Minnesota State-Moorhead - Keeping the Axe. (photo by Becky Braaten)

Well....we are at the final week of the Northern Sun regular season. Honestly, it's gone by fairly quick in my opinion. If your squad has struggled this year, maybe you are saying "finally!"

As this last weekend is now upon us there are many teams who are playing out the string and don't have the same spring in their step that they did several weeks ago when optimism was widespread. For those teams who feel like they have little to play for....remember the seniors on your squad and how you want their final game to be like. Look to send them off correctly..don't mail it in tomorrow.

Quick FYI on the column....I spent much of my free time on the 'Guide' this week, this will be be a slimmed down version of the Picks..hope you understand.

On to the games..

Wayne State (5-5) at USF (9-1)
Wayne comes in looking the worst they have all year, getting hammered by both UIU and Mankato. USF is certainly a team in the conversation with the ones who handled them, so this doesn't bode well for the Wildcats. WSC still has a very powerful offense, but they are a fantastic aerial attack that will be trying to throw the ball in what could be a snow-storm, with wind. This is just a bad combination for the conditions. The one thing is, sloppy field conditions can level the playing field as good execution can be challenged with wet or snow. USF has certainly shown to be the better squad this year than Wayne, but will need to keep the chip on their shoulder..or as Coach Jed Stugart calls it..a block.

Overall I like USF's defense to be the story in this one. Good defense can handle all weather conditions.
USF 41-20

Concordia (4-6) at Winona State (4-6)
I'm really quite stunned that WSU has fallen on a losing season, after they were unbeaten going into the Duluth game at the end of September. Since then....1-6. Something else has occurred along the way here. Head Coach Tom Sawyer had his first losing season since 1996, his first year running the program. Coach Sawyer is the Dean of Northern Sun coaches and is very well-respected throughout the league. Certainly he's not in any trouble for his job, given the way he's strongly represented their program for such a long time. However, it would appear that some changes might be needed within the program, as things really went sour as the year went on.


(Concordia players along with former Golden Bear Zach Moore of the New England Patriots)

Concordia on the other hand is finishing with a little thunder. Wins of UIU and Augie were very unexpected. This all makes this game very hard to call. CSP seems to be playing harder right now, but Winona is a more talented football team and they are at home. I want to take Concordia and their toughness, but if Winona pulls themselves together for a moment they can blow out most of the teams in this conference. I'm taking the Warriors to finish strong and not have a horrible effort to end the year like they did a year ago in the dome against CSP.
Winona State 24-20

Crookston (0-10) at Moorhead (3-7)
While the Moorhead defense has been horrible this year, they've played much better the last 2 weeks of the season. Moorhead's offense should blowout Crookston.
Moorhead 50-14

Augustana (5-5) at SMSU (3-7)
I thought that I knew who Augie was. I did not. If Augie was the team that I thought they were there is no way they look that bad at Concordia. Trey Heid gets pulled and the offense struggles to score before the end of the game. After 10 weeks this isn't where the Viking fans expected the team to be after such a promising start to the year.

SMSU got a nice win last weekend against Winona State, on the road. While I think Augie is a better football team virtually all year long, I'm not sure they will be the better team tomorrow after how both teams looked in their last contests.
SMSU 41-38

Mary (5-5) at SCSU (5-5)
Mary has been throwing the ball at an alarming rate since getting Zach Roberson back at the QB spot, but I think SCSU is a little more athletic overall and will find a way to salvage a winning season for Coach Underwood.
SCSU 40-30

UIU (6-4) at MSU-Mankato (10-0)
Just by looking at the records this game looks like maybe the best game of the week. Probably not. UIU got submitted by USF last week, a game where they really did look to be the physical match with the Cougars and they looked listless for the better part of the contest. That's not how you want to be playing when coming up against the #1 team in the country who hung 70 on you at home a year ago.



What's lost in all of this is that this is the last game for the best UIU team in recent memory. Cole Jaescke and many of their skill players that put UIU football on the map over the last few years will be playing their last game as a Peacock. This also means that UIU will likely be back to hitting the reset button next year.

I wish I had better news for UIU fans, but unless the Peacocks can protect the QB and jump out early through the air on the Mavs, I just don't see this one being close.
Mankato 55-14

Northern State (7-3) at BSU (3-7)
On paper it looks like this will be a one-sided game for NSU. Not quite so fast. Northern looks a bit like SMSU from last year, a team that is scoring a lot but that will also allow the opposition to score plenty. Northern has played the same schedule as Duluth, which frankly speaks to their record to a degree. The other part about the Wolves this year has been JJ and the boys learning how to win. The Wolves have figured out this year how to win plenty of well-contested games that they weren't winning in the recent past.

Even though BSU isn't a pushover, I still have NSU staying hot.
Northern 30-17

UMD (10-0) at Minot State (1-9)
Sometimes records can make a game match up look deceiving. This isn't one of those times. Minot has struggle against nearly everyone on their schedule and now the most successful program in the conference comes knocking. This one isn't going to be close. UMD's offense is rocking and their defense is still amongst the best in the league.
UMD 58-20