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JALMOND
September 5th, 2012, 12:09 AM
One day late, but here they are. After week one and most games that were either against patsies or being patsies. With many questions surrounding most teams, did anything really get answered? Here are the Big Sky power rankings for this week, based on my opinion only. This week (last week). Not much movement but there was some.

1. Montana State (1)---The Bobcats looked somewhat impressive in the rematch from a few years ago against Chadron State. Now they head down the road to Pioneer Conference foe Drake. Should be an easy win, but anything can happen on the road.

2. Eastern Washington (2)---The Eagles were the self appointed conference executioner sent to derail Idaho's fallacy about being better than the Big Sky. Now, the executioner moves on to bigger FBS foes as they stay in the Palouse to take on Washington State.

3. Cal Poly (3)---The Mustangs made quick work of Pioneer Conference foe San Diego as they started their first year as a Big Sky member. Now they take this week off to get ready for Wyoming and the beginning of the conference season.

4. Montana (4)---It may have taken the Grizzlies some time to gel before finally putting South Dakota away. Hopefully the offense will continue to grow as this week they head on the road to FCS powerhouse Appalachian State. A game the Griz faithful have been looking foward to, but how about the team?

5. North Dakota (7)---So what was accomplished by UND beating up on a former NAIA basement dweller (and now DII basement dweller) in South Dakota Mines. The offense seems to be going and the defense seems to be clicking...now they get to try it out on the FCS by playing Portland State. Are they ready?

6. Northern Arizona (5)---There may be a big difference between the Big Sky and the Pac-12, but it is hard to imagine the gap is THAT big as shown by the Jacks and their game against Arizona State. Does the carnage continue for the Jacks this week, going to UNLV?

7. Portland State (8)---The Vikings did just enough against NAIA power Carroll College, bending but not giving in to the upset. They now get to face the FCS as they go on the road to new conference member North Dakota.

8. Southern Utah (6)---Things did not go well for the Thunderbirds as their highly touted quarterback looked rather ordinary against Utah State. Now, they still play the FBS, going to the Pac-12's California.

9. Weber State (9)---The Wildcats stayed rather close to Fresno State...for about a half, then they could not keep it going. Now, they join the Utah round robin, heading down the road for their game against the FBS Brigham Young squad.

10. UC-Davis (12)---So yes it was newly DII Azusa Pacific, but the Aggies seemed to find an offense to go along with their vaunted defense, for one week anyway. Now they have to see if they can keep it going as they head to San Jose State.

11. Sacramento State (10)---The opening game magic did not work for the Hornets this season as they could not get anything going against New Mexico State. This weekend finds them heading to the Pac-12's Colorado team.

12. Idaho State (11)---The Bengals went to play the Air Force last week and while the offense had a great passing game, the defense never arrived. They come back to their home base and find the defense just in time to play DII Black Hills State.

13. Northern Colorado (13)---The Bears actually did not look too bad in their loss at Pac-12 Utah, if there is such a thing in a 41 point blowout. If there is something to build on, maybe they can get their first win in two years this weekend as they face DII Mesa College.

Recap: 1 in front, 2 has emerged from the pack, and 3-13 make up a large bundle.

I Bleed Purple
September 5th, 2012, 12:29 AM
Man, I'm so afraid of what could happen this year for Weber. I'm afraid all the steps forward McBride took the program will be undone in less than a year.

GoAgs72
September 5th, 2012, 01:15 AM
I still wonder why FCS teams schedule two FBS games they have little chance of winning. Money is important but so is pleasing the fans, winning the conference championship and making the playoffs. I guess I'm not an administrator at heart.

WeAreNorthDakota
September 5th, 2012, 01:26 AM
Very little can be learned from a blowout over a bad lower division team. Offense and defense both looked good, sure, but anything less than that would've been very disappointing. I'll be much more confident in judging UND's place in the Big Sky after this week's game against a good Big Sky team.

MTfan4life
September 5th, 2012, 01:39 AM
3. Cal Poly (3)---The Mustangs made quick work of Pioneer Conference foe San Diego as they started their first year as a Big Sky member. Now they take this week off to get ready for Wyoming and the beginning of the conference season.


The Cal Poly game was 20-14 heading into the final period. They dominated the fourth quarter, but the entire game wasn't a "quick work" win by any means.

coover
September 5th, 2012, 02:13 AM
The Cal Poly game was 20-14 heading into the final period. They dominated the fourth quarter, but the entire game wasn't a "quick work" win by any means.My opinion ... Cal Poly's depth beat a team with 22 decent players. San Diego just couldn't keep up!

San Diego will win a lot of games this year, not against schools like Cal Poly, whose depth beat them. But there aren't many non-scholarship programs that will be able to keep up with them. Actually, I think San Diego would beat several Big Sky teams.

wapiti
September 5th, 2012, 09:55 AM
Your ranking looks good for early in the season.
Only change I would make is put EWU and MSU in a tie for first.

Catbooster
September 5th, 2012, 06:12 PM
Nice job once again Jalmond. I'd probably put EWU just ahead of MSU (or tied) and maybe drop NAU a notch, but it's all so undetermined at this point that it's hard to argue.

bojeta
September 5th, 2012, 09:10 PM
My opinion ... Cal Poly's depth beat a team with 22 decent players. San Diego just couldn't keep up!

San Diego will win a lot of games this year, not against schools like Cal Poly, whose depth beat them. But there aren't many non-scholarship programs that will be able to keep up with them. Actually, I think San Diego would beat several Big Sky teams.

A better way to look at this game is to go to the San Diego football page and look at their own breakdown. Particularly, the drive by drive scoring. This game was NEVER as close at it appeared looking at the quarter by quarter. SD was trying to catch up, and only achieved the appearance of doing so, by a poorly snapped CP ball out of the shotgun that was recovered by SD who then relied on a fumble into the endzone to capitalize. Otherwise, they had one earned TD to CP's 5 + 2 field goals. Add to that the disparity in yardage, and plays run, and you'll get a closer picture to what I saw being at the game. BTW, our Third string was close to making it 48 - 14 when the clock ran out.

caribbeanhen
September 5th, 2012, 10:14 PM
I am still reeling from Montana State's big loss to Sammy last year, I never saw that coming so as for me, the jury is still out on Montana State

SDFS
September 5th, 2012, 10:19 PM
UND should be 2 or 3 spots lower.. QB out for a couple of weeks. This weeks game with PSU with be interesting. Not sure UND will win that game.