Big Sky Power Rankings 10/16

[wapiti]

1. Eastern Washington ---Great game in Bozeman. EWU keeps getting it done. Needs two more wins.

2. Cal Poly ---A couple of big games looming ahead in a couple of weeks first against Sac and then EWU. Meanwhile they must focus for PSU. CP is one victory away from the magical 7 win mark.

3. Northern Arizona---Nice road win for NAU against a good ND team. MSU's loss allowed NAU to move up one spot. Needs 3 more wins.

4. Montana State---Played a decent game but came up short. The 3 turnovers and the blocked punt were costly. Still need 2 more wins.

5. Sacramento State---Sac has quietly put themselves at 5 Div 1 wins. They still have a good shot a making the playoffs. But now a tough road game against EWU looms ahead. Needs 2 more wins.

6. Southern Utah---A nice road road win at Missoula. Always a tough place to win. Especially after two tough home losses. No playoffs

7. North Dakota ---Three losses in a row has ND falling in the rankings. Now they get to host UM and totally destory any last thread of hope the griz have at qualifying for playoffs. No Playoffs

8. Montana ---The griz are falling apart. The offseason turmoil is showing its affects. Now a road game at a good ND team. Needs to win out. 4 wins (and that still may not be enough).

9. UC-Davis ---Nice road win against ISU, but now on to NAU for a much tougher road game. No Playoffs

10. Portland State ---After playing bye to a zero - zero tie, PSU gets to travel to 2nd ranked CP. No Playoffs

11. Weber State ---Came close at Sac state, but still showing a big goose egg in the win column. The BBQ is showing improvement.

12. Northern Colorado---With ISU up next we should know who the bottom celler dweller is going to be this year. Not something either team wants in its trophy case.

13. Idaho State---See comment on UNC.

[cpalum]

1. Eastern Washington ---Great game in Bozeman. EWU keeps getting it done. Needs two more wins.

2. Cal Poly ---A couple of big games looming ahead in a couple of weeks first against Sac and then EWU. Meanwhile they must focus for PSU. CP is one victory away from the magical 7 win mark.

3. Northern Arizona---Nice road win for NAU against a good ND team. MSU's loss allowed NAU to move up one spot. Needs 3 more wins.

4. Montana State---Played a decent game but came up short. The 3 turnovers and the blocked punt were costly. Still need 2 more wins.

5. Sacramento State---Sac has quietly put themselves at 5 Div 1 wins. They still have a good shot a making the playoffs. But now a tough road game against EWU looms ahead. Needs 2 more wins.

6. Southern Utah---A nice road road win at Missoula. Always a tough place to win. Especially after two tough home losses. No playoffs

7. North Dakota ---Three losses in a row has ND falling in the rankings. Now they get to host UM and totally destory any last thread of hope the griz have at qualifying for playoffs. No Playoffs

8. Montana ---The griz are falling apart. The offseason turmoil is showing its affects. Now a road game at a good ND team. Needs to win out. 4 wins (and that still may not be enough).

9. UC-Davis ---Nice road win against ISU, but now on to NAU for a much tougher road game. No Playoffs

10. Portland State ---After playing bye to a zero - zero tie, PSU gets to travel to 2nd ranked CP. No Playoffs

11. Weber State ---Came close at Sac state, but still showing a big goose egg in the win column. The BBQ is showing improvement.

12. Northern Colorado---With ISU up next we should know who the bottom celler dweller is going to be this year. Not something either team wants in its trophy case.

13. Idaho State---See comment on UNC.



I like this ranking better than the others I've seen....I think Montana State is a very good team but at this point in the season you have to look at this years resume.....Montana State does not have a better resume than Cal Poly or NAU. I'd actually give the nod to NAU over Cal Poly. NAU 's best wins have been over UNLV, Portland St, and SUU. Cal Poly's have been over UND, UC Davis and Wyoming but all 6 wins are DI wins (NAU has a DII win). Cal Poly has won more convincingly but has played a slightly weaker schedule overall at this point IMO.

My top 5 would be...

EWU
NAU
Cal Poly
Montana St
Sac State

Good news is that Cal Poly's schedule gets a bit tougher with road games at EWU and NAU. I sure hope they can get W's in those for now they just need to beat Portland State.

[wapiti]

I like this ranking better than the others I've seen....I think Montana State is a very good team but at this point in the season you have to look at this years resume.....Montana State does not have a better resume than Cal Poly or NAU. I'd actually give the nod to NAU over Cal Poly. NAU 's best wins have been over UNLV, Portland St, and SUU. Cal Poly's have been over UND, UC Davis and Wyoming but all 6 wins are DI wins (NAU has a DII win). Cal Poly has won more convincingly but has played a slightly weaker schedule overall at this point IMO.

