LIBERTY REPORT: Week 12 picks

I suppose I sort of jumped the gun on picking the Furman-Georgia Southern game last week, since, uh, the game is this week. Anyway, moving on from that little goof ...

Last week’s record: 21-1
Season record: 187-54 (.776)

BIG SOUTH

Saturday’s games

Edward Waters at Charleston Southern: Like other Wall Street investment firms, Edward Waters is having troubles in these dark economic times. Charleston Southern 55, Edward Waters 7

Coastal Carolina at Presbyterian: Big South teams already don’t like going to Clinton. And PC isn’t even in the league yet. Presbyterian 27, Coastal Carolina 24

VMI at Stony Brook: These teams could combine to rush for 1,000 yards. VMI has lost 19 straight on the road. Stony Brook 41, VMI 30

Gardner-Webb at No. 25 Liberty: Flames will tie the school record for single-season victories under the lights on a cold night. Liberty 27, Gardner-Webb 10

FCS TOP 25

Saturday’s games

No. 12 William & Mary at No. 1 James Madison: Nice rebound season so far for the Tribe, but they haven’t been tested since the Villanova loss. JMU has had a week off and won’t slip at home. JMU 41, W&M 28

No. 10 Elon at No. 2 Appalachian State: App has had a couple of SoCon scares—Furman and Georgia Southern—so I think the Mountaineers will take Elon quite seriously. App State 45, Elon 20

Idaho State at No. 4 Montana: Nice of the Big Sky schedule makers to give the Griz a bye before the big Montana State game. Montana 58, Idaho State 17

Towson at No. 5 Villanova: If Nova wins out, it could earn a seed in the playoffs. Villanova 35, Towson 14

UC Davis at No. 6 Cal Poly: Mustangs can essentially seal playoff berth here. Cal Poly 44, UC Davis 28

No. 7 Northern Iowa at Indiana State: Of course, the game we all want to see is winless Idaho State against winless Indiana State. Northern Iowa 56, Indiana State 10

Delaware at No. 8 Richmond: Remember when everyone had Delaware as a Top 10 team early in the season? Richmond 31, Delaware 6

No. 9 Wofford at Samford: Samford got the breakthrough SoCon win it was looking for last week at Georgia Southern. The Bulldogs played Furman and App State tough at home and hung with Elon on the road. Samford wins and puts a dent in Wofford’s playoff hopes. Samford 31, Wofford 28

South Dakota State at No. 11 Southern Illinois: if the Jackrabbits earn a share of the MVC title, they’ll have earned it, having to beat SIU and North Dakota State in consecutive weeks to close the season. Alas, that dream ends in Carbondale. SIU 27, SDSU 20

No. 13 New Hampshire at No. 21 Massachusetts: Both teams are coming off losses, and UNH’s playoff hopes are still very much alive. UMass’? Not so much. Still ... Massachusetts 37, New Hampshire 35

Georgia Southern at No. 14 Furman: Not sure Georgia Southern has anything left in the tank. Furman 41, Georgia Southern 28

No.15 Central Arkansas at Stephen F. Austin: Seems UCA is playing for nothing now, seeing as NCAA by-laws will not allow the Southland to award the Bears its regular-season title unless the league wants to forfeit its auto bid. Don’t see that happening. Still, SFA can’t stop anyone. UCA 48, SFA 28

No. 16 Maine at Rhode Island: Maine won’t slip at Rhody. The Rams are just awful. Maine 38, Rhode Island 3

No. 17 South Carolina State at Morgan State: SCSU can only lose the MEAC auto-bid if it loses here and next week to North Carolina A&T, and if Morgan State wins its season finale. SCSU 31, Morgan State 24

No. 18 Harvard at Pennsylvania: Meeting of two of the three teams tied at 5-1 in the Ivy League. Penn springs the upset at home. Penn 20, Harvard 17

No. 19 Tennessee-Martin at Southeast Missouri State: The Skyhawks played well at Auburn, and they know that SEMO has been a trap game all year in the OVC. UTM 31, SE Missouri State 20

No. 22 McNeese State at Northwestern State: Nighty night, Cowboys. Northwestern State 44, McNeese State 35

Holy Cross at No. 23 Lafayette: Say Lafayette beats Holy Cross. Then let’s say Holy Cross beats Colgate next week. You’d have a three-way tie atop the Patriot standings and the league’s ADs would take a vote to see who to send to the playoffs. Chaos is fun. Lafayette 31, Holy Cross 28

No. 24 Tennessee State at Jacksonville State: And the door opens for Tennessee-Martin to snag the OVC’s auto bid. Jacksonville State 38, Tennessee State 14