Big Sky Power Rankings 9-20

[JALMOND]

The final full slate of non-conference games have passed and now the questions begin to be answered. Montana and Idaho State still have one more non-conference game to play but for everyone else, it is just conference foes for the rest of the season. Going off just non-conference games is difficult to determine how teams would do conference-wise, so it is good that everyone except Idaho is in play this weekend. Here are this week's Big Sky power rankings (last week in parenthesis). All are my opinion only.

1. Montana (1)---Last week bye, this week Cal Poly at home---The Grizzlies took a week off to prepare for the conference slate (they will play Dixie State in mid-October). A huge win over the Pac-12 Washington and a strong win against the Mo Valley's Western Illinois has them at the top of the conference. How long will they be able to stay there.

2. UC Davis (3)---Last week beat Dixie State (FCS transition) at home, 60-27, this week at Weber State---The Aggies closed out their non-conference slate as strong as they have been, downing Dixie State the same way they beat the FBS Tulsa (who looked good against Ohio State) and San Diego. They start conference play with a tough one on the road.

3. Eastern Washington (2)---Last week won at Western Illinois (Missouri Valley) 62-56, this week at Southern Utah---Impressive that the Eagles put up 55 points in the first half, but they had to withstand a furious rally to eke out the win. Still, a good win over the FBS and a strong win over the DII and they are hoping it has prepared them enough to stay near the top of the conference.

4. Montana State (5)---Last week beat San Diego (Pioneer) at home 52-10, this week at Portland State---The Bobcats have shown that they can dominate the Pioneer league, blowing out both San Diego and Drake. They probably should have a win over the FBS as well, but the two strong wins over the Pioneer should be an excellent tuneup for the conference opener on the road.

5. Weber State (4)---Last week lost to James Madison (Colonial) at home 37-24, this week UC Davis at home---The Wildcats stepped up big in their final non-conference date, bringing in a strong opponent from the CAA. As the dust settles, they only have one win, a huge win over a transitional team to go with their losses to James Madison and Utah. Is this enough to start the conference season?

6. Northern Arizona (7)---Last week won at Arizona (FBS Pac-12) 21-19, this week at Northern Colorado---The Lumberjacks finally broke through the win column in a big way, taking down their big brothers in the Pac-12. They are hoping to ride that win, along with some good losses to Sam Houston and South Dakota, into a good conference season.

7. Sacramento State (6)---Last week lost at California (FBS Pac-12) 42-30, this week at Idaho State---The Hornets played California tough for a quarter, then put together a good rally to make the score look close. Still a loss here along with a tough home loss to a good Northern Iowa team has the Hornets thinking good thoughts going in to conference play.

8. Idaho (8)---Last week lost at Oregon State (FBS Pac-12) 42-0, this week bye---The Vandals took a tough non-conference slate to task, playing two really good FBS teams (Oregon State and Indiana) to go with a DII opponent, and while the FBS losses look bad, they do have an extra week to prepare for the conference season the following week.

9. Cal Poly (9)---Last week lost to South Dakota (Missouri Valley) at home 48-14, this week at Montana---The Mustangs brought in an underrated Missouri Valley team and took one on the chin last week. Still, they have a strong win over San Diego to go with losses to South Dakota and Fresno State. The question is, can it translate to a win in a tough place to play.

10. Portland State (11)---Last week beat Western Oregon (DII) at home 21-7, this week Montana State at home---Two weeks of the offense looking good and the defense struggling, things were switched for the Vikings when they brought in a DII for their home opener. Impressive offensive showings against Washington State and Hawaii may have them thinking they can score on anyone. But can they?

11. Southern Utah (13)---Last week beat Tarleton State (FCS transition) 40-35, this week Eastern Washington at home---After a couple shaky losses to some good FBS teams, the Thunderbirds took an extra week to prepare and downed an FCS transition team on a neutral field. But what they learned from the losses to San Jose State and Arizona State have them hopeful for a good conference season.

12. Northern Colorado (10)---Last week lost to Lamar (Southland) at home 17-10, this week Northern Arizona at home---The Bears took a loss last week and ended up going 1-1 against the Southland. A couple of gritty performances has them thinking about banking on their defense until the offense can get going. Will it get going this weekend?

13. Idaho State (12)---Last week bye, this week Sacramento State at home---The only team in the Big Sky that does not have a win yet, the Bengals took and extra week to prepare for their conference season. Losses to North Dakota and FBS Nevada, however, have them still searching for their first win. An extra week, and the opener at home, will they get it this weekend?

RECAP: 1-5 the haves, 6-7 the tweeners, 8-13 the have nots.

[Puddin Tane]

The Bears took a loss last week and ended up going 1-1 against the Southland.


​Lamar is now in the WACk. And NoCo is terrible.

[wapiti]

Here is my shot at it:

1. Montana ---UM has earned this spot

2. UC Davis ---You See Davis has looked better than expected so far this season and will play for a top spot in the Big Sky.

