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MCLA Fan Upset of the Week

With the MCLA season a few weeks in, we are starting to form a good picture of who will be a top dog and who will have to fight for every scrap they can get. Beginning this week, through the end of the regular season, we will pick one major upset for each division in the MCLA, then ask you which upset you think will be most likely to happen.

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I went 0-1-? last week thanks to an 8-goal 4th quarter by the Longhorns in a 14-6 win over in-state rival Texas State. The game was 6-4 Texas after three quarters but something clicked for Texas in the 4th quarter and they pulled way away from the Bobcats to secure a confident victory and move up a spot to #12 in the polls

In the Top 10, nothing really changed. Teams that were supposed win, won. Colorado beat BYU 11-9, Arizona State took care of UCSB 13-3, BYU beat Cal 10-7. No surprises there, except for maybe the amount that ASU beat UCSB by, yikes. That’s not to say there weren’t any upsets though, Simon Fraser moved up six spots in the polls thanks to a win over Michigan State. Lastly, Davenport continues to prove their worth at the D1 level and beat SFU 11-9.

On the MCLA D2 side of things, Missouri Baptist encountered some “unexpected field issues and are actively rescheduling for next week.” Guess WUStL will have to just go on upset alert again a little later!

Readers’ Choice

Outside of agreeing with me on the Texas State over Texas upset, it looks like everyone thinks Cal is going to get surprised by Cal Poly. Luckily for all, that game isn’t being played until THIS week.

On to week four!

MCLA D1

This week I’m feeling confident, but let’s hold off on that for a second or four for some notable games.

BYU and Colorado State face-off on Friday, no matter which way it goes, I think this will be a fantastic game. I’ve heard great things about BYU’s home field advantage and I know that this is a HUGE rivalry in the RMLC.

While not an MCLA game, Chapman takes on NCAA D3 Whittier on Saturday. Good luck to the Panthers, rep the MCLA well!

Lastly, the ‘Battle of the Blogs’ goes down in Tuscaloosa this weekend with unranked Alabama taking on #22 ranked Georgia. Conner Reed and Jake Springer have done a fantastic job giving us a look inside their respective programs this season. Make sure to check out both Alabama’s and Georgia’s blogs if you haven’t already.

Back to the world of upsets! While I would love to piggy back the Reader’s Choice and go with #20 Cal Poly over #8 Cal, I feel the need to go outside the box. We are headed back to the Midwest for some CCLA love, #25 Pittsburgh over #13 Michigan State.

Based off MCLA.us, Pitt has never beaten Michigan State (0-6 by their records). Pitt’s offense is averaging 13 goals a game and just under 7 goals allowed each game. Michigan State is a little more buckled down and is only at about 7 goals per game to almost 6 goals allowed each game. Pitt already has 10 games under their belt to a great deal of quality opponents and is ramping up for a last streak through their season against mainly conference opponents. I really think Pitt has what it takes to beat Michigan State. The Spartans are definitely a weird team this year and have proven that with some weird wins and losses so far.

MCLA D2

There may be some shifting in the MCLA D2 polls this weekend as well. #3 St. John’s takes on #1 St. Thomas in a big UMLC D2 match-up. #4 Concordia takes on #2 Westminster, MCLA D1 Richmond takes on #5 Liberty, #13 Briarcliffe takes on #11 Elon, and #15 Grove City takes on #6 Dayton. Whew, gonna be a great weekend in the Division 2.

For the MCLA D2 Upset of the Week, I’m staying in the CCLA and going with #15 Grove City over #6 Dayton, coincidentally for many of the same reasons I’m picking Pitt over MSU.

Grove City has four more games under their belt than Dayton, Dayton will be playing Butler the night before they take on Grove City #MCLAProblems, and lastly Grove City has never beaten Dayton (per MCLA.us of course, 0-8 by their records). I think these are all reasons enough to say this game is just about ripe for an upset.

Know of a better upset? Tweet it at me @KriegShawLAS. Now it’s your turn, which of these upsets do YOU think is most likely to happen?