RMAC Week 5 Pickem

[GoneBlastin]

Great rivalry games this week! SD Mines and Black Hills meet this week for the 138th time in the Black Hills Brawl for the Homestake Trophy. Western and Mesa meet in the Battle of the Western Slope.

Here are the games this week:

Chadron @ Colorado Mines (-45.5)
Pueblo (-30.5) @ Fort Lewis
Adams @ NMHU (-9.5)
Mesa @ Western (-15.5)
South Dakota Mines (-1.5) @ Black Hills

Bonus Game: Mankato @ Bemidji State (-7.5)

RMAC Connection: This game may well decide the NSIC this year and will potentially decide who and where RMAC teams may play in the playoffs.

[Turbonium]

Chadron @ Colorado Mines (-45.5)
Pueblo (-30.5) @ Fort Lewis
Adams @ NMHU (-9.5)
Mesa @ Western (-15.5)
South Dakota Mines (-1.5) @ Black Hills

Bonus Game: Mankato @ Bemidji State (-7.5)

[FortLewis4Lyfe]

Chadron @ Colorado Mines (-45.5)
Chadron is really doing poorly this year and mines is an unstoppable force. Expect Mines to be up 40+ at half and this spread will be decided by how much Evan Foster and the rest of the second line put their foot on the gas.

Pueblo (-30.5) @ Fort Lewis
Super close game for my Skyhawks in Alamosa. Hope they can bring that momentum for the rest of the season and especially in their game against Chadron. Pueblo did not look great against Mines but will easily cover this spread. Honestly could see them making a push for a SR4 playoff spot like last year with some NSIC self destruction

Adams @ NMHU (-9.5)
Tough one to call. Adams has looked terrible and Highlands was pretty solid in their OOC LSC play.

Mesa @ Western (-15.5)
Western looks great and I think Mesa has been overrated. With that said, 15.5 is a big spread to cover and I think Mesa keeps it within two touchdowns.

South Dakota Mines (-1.5) @ Black Hills
BHSU continues to impress and with a win this week I'd expect them to crack the top 25.

Mankato @ Bemidji State (-7.5)
Insane that Bemidji is favored here and even more insane that the are ranked 9 in the coaches poll and 7 in the d2football poll. They are not a great team and I expect Mankato to roll them. Mankato is very impressive on the other hand and I expect they will be Mines' greatest challenger to make it out of SR4.

[GoneBlastin]

Chadron @ Colorado Mines (-45.5)
Pueblo (-30.5) @ Fort Lewis - I could go either way on this one. Fort Lewis has been on a heater against the spread but I think this is the week that Pueblo comes alive. They've faced a juggernaut schedule to start the season and, like last year, there is no more margin for error. I think they make a statement that they know that this week.
Adams @ NMHU (-9.5) NMHU hasn't shown that they can run away from anyone. The spread is bigger than their biggest margin of victory, except FLC, and even then FLC was only 14 and they kept it within that.
Mesa @ Western (-15.5) While I think Western's defense is really good, I think Mesa puts 2-3 scores on the board. That means that Western has to put up 35-40 points to cover this. Nash has failed to throw for 200 yds against everyone not named Chadron and even then they only got to 35. They are a good team but I don't think they have that kind of fire power. They are just built to win games differently.
South Dakota Mines (-1.5) @ Black Hills - Black Hills throws their name in the hat as a playoff contender with a win.

Bonus Game: Mankato @ Bemidji State (-7.5) - Teams that both played Mines in the last two years in the playoffs. Granted Bemidji was two years ago and that's an eternity these days in CFB but Mankato just gave Mines a much tougher game. Gotta go with Kato here especially with the loss of Beaulieu for Bemidji.

[Packfootball]

Chadron @ Colorado Mines (-45.5) Will CO. Mines play nice? Probably not at home.
Pueblo (-30.5) @ Fort Lewis Will Ft Lewis cover 3 weeks in a row?
Adams @ NMHU (-9.5) If A ams shows up it could be a close came and cover.
Mesa @ Western (-15.5) Which Mesa team shows up? The one that covers!
South Dakota Mines (-1.5) @ Black Hills Close one at home for BH, but they cover.

Bonus Game: Mankato @ Bemidji State (-7.5) Mavericks vs. Beavers. MSUM covers.

Oh well. Now I know why I don't like spreads in football. How do you win by .5? A 1 point safety is in the rule book, but .5. The safety rarely happens!

[Gliac_fan10]

Chadron @ Colorado Mines (-45.5)
Pueblo (-30.5) @ Fort Lewis
Adams @ NMHU (-9.5)
Mesa @ Western (-15.5)
South Dakota Mines (-1.5) @ Black Hills

Bonus Game: Mankato @ Bemidji State (-7.5)

[d2 football fan]

Chadron @ Colorado Mines (-45.5) These huge spreads just suck. But, one of the ways good teams show they are good teams is that they don't play with their food. When they are better than the other team they put it on full display. For the last several years Mines has not played with their food, that gives me some confidence in picking Mines to cover: 63-17.

Pueblo (-30.5) @ Fort Lewis. Another big spread, and it's not like Pueblo has been setting the world on fire the last couple of weeks (where they have scored 28 combined points). But, I think FLC is on a low after coming as close as they have to a victory in years, but not pulling it off. The pups will take out some frustration this week: 55-10

Adams @ NMHU (-9.5). I'd have a hard time if this was a pick 'em game. I just have no good read on these teams and basically no outcome would surprise me. My gut tells me Highlands will win the game, but they won't pull away enough to cover. NMHU 27-20.

