Voices random thoughts on the 2010 D III Playoffs

- What is the saying? If you aren't a little bit nervous you're not really focused at th task at hand. The Warhawks are just 36 hours away from opening a sixth consecutive Road to Salem NCAA Division III Playoff drive.

- I blogged earlier this week that in any lose and your out tournament or playoff you better take each and every opponent seriously. The Hawks ARE taking pass happy Franklin College.

- My halftime player profile interview Saturday is Aaron Rusch. The senior co-captain admits the news on Sunday that his team had been relagated to a No. 2 seed was shocking and took several hours to clear the mind.

- As for how the team is focused heading in its Round 1 playoff game vs the Franklin College Grizzlies. "One game at a time," Rusch told me. "We will be playing with a bit of a chip on our shoulder."

- From Keith McMillan's D3football.com Around the Nation column this week: It’s the playoffs. If UW-Whitewater really is the best team – and I believe it is – then a road game isn’t going to stop them from fulfilling their destiny. If 11,000 fans can make it to a Whitewater home game, then a significant fraction of that can wrap themselves in purple and black, make the 100-mile, two-hour drive, and scream ‘Pound the Rock’ at North Central’s Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium. A bunch of the Warhawks are from Northern Illinois anyway. There might not be a cannon going off after every touchdown, but who says it can’t feel like a home game?

Best line in D3football.com's team-by-team capsules of the 32 teams in the playoffs. Benedictine (Ill) travels to St. Paul, Minnesota for a 1st Round gave vs. top-seeded St. Thomas. The D3football.com prognostication crew gives Benedictine little chance of upsetting the Tommies. The closing quote: To St. Paul and back. Stop at the Norske Nook in Osseo. Wis., to get a pie. UMMMM Pie!

- Check the blog this afternoon as I'll be blogging my thoughts and info on both Franklin College, the Warhawks and the other games to be played Saturday in the North Central College (North) Bracket.

- Voice