty on both of their schedules in the early weeks, either and both are one bad game away from dropping back into that "almost" category I was talking about before.

Emporia opens up at Fort Hays. Lindenwood hosts Lincoln. Both games are Thursday night.

Pittsburg State and Washburn both had relatively disappointing seasons last year, but both bring back experienced quarterbacks. The hype machine is a little higher for No. 20 Pitt, who received some first-place votes in both the coaches' and media preseason MIAA polls, but for a team that, when it comes down to it, has never really done anything significant, Washburn always finds a way to be in the discussion as the playoffs approach and I'm not doubting that will happen once again this year.

Pittsburg will host the conference's only action on Saturday when they welcome Northeastern State while Washburn heads to Nebraska-Kearney on Thursday.

Missouri Southern, 6-5 in coach Daryl Daye's first year in Joplin, opens the season with their first of six (easily?) winnable games on their schedule Thursday night when they host Central Oklahoma. The Lions were a dud against SBU away from a 7-4 season last year, with the help of yet another victory over Missouri Western. With the six opponents they CAN beat, they're an upset victory over a top-tiered MIAA team away from stepping into the top half of this conference.

Southwest Baptist plays longtime and now-former MIAA member Truman State (moved to GLVC in 2013) in the week's second non-conference matchup of the week. Yay.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time previewing this week's games, but I will offer my usual misguided predictions below. First, though, I want to offer up my predicted order of finish for the MIAA in 2013 and some players to watch as the season goes on.

PREDICTED FINISH IN CONFERENCE STANDINGS

1. NW Missouri
2. Pittsburg State
3. Missouri Western
4. Emporia State
5. Central Missouri
6. Washburn
7. Lindenwood
8. Missouri Southern
9-14. It doesn't matter. You can take Hays, UCO, NSU, SBU, UNK and Lincoln, and until one of them prove they're worthy of otherwise, throw a dart to pick how their seasons will turn out. Ink in losses against the 8 teams listed above and from there, it's anybody's guess as to what will happen this year.

Southwest Baptist at Truman StatePrediction: Central Oklahoma at Missouri Southern Prediction: UCO is awful on the road. Their win at Lincoln last year was their first victory on the road since 2009. Another losing streak starts this week, even though Birmingham establishes himself as a star in Week 1. Missouri Southern 24 UCO 17


Washburn at Nebraska-Kearney
Thursday, Sept. 5; 6 p.m.
Foster Field; Kearney, Neb.

Notes/Players to watch: After sending 413 quarterbacks onto the field in 2012, Kearney will look to Nebraska transfer Bronson Marsh to get things going for the Lopers this year. Matt Berry, who played in eight games under center for UNK last year, will return to his role as wide receiver.

Mitch Buhler returns for another year of taking snaps at Washburn, but the biggest stories may be two guys coming off injury redshirts. WR DaJuan Beard (Jr) and RB Sean McPherson (So) make a pretty nice pair of skill players for Buhler to look for.

Prediction:Lincoln at Lindenwood Prediction: Jones falls to 2-21 in his third season at the helm at Lincoln. Lindenwood 38 Lincoln 13

Emporia State at Fort Hays State Prediction: Northeastern State at No. 20 Pittsburg StatePrediction: Not yet, boys. Pittsburg State 30 NSU 18


No. 5 Missouri Western at Central MissouriPrediction: No. 18 Saginaw Valley State at No. 3 Northwest Missouri Prediction:@miAARONd2 or friend/message me on facebook.com/apheintz.