Big Sky Power Rankings 9-19

[JALMOND]

Now we are done with the nonconference matchups for the most part. Now is when the season truly begins with conference foe facing conference foe for the title and the AQ in to the playoffs. Some great performances in nonconference and some not so great. Here are this week's power rankings (last week in parenthesis). All are my opinion only. Good luck to all teams as the conference season begins.

1. Eastern Washington (1)---Last week beat Missouri Valley's Northern Iowa 34-30, this week at Northern Arizona---The Eagles went through the non conference with the only blemish against top ranked North Dakota State in OT.

2. Montana (2)---Last week bye, this week at Cal Poly---The Grizzlies took last week off and now must hit the road for a game against the upstarts of the conference so far.

3. Cal Poly (3)---Last week won at Missouri Valley's South Dakota State 38-31, this week Montana at home---The Mustangs got a tough, well-deserved win on the road in a hostile Valley venue, but things do not get easier.

4. Northern Arizona (5)---Last week beat DII's New Mexico Highlands at home 73-3, this week Eastern Washington at home---The Lumberjacks finally get a win before the conference season begins.

5. North Dakota (4)---Last week beat Missouri Valley's South Dakota 47-44 in OT, this week at Montana State---The Hawks finally discovered some offense to go with their defense, right before the conference season begins.

6. Southern Utah (8)---Last week bye, this week Portland State at home---The Thunderbirds took last week off to prepare for their conference opener against the reeling Vikings.

7. Portland State (6)---Last week lost at Pac-12's Washington 41-3, this week at Southern Utah---Hard to gauge what the Vikings have, but they seem to need help defending the pass.

8. Montana State (10)---Last week beat DII's Western Oregon 55-0, this week North Dakota at home---Have the Bobcats got everything working? They looked good against a lesser opponent who had a Big Sky scalp already.

9. Weber State (7)---Last week beat Sacramento State at home 14-7, this week at UC-Davis---The Wildcats struggled a bit to put away the Hornets in a non conference game. Are they ready to start the conference season.

10. Northern Colorado (9)---Last week lost at Mountain West's Colorado State 47-21, this week bye---The Bears will take this week off to prepare for their conference opener next week.

11. UC-Davis (11)---Last week lost at Mountain West's Wyoming 45-22, this week Weber State at home---The Aggies have shown a bit of offense, but their usually strong defense has been a weak point. It could possibly have to do with their opponents.

12. Idaho State (12)---Last week lost at Pac-12's Oregon State 37-7, this week Sacramento State at home---The Bengals return to the conference after two straight weeks playing at the Pac-12's level.

13. Sacramento State (13)---Last week lost at Weber State 14-7, this week at Idaho State---The Hornets seem to rise up when playing conference foes which may bode well for them as the out of conference was terrible.

RECAP: 1-2 out front, 3-5 just behind them, 6-10 a step back, 11-12 trying to stay up there, 13 recovering

[tomq04]

Northern Colarado is going to surprise some conference mates this year, you read it here folks. Hoping for a strong showing by EWU to really assert themselves against an excellent NAU team.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

HEY! Glad to see this rolling again JALMOND!

[ursus arctos horribilis]

Northern Colarado is going to surprise some conference mates this year, you read it here folks. Hoping for a strong showing by EWU to really assert themselves against an excellent NAU team.

kalm actually mentioned this a couple weeks back on the podcast I think it was...sorry he slipped in first. At least it's another EWU guy.

[FCSwatcher]

There is going to be s lot of shake up going on in the next two weeks.




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[Nodak78]

This will be a very interesting week in the Big Sky. This week could lead to some shake out or more questions. Love the match UPS.
Montana vs Poly. How many yards will Poly get and can their new DC figure out a way to stop them
NAU vs EWU. could be a shoot out.
UND vs MSU. It will not be a shoot out this year much more defense. I think.
SUU vs Portland will be a good match.
All will be good games.

[kalm]

kalm actually mentioned this a couple weeks back on the podcast I think it was...sorry he slipped in first. At least it's another EWU guy.

I don't think they've "arrived" yet (especially on D) but they have a good young QB in Knipp an an obviously talented backup with what he did coming off the bench against ACU. Riek and Cartegena are capable RB's and Deggs and Onic can flat out fly in the passing game and are equal threats returning kicks.

They had an easy schedule last year, but are coming off their first ever winning season in DI and have confidence.

Oh...and yes...everyone needs to listen to the FCS Wedge Show.

[veinup]

Poly is chomping at the bit to jump into the number one spot next week.

[wapiti]

I too think NC will be moving up in the rankings. They did ok in the OOC games and could easily surprise their first few conference foes.

[Schism55]

I'm very intrigued by the EWU/NAU game.
I've seen a lot of NAU so far this season, and haven't been that impressed.
Hoping this game ends 63-59!!

[cpalum]

Both EWU v NAU and Montana v Cal Poly are huge games this week.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

This will be a very interesting week in the Big Sky. This week could lead to some shake out or more questions. Love the match UPS.
Montana vs Poly. How many yards will Poly get and can their new DC figure out a way to stop them
NAU vs EWU. could be a shoot out.
UND vs MSU. It will not be a shoot out this year much more defense. I think.
SUU vs Portland will be a good match.
All will be good games.