My top 5 would be...

EWU
NAU
Cal Poly
Montana St
Sac State

Good news is that Cal Poly's schedule gets a bit tougher with road games at EWU and NAU. I sure hope they can get W's in those for now they just need to beat Portland State.

I should have mentioned that CP and NAU are interchangable in their rankings. They are basiclly in a tie in my rankings. But I figured it better to give one team the slightest of leads in my rankings and CP won that lead.

[JALMOND]

Glad to see others coming into this discussion. Great job, wapiti on the rankings. My rankings are a bit different, but have been changed quite a bit due to the results of last week. Here are my rankings for this week in the Big Sky (last week). Continue on...

1. Eastern Washington (2)---The Eagles stepped in to Montana State's home stadium and emerged with a well deserved win. Now they return home and face a rejuvinated Sacramento State team. Can they avoid a hangover from the emotional win last week?

2. Montana State (1)---No fourth quarter heroics for the Bobcats last week as their special teams let them down against Eastern Washington. Now they get a week off to refocus and figure out how to right the ship.

3. Cal Poly (3)---In the shadow of the top two teams, the Mustangs were quietly putting away Northern Colorado at their home last week. This week they stay home to face Walsh's old team, Portland State.

4. Northern Arizona (4)---Last week, the Lumberjacks headed on the road to the noisy North Dakota dome and came out with a victory. This week they welcome UC-Davis to their own noisy dome.

5. Sacramento State (7)---Surprising, the Hornets had a bit of a struggle at home last week against a pesky Weber State team. They have shown to be better on the road. They will need it this weekend, going to Eastern Washington.

6. Southern Utah (8)---No one told the Thunderbirds that they were supposed to wilt under the fury of playing at Montana, and they left with the win. Whether they build on that remains to be seen, but this week they get their new instate rival, Weber State at home.

7. North Dakota (6)---A big chance last week for the Dakotans to make a statement, yet they fell at home to Northern Arizona. But they get another chance at making that statement this weekend as they entertain Montana.

8. Montana (5)---Have the Grizzlies fallen this season? Last week, they came out on the losing end at home against Southern Utah. Now, they need to jumpstart their season at North Dakota.

9. Portland State (10)---The Vikings took last week off after shellacking Idaho State. This weekend, they head on the road to play a strong Cal Poly team.

10. UC-Davis (9)---The Aggies hit the road last week and their offense came along against Idaho State. But, their once strong defense seems to be wavering. They will need them both this weekend as they go on the road again, this time to Northern Arizona.

11. Weber State (12)---Yes, the Wildcats lost again last weekend at Sacramento State, but their performance has been promising. But where are the wins? This week, they head to their new instate opponent, Southern Utah.

12. Northern Colorado (11)---Last week, the Bears stayed close to mighty Cal Poly, for about the first quarter. Then the other three were terrible. When do they get their first conference win in two years? Maybe this week as they host Idaho State.

13. Idaho State (13)---It was nice to see the Bengals show up at home against UC-Davis last week, but they still came on the short end. Now they have to hit the road to Northern Colorado to try to get their first win.

RECAP: 1-4 bunched together, 5-8 together but a bit behind, 9-10 aways out, 11-13 bringing up the rear.

[Lumberjackfanbefore2012]

I like this ranking better than the others I've seen....I think Montana State is a very good team but at this point in the season you have to look at this years resume.....Montana State does not have a better resume than Cal Poly or NAU. I'd actually give the nod to NAU over Cal Poly. NAU 's best wins have been over UNLV, Portland St, and SUU. Cal Poly's have been over UND, UC Davis and Wyoming but all 6 wins are DI wins (NAU has a DII win). Cal Poly has won more convincingly but has played a slightly weaker schedule overall at this point IMO.

My top 5 would be...

EWU
NAU
Cal Poly
Montana St
Sac State

Good news is that Cal Poly's schedule gets a bit tougher with road games at EWU and NAU. I sure hope they can get W's in those for now they just need to beat Portland State.

NAU plays hasn't played SUU yet. We play them the week before Cal Poly. I hope Cal Poly beats EWU so NAU vs Cal Poly at the end of the season could be like a Big Sky Conference Championship game.

[coover]

NAU plays hasn't played SUU yet. We play them the week before Cal Poly. I hope Cal Poly beats EWU so NAU vs Cal Poly at the end of the season could be like a Big Sky Conference Championship game.For Poly, that would mean that they might be playing two Big Sky Championship games. If Poly beats both PSU and CSUS, the EWU game, though not a Big Sky Conference game, may have Conference Championship significance. And if NAU remains undefeated through the Poly game, and if Poly has beaten all foes, including EWU, that game will determine the Conference Champion.