3. Weber State ---Losing to JMU should not be a huge hit as JMU is a really good FCS team. (Change the one play where JMU returned a fumble for a TD and the game may have had a different result) It does not get any easier for the BBQ with You see Davis arriving in town.

4. Montana State ---Did what they were suppose to against U San Diego. I think MSU is starting to play as a team and if that continues they too will be a contender for the top spot in the Big Sky.

5. Eastern Washington ---The 2nd half against W. Ill was UGLY for EWU. EWU has defensive issues. Championship teams typically have a good defense.

6. Northern Arizona --- Impressive win over a P5 FBS team

7. Sacramento State --- Kept the game against P5 California much closer than I expected.

8. Idaho --- Hard to tell how good, bad or indifferent Idaho is this year with the OOC games they have played.

9. Southern Utah ---I had predicted Tarleton to win, but SUU took the W. Will SUU be able to expose EWU's defense this week?

10. Cal Poly ---CP's one win was against a weak San Diego team.

11. Portland State ---Not sure on PSU yet this year. One FBS games was closer than expected, the other FBS they were beat as expected and the game against Div 2 was closer than expected.

12. Northern Colorado ---The win against Houston Baptist helped, but the loss to Lamar, in Greely, hurts.

13. Idaho State ---ISU has not looked good in their 2 losses.

RECAP: 1-5 with 5 barely hanging on, 6-8 a step behind, 9-13 bringing up the rear.

[nevadagriz]

I watched parts of PSU game and Cats game last week. Just a few general observations. Cats looked fast and hit hard against USD on defense. Portland looked slow on both sides of the ball and honestly to the average fan PSU and Southern oregon looked like two teams from the same division. Someone please explain NAU to me. Not sold on Davis this week will tell us a lot!

[Lumberjackfanbefore2012]

I watched parts of PSU game and Cats game last week. Just a few general observations. Cats looked fast and hit hard against USD on defense. Portland looked slow on both sides of the ball and honestly to the average fan PSU and Southern oregon looked like two teams from the same division. Someone please explain NAU to me. Not sold on Davis this week will tell us a lot!
NAU is a much better team than you all give them credit. They're not a bad team. Sam Houston and South Dakota are really good. NAU is monstrous on defense. The offense was terrible the first two games giving up awful picks and going three and out time after time. Most of the issues were coming from poor qb play. Halfway during the Arizona game Freshman RJ Martinez came in and played some decent ball at the qb position. He is a big reason why we grabbed the lead in the second half. NAU is going to win a ton of low scoring games during conference play this year behind that defense.

[nevadagriz]

NAU is a much better team than you all give them credit. They're not a bad team. Sam Houston and South Dakota are really good. NAU is monstrous on defense. The offense was terrible the first two games giving up awful picks and going three and out time after time. Most of the issues were coming from poor qb play. Halfway during the Arizona game Freshman RJ Martinez came in and played some decent ball at the qb position. He is a big reason why we grabbed the lead in the second half. NAU is going to win a ton of low scoring games during conference play this year behind that defense.

When you say really good on defense how good? on a scale of Montana/Montana St to EWU where do they fit in??

[Katfan]

When you say really good on defense how good? on a scale of Montana/Montana St to EWU where do they fit in??
Not Montana but way better than EWU

[Katfan]

NAU is a much better team than you all give them credit. They're not a bad team. Sam Houston and South Dakota are really good. NAU is monstrous on defense. The offense was terrible the first two games giving up awful picks and going three and out time after time. Most of the issues were coming from poor qb play. Halfway during the Arizona game Freshman RJ Martinez came in and played some decent ball at the qb position. He is a big reason why we grabbed the lead in the second half. NAU is going to win a ton of low scoring games during conference play this year behind that defense.
NAU is going to surprise some teams in the big sky. They had two tough games out of the gate.

[Lumberjackfanbefore2012]

When you say really good on defense how good? on a scale of Montana/Montana St to EWU where do they fit in??
I think NAU has a top 4 defense in the conference based on what I’ve seen through the first three games. The offense is still a bit of a question mark. I need to see a full game of RJ Martinez. I would not be surprised if they upset Montana in the dome this year. It wouldn’t be the first time.

[Lumberjackfanbefore2012]

NAU is going to surprise some teams in the big sky. They had two tough games out of the gate.
That Sam Houston game was fairly close up until the end of the third quarter. Poor qb play kept us out of that game. Like I said, I need to see more RJ Martinez in the web position. If he flourishes, it’s gonna be a hell of a year in the conference.

[nevadagriz]

Nau scares me as a griz fan however, Good defenses dont give up 95 points in three games

[Lumberjackfanbefore2012]

Welp…. I’m in “let’s see how the young guys develop for next year” mode after that disappointing NAU loss to UNC. Two terrible field goals kept them from winning that game.