If Montana loses to CP it won't be because of the D, it will be because of our O which it always has been when we play Triple O teams. If our Offense does their job and not only scores a bit but hangs on to the damn ball for a respectable amount of time then our D doesn't become a punching bag in the fourth quarter.

You got it right though, sort of a big week so early in the conference season.

[BadlandsGrizFan]

Montana and EWU both win by 21+....BOOK IT!

[SUUTbird]

Rankings look good, besides looking forward to seeing how good SUU and Portland State are this season I'm really curious about how Cal Poly will do against Montana's defense which so far has appeared to be really strong. Also agree about UNC, I think they have the potential to be a dark horse team in the conference this season.

Random question will Kupp be ready to play against NAU?

[nevadagriz]

I'm interested in the MSU vs UND game. One team has been getting mentally pumped all winter the other physically pumped. I'm pumped to see the results.

[kalm]

Rankings look good, besides looking forward to seeing how good SUU and Portland State are this season I'm really curious about how Cal Poly will do against Montana's defense which so far has appeared to be really strong. Also agree about UNC, I think they have the potential to be a dark horse team in the conference this season.

Random question will Kupp be ready to play against NAU?

Doubt if we'll know until Saturday. Same goes for who is starting at QB.

[SeattleBobcat]

Now we are done with the nonconference matchups for the most part. Now is when the season truly begins with conference foe facing conference foe for the title and the AQ in to the playoffs. Some great performances in nonconference and some not so great. Here are this week's power rankings (last week in parenthesis). All are my opinion only. Good luck to all teams as the conference season begins.

1. Eastern Washington (1)---Last week beat Missouri Valley's Northern Iowa 34-30, this week at Northern Arizona---The Eagles went through the non conference with the only blemish against top ranked North Dakota State in OT.

2. Montana (2)---Last week bye, this week at Cal Poly---The Grizzlies took last week off and now must hit the road for a game against the upstarts of the conference so far.

3. Cal Poly (3)---Last week won at Missouri Valley's South Dakota State 38-31, this week Montana at home---The Mustangs got a tough, well-deserved win on the road in a hostile Valley venue, but things do not get easier.

4. Northern Arizona (5)---Last week beat DII's New Mexico Highlands at home 73-3, this week Eastern Washington at home---The Lumberjacks finally get a win before the conference season begins.

5. North Dakota (4)---Last week beat Missouri Valley's South Dakota 47-44 in OT, this week at Montana State---The Hawks finally discovered some offense to go with their defense, right before the conference season begins.

6. Southern Utah (8)---Last week bye, this week Portland State at home---The Thunderbirds took last week off to prepare for their conference opener against the reeling Vikings.

7. Portland State (6)---Last week lost at Pac-12's Washington 41-3, this week at Southern Utah---Hard to gauge what the Vikings have, but they seem to need help defending the pass.

8. Montana State (10)---Last week beat DII's Western Oregon 55-0, this week North Dakota at home---Have the Bobcats got everything working? They looked good against a lesser opponent who had a Big Sky scalp already.

9. Weber State (7)---Last week beat Sacramento State at home 14-7, this week at UC-Davis---The Wildcats struggled a bit to put away the Hornets in a non conference game. Are they ready to start the conference season.

10. Northern Colorado (9)---Last week lost at Mountain West's Colorado State 47-21, this week bye---The Bears will take this week off to prepare for their conference opener next week.

11. UC-Davis (11)---Last week lost at Mountain West's Wyoming 45-22, this week Weber State at home---The Aggies have shown a bit of offense, but their usually strong defense has been a weak point. It could possibly have to do with their opponents.

12. Idaho State (12)---Last week lost at Pac-12's Oregon State 37-7, this week Sacramento State at home---The Bengals return to the conference after two straight weeks playing at the Pac-12's level.

13. Sacramento State (13)---Last week lost at Weber State 14-7, this week at Idaho State---The Hornets seem to rise up when playing conference foes which may bode well for them as the out of conference was terrible.

RECAP: 1-2 out front, 3-5 just behind them, 6-10 a step back, 11-12 trying to stay up there, 13 recovering

This looks pretty good but I think I would move SUU up one and UND down two. Otherwise that's pretty much how I see it right now too.

[veinup]

i'm driving up for the montana/poly game so our chances of victory aren't very good, sorry griz fans.

[GetEmGriz]

i'm driving up for the montana/poly game so our chances of victory aren't very good, sorry griz fans.

Why the hell would you be attending the game if you're bad luck?! We need a win! xlolxxsmhx

[MTfan4life]

Northern Colarado is going to surprise some conference mates this year, you read it here folks. Hoping for a strong showing by EWU to really assert themselves against an excellent NAU team.

I, too, think they're quite improved this season, but they have a nasty schedule! Conference road games: @Davis, @Poly, @EWash, @PSU - Home: Montana, Cal State-Sac, UND, NAU. Just coming away with 3 conference wins will be tough for the Bears.

[tomq04]

I'm interested in the MSU vs UND game. One team has been getting mentally pumped all winter the other physically pumped. I'm pumped to see the results.

I've read this 3 or 4 times in the past 24 hours scrolling through and I've lol'd every time.