Do well Lumberjacks. I will be at the NAU - Poly game and it should be a great one. And it will be even better if it is for the Championship! I shall not predict a winner but certainly hope the the Mustangs will run and pass all over the Lumberjacks. Best of luck to you in all your other games.

[darell1976]

UND looks about right...I would even put Montana above us. UND has to win on Saturday to save this season. Losing to Montana will put not only Mike Mannausau's job (DC) but Chris Mussman's job (head coach) in jeopardy.

[JALMOND]

UND looks about right...I would even put Montana above us. UND has to win on Saturday to save this season. Losing to Montana will put not only Mike Mannausau's job (DC) but Chris Mussman's job (head coach) in jeopardy.

Must be a rough crowd out there. Being mid-pack in the Big Sky should not put any coach's job in jeopardy. What were you expecting?

[Jacked_Rabbit]

Must be a rough crowd out there. Being mid-pack in the Big Sky should not put any coach's job in jeopardy. What were you expecting?

Yeah, just be happy you aren't USD in the Valley! xlolx

[MSUBobcat]

Must be a rough crowd out there. Being mid-pack in the Big Sky should not put any coach's job in jeopardy. What were you expecting?

Agreed. UND has had one hell of a schedule so far. They have one of the top offenses in the country, lost to an FBS and 2 of the top teams in the BSC, both of which could be playoff bound, and gave 5-2 Sac St., who beat Colorado, one of their 2 losses (the other to FBS NMSU), in Sacramento no less. Maybe not what the fans were hoping for, but realistic for a program just out of its transition period.

[UNDColorado]

Agreed. UND has had one hell of a schedule so far. They have one of the top offenses in the country, lost to an FBS and 2 of the top teams in the BSC, both of which could be playoff bound, and gave 5-2 Sac St., who beat Colorado, one of their 2 losses (the other to FBS NMSU), in Sacramento no less. Maybe not what the fans were hoping for, but realistic for a program just out of its transition period.

Well said. We fans always have high expectations for the program, but this is a tough league and our schedule didn't help. That said this isn't a disaster; more of a work in progress.

[MSUBobcat]

Well said. We fans always have high expectations for the program, but this is a tough league and our schedule didn't help. That said this isn't a disaster; more of a work in progress.

Having high expectations is commendable. With a win this weekend and against SUU and @ UNC (sorry, I can't include your other remaining game ;)), and UND finishes 6-5, 5-4 against conference foes (one played as non-conference). Definitely respectable, especially with the Sky looking tough this year and potentially sending 4 teams to the playoffs and UND playing all 4 in a 5 week span. xthumbsupx

[Lumberjackfanbefore2012]

For Poly, that would mean that they might be playing two Big Sky Championship games. If Poly beats both PSU and CSUS, the EWU game, though not a Big Sky Conference game, may have Conference Championship significance. And if NAU remains undefeated through the Poly game, and if Poly has beaten all foes, including EWU, that game will determine the Conference Champion.

Do well Lumberjacks. I will be at the NAU - Poly game and it should be a great one. And it will be even better if it is for the Championship! I shall not predict a winner but certainly hope the the Mustangs will run and pass all over the Lumberjacks. Best of luck to you in all your other games.

I wouldn't count on it. Lumberjacks have a solid pass defense.

[darell1976]

Must be a rough crowd out there. Being mid-pack in the Big Sky should not put any coach's job in jeopardy. What were you expecting?

UND fans are impatient due to UND's not so great transition posting 6-4 (08), 6-5 (09), 3-8 (also losing to DII Sioux Falls in 2010), before winning a share of the GWFC last year at 8-3. Mussman has been on the hot seat since 2010. UND's last year in DII was a playoff team coached by Dale Lennon and beat FCS Southern Utah in Cedar City so hopes were high moving up to DI, plus trying to mimick NDSU's sucess put pressure on this team. Now you have an offense like UND hasn't seen in a long time (good thing) but our defense is (imo) the worst I have seen since the 1980's, plus Mussman's questionable coaching really puts him on the hot seat. True this stretch is the worst I think any FCS team has probably seen but thats life in the BSC. If UND thinks they won't see this again they are wrong. This team better play up to the challenge or we might as well pack it in. I think UND will take out its frustration on Montana, and SUU at home. (I don't see UND winning in Bozeman) that leaves the finally at UNC where UND historically has struggled.