Mesa @ Western (-15.5). Sheesh, next year let's just do a confidence poll and rank our wins rather than this BS point spread, lol. Western is better. I think they are 20 points better, 30-10.

South Dakota Mines (-1.5) @ Black Hills. I think winning begets winning, and BHSU has done that 3 times in a row. I think this week they have to fight for it, but make it 4 times, 30-24.

Mankato @ Bemidji State (-7.5). I don't watch either of these teams enough to have any strong takes, other than I think both of these teams are strong. I think MSU might be more physical, while Bemidji is more explosive. I think when you meet a team that is physical enough, but who also scores, it's just hard to be consistently explosive enough. I think this is a tough and competitive game, but MSU takes the air out of the ball at the end and simply grinds out a win: 24-17

[d2 football fan]

Mankato @ Bemidji State (-7.5)
Insane that Bemidji is favored here and even more insane that the are ranked 9 in the coaches poll and 7 in the d2football poll. They are not a great team and I expect Mankato to roll them. Mankato is very impressive on the other hand and I expect they will be Mines' greatest challenger to make it out of SR4.

Pretty hot take here. It's cool that you think Mankato is better, it's an easy position to defend! But to say that Bemidji is somehow not good and it's "insane" that they are ranked higher (which all depends on where you start in the rankings... because you move up if you win, and they have) and/or favored. And further to say they are not a great team?!? I mean they were really good last year and made the PO's I think they won their last 9 games of the regular season). They are undefeated and very consistent this year, not giving up more than 14 in a game and not scoring less than 36... They can only play who is in front of them and they have done so at a high level.

[FortLewis4Lyfe]

Mankato @ Bemidji State (-7.5)
Insane that Bemidji is favored here and even more insane that the are ranked 9 in the coaches poll and 7 in the d2football poll. They are not a great team and I expect Mankato to roll them. Mankato is very impressive on the other hand and I expect they will be Mines' greatest challenger to make it out of SR4.

Pretty hot take here. It's cool that you think Mankato is better, it's an easy position to defend! But to say that Bemidji is somehow not good and it's "insane" that they are ranked higher (which all depends on where you start in the rankings... because you move up if you win, and they have) and/or favored. And further to say they are not a great team?!? I mean they were really good last year and made the PO's I think they won their last 9 games of the regular season). They are undefeated and very consistent this year, not giving up more than 14 in a game and not scoring less than 36... They can only play who is in front of them and they have done so at a high level.

All of the NSIC teams deserve hate from the silo scheduling they crafted up. These last couple seasons Bemidji always looks strong in the regular season, but when they have to face a non-NSIC team, the results speak for themselves. Sure, they are probably the second best NSIC team, but I think they lose to 20+ of the top 25 teams.

[Turbonium]

Updated a couple of picks in my original post.

[ZZBradley]

Chadron @ Colorado Mines (-45.5)
Pueblo (-30.5) @ Fort Lewis
Adams @ NMHU (-9.5)
Mesa @ Western (-15.5)
South Dakota Mines (-1.5) @ Black Hills

Bonus Game: Mankato @ Bemidji State (-7.5)

[twolfbenchwarmer]

Colorado Mines (-45.5)
Pueblo (-30.5)
Adams
Mesa- Western wins Mesa covers
Black Hills
Mankato

[BHer]

Chadron @ Colorado Mines (-45.5). I think mines is able to take care of business even with the big spread.

Pueblo (-30.5) @ Fort Lewis. This one is the hardest pick for me this week. If Ft Lewis can score twice is that enough? I think so, the question is will they? Seems like a 42 - 14 type score coming.

Adams @ NMHU (-9.5). I'll take the points and expect the game to be close.

Mesa @ Western (-15.5) I think mesa has the ability to score 3 times. If so Western would need to be over 36.5 to cover. So I'll take mesa

South Dakota Mines (-1.5) @ Black Hills. The jackets have every reason to win this game. Can they? Yes, and I hope they show up in a rivalry game after an emotional win last week. Jackets win in an exciting game in front of a packed Lyle Hare Stadium!

Bonus Game: Mankato @ Bemidji State (-7.5). 3 point game last year. My brain says Mankato, my gut says take the points. Go Beavers.

[sportsvine]

Chadron 0 @ Colorado Mines (-45.5) 59
Pueblo (-30.5) 38 @ Fort Lewis 6
Adams 17 @ NMHU (-9.5) 30
Mesa @ Western (-15.5)
South Dakota Mines 27 (-1.5) @ Black Hills 34

Bonus Game: Mankato 31 @ Bemidji State (-7.5) 27

[ctrabs74]

Chadron @ Colorado Mines (-45.5): As bad as the Hanging Chads are, they'll cover ... barely; Mines by 44
Pueblo (-30.5) @ Fort Lewis: Bye week for the Doggies... because there's no way Pueblo loses to the laughingstock of D2 football, right?
Adams @ NMHU (-9.5): A-ams almost lost to Fort Lewis ... nuff said
Mesa @ Western (-15.5): Mesa makes it close, but I think Western wins
South Dakota Mines (-1.5) @ Black Hills: I hate picking rivalry games, especially when the two teams are relatively close

Bonus Game: Mankato @ Bemidji State (-7.5): Calling the upset; Beavers win outright