The playoffs are upon us. The five-week march to Salem happens in three phases. Before we get to the elite powers facing off in the semifinals and Stagg Bowl, with national broadcast coverage, and before we get to the really competitive games of Rounds 2 and 3, there’s this Saturday.

The first round, from about noon ET to 4 p.m., is a rush of as many as 15 games going on simultaneously. Every game kicks off at noon local time, which means all but Chapman at Linfield start within an hour of one another. Many of you will be watching one game in particular. For those who won’t, or for those who will have one eye on the game they’re attending while furiously refreshing the D3football.com scoreboard, Pat Coleman, Ryan Tipps and I are at your service.

This is different from the regular-season Triple Takes. We’re offering scores only, not paragraphs of insight. It is an exercise in setting the national expectation. It has nothing to do with proving our predictive powers, gambling or bragging rights, although each of us will correctly predict all but a few of the winners. The scores and the line of consensus advise you on what to expect, so that when you’re sifting through 15 game scores on Saturday afternoon, you’ll recognize a surprising result in the making. (Like Wartburg over Illinois Wesleyan last year, after we all picked IWU, for example.)

— Keith McMillan

UW-WHITEWATER QUADRANT

Keith’s take: UW-Whitewater 52, Macalester 7

Ryan’s take: UW-Whitewater 45, Macalester 3

Pat’s take: UW-Whitewater 45, Macalester 6

Consensus: The defending champions should dominate in the Scots’ first playoff game ever.

Keith’s take: Wabash 27, Franklin 17

Ryan’s take: Wabash 41, Franklin 21

Pat’s take: Wabash 53, Franklin 31

Consensus: How much scoring we expect varies, but the Little Giants should win this 4-5 matchup by double digits.

Keith’s take: St. John’s 31, St. Scholastica 10

Ryan’s take: St. John’s 38, St. Scholastica 7

Pat’s take: St. John’s 38, St. Scholastica 17

Consensus: The Johnnies see Kurt Ramler again, and send the Saints to another unceremonious first-round exit.

Keith’s take: Wartburg 35, St. Thomas 21

Ryan’s take: Wartburg 34, St. Thomas 20

Pat’s take: Wartburg 54, St. Thomas 35

Consensus: For all the talk about it being a tough draw, we’ve got the Knights by two or three touchdowns.

MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR QUADRANT

Keith’s take: Widener 31, Muhlenberg 21

Ryan’s take: Widener 49, Muhlenberg 21

Pat’s take: Widener 42, Muhlenberg 35

Consensus: We’re varied on how close the Mules keep it, but the Pride roars on.

Keith’s take: Delaware Valley 42, Christopher Newport 35

Ryan’s take: Delaware Valley 41, Christopher Newport 37

Pat’s take: Delaware Valley 56, Christopher Newport 31

Consensus: The Aggies have one of the most generous defenses in the field, so they’ll have to win a shootout.

Keith’s take: Linfield 28, Chapman 21

Ryan’s take: Linfield 28, Chapman 13

Pat’s take: Linfield 27, Chapman 24

Consensus: Basically a repeat of the Week 1 matchup, with a bit more scoring.

Keith’s take: Mary Hardin-Baylor 52, Texas Lutheran 24

Ryan’s take: Mary Hardin-Baylor 56, Texas Lutheran 17

Pat’s take: Mary Hardin-Baylor 48, Texas Lutheran 13

Consensus: Not quite 72-16, but not quite close.

WESLEY QUADRANT

Keith’s take: Wesley 56, Hampden-Sydney 21

Ryan’s take: Wesley 45, Hampden-Sydney 10

Pat’s take: Wesley 42, Hampden-Sydney 20

Consensus: The Wolverines pick up where they left off the last time they played a D-III opponent.

Keith’s take: MIT 24, Husson 21

Ryan’s take: MIT 34, Husson 31

Pat’s take: Husson 20, MIT 15

Consensus: This could go either way, and we all expect a grind.

Keith’s take: Johns Hopkins 34, Rowan 17

Ryan’s take: Johns Hopkins 27, Rowan 17

Pat’s take: Johns Hopkins 24, Rowan 10

Consensus: The Profs just don’t have enough offensive variety to keep up with the Blue Jays.

Keith’s take: Hobart 24, Ithaca 22

Ryan’s take: Ithaca 24, Hobart 20

Pat’s take: Ithaca 24, Hobart 21

Consensus: We effectively picked the same score, in a toss-up. (We each make our choices without looking at the others) Hobart is a No. 2 seed, but would it be an upset if it lost to the Empire 8 champs?

MOUNT UNION QUADRANT

Keith’s take: Wheaton 31, Benedictine 6

Ryan’s take: Wheaton 42, Benedictine 7

Pat’s take: Wheaton 54, Benedictine 0

Consensus: At least the Eagles, who rallied from 1-4 to win the NACC, have a short ride home.

Keith’s take: John Carroll 35, Centre 13

Ryan’s take: John Carroll 45, Centre 14

Pat’s take: John Carroll 45, Centre 21

Consensus: Going toe-to-toe with Mount Union in Week 11 portends success more than going 10-0 in the SAA.

Keith’s take: Washington and Jefferson 28, Wittenberg 24

Ryan’s take: Wittenberg 38, Washington and Jefferson 21

Pat’s take: Washington and Jefferson 34, Wittenberg 31

Consensus: This is one of the few places Pat and I see potential for a narrow upset; Ryan disagrees.

Keith’s take: Mount Union 49, Adrian 13

Ryan’s take: Mount Union 66, Adrian 7

Pat’s take: Mount Union 54, Adrian 3

Consensus: The Bulldogs run into a bulwark.

We invite you to add your predictions in the comments below, or tweet at us at @D3Keith, @NewsTipps and @d3football. Download the Around the Nation podcast on Mondays, where Pat and Keith review the picks and the highlights from Round 1.