FOOTBALL: A Look At This Week's GLIAC Games

BIG RAPIDS - Around the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, football action begins tonight (yes, on a Thursday) with two potentially great games - two of the three best showdowns of the weekend around the conference.

After weeks of preseason practice and workouts teams finally get a chance to step on the field to show what they can do. No. 1 Grand Valley is playing on the road against the No. 11 team in the nation, No. 15 Ashland is at No. 13 Bloomsburg and Saginaw Valley is at No. 8 California. These are three important games for the GLIAC. If the conference can win two of these (or all three) then that will go a long way toward getting the GLIAC the kind of national respectability (as more than just GVSU) it covets.

Here are the games:

Thursday

No.15 Ashland @ No.13 Bloomsburg

THOUGHTS: This should be one of the better contests of the weekend in the GLIAC and in the nation in Division II. The two teams appeared to be evenly-matched last fall when they played. I had an opportunity to watch a replay of the game last season in Ohio and it was a great contest with Bloomsburg coming from behind to steal a victory. This year's contest should be another good one that again pits two nationally-ranked teams against each other.

Findlay vs. Urbana

THOUGHTS: Findlay should prevail in this game against a non-conference opponent. When building a program, games like this one are critical. The Oilers have been working to solidify a winning mentality in their program. To do that you really want (and need) to protect yourself (and your home field) against non-conference competition and this is a good opportunity for Findlay to get a non-league win (which will be good for the conference as well).

Saginaw Valley State @ #8 California (PA)

THOUGHTS: This is a game with potential to be a good one as Saginaw Valley goes on the road to face what looks like a good California team in Pennsylvania. This would be a big win for the GLIAC if SVSU can get the job done. A victory by the Cardinals would go a long way toward strengthening the profile of the GLIAC on a national level to show this is a conference that is more than just one great team (Grand Valley) and one very good team (Ashland). It would be an upset (obviously since Cal is a top-eight team and Saginaw Valley is unranked). On Division II football message boards, Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference teams are siding with the Vulcans while GLIAC fans are picking the Cardinals. I slightly favor Cal to take this one, but it should be a competitive contest.

Indianapolis vs. Kentucky Wesleyan

THOUGHTS: Indianapolis gets a chance to face a team it is capable of beating, but the Greyhounds will have to make some adjustments with some significant losses to graduation they have suffered since the end of last season. Still, look for the Greyhounds to prevail in this one.

Saturday

Hillsdale @ St. Joseph's

THOUGHTS: This one could get ugly in a hurry as Hillsdale has a solid offensive nucleus returning. In general, the Chargers are one of those teams that just make few mistakes and make you pay for your mistakes. I see an efficient Hillsdale offense doing mostly what it wants on the field and the defense doing what it takes to hold down on the opposite side of the football. Veteran head coach Keith Otterbein's squad probably wins this one big.

Wayne State vs. Mercyhurst

THOUGHTS: This game does not have two teams with national rankings, but it does have two teams that some people feel are fairly evenly matched on the gridiron. If Mercyhurst can't stop the run then it will be a grind-it-out win for the Warriors. The talented running back Joique Bell could be back to running at a high level for Wayne and if he is that will be trouble for Mercyhurst and all of the Warriors' opponents this fall.

Ferris State vs. Tiffin

THOUGHTS: Ferris needs to come out and be efficient early on offense and get a fast lead. If the Bulldogs can get the lead early they might be able to put some doubts in the minds of the Tiffin team. But, the Dragons come in pretty confident knowing that they gave the Bulldogs all they could handle last season in Ohio and could easily have won that game (a 14-12 victory for Ferris). The Bulldogs can't turn the ball over (especially early) much. Tiffin will have to force turnovers and capitalize on Ferris mistakes. Ferris should win this one, but it could be close.

No. 1 Grand Valley State @ No. 11 West Texas A&M

THOUGHTS: Maybe the most anticipated game of the day. It's not often that Grand Valley goes on the road during the regular season to face a team this highly-ranked in a stadium that could be packed. It will be interesting to see how the Lakers fare in the first game of the season playing against a highly-ranked opponent on the road. First games can sometimes be filled with mistakes, but GVSU is a polished squad (even though it does have some new players in some key positions). Still, it's hard to pick against the Lakers in this one.