Big Sky predictions 9-2

[JALMOND]

With some games being played on Thursday, I felt the rush to get the week 1 predictions out early for the conference. Some tough games to pikc right off the bat with four teams playing down South on Thursday. All teams will be in action either on Thursday or Saturday and most are playing another FCS opponent. As usual, Big Sky conference teams are represented by their scoreboard abbreviation, and non-Big Sky teams are spelled out (for example, PSU is Portland State, and if anyone was playing Penn State, they would be spelled out). Here are my predictions for the first week.

Thursday's games

UI at Lamar (FCS Southland)---Will the Vandals pick up where they left off last year and take off running? Good things are expected out of them this year. However, they start off by venturing into Southland country and a good opponent. A road win would be a great start...UI 31, Lamar 21.

UNC at Abilene Christian (FCS United)---New faces, new places for the Bears from last year to this year and a trip to the great state of Texas awaits them to begin the year. How soon will the new faces gel with each other? Time will tell, but probably not the first game...Abilene Christian 35, UNC 17.

SAC at Nicholls (FCS Southland)---Another Thursday trip for a Big Sky school in the Southland. Even with a new coach, feelings are high for the Hornets as they set out to defend their conference title. Can they start off by getting a good, tough road win?...SAC 34, Nicholls 28.

UCD at Texas A&M-Commerce (FCS Southland)---And yet another contest down in the Southland. High expectations this year for the Aggies as they start the year on the road in the heart of Texas. They will need this win, however, to keep those good thoughts going...UCD 27, Texas A&M-Commerce 21.

Central Washington (DII) at WSU---New coach but still the same grind it out philosophy for the Wildcats, and a good formula to start with, bringing in a lesser opponent to open with. A tough game next week awaits, but they need this one first...WSU 35, Central Washington 7.

Saturday's games

San Diego (FCS Pioneer) at CP---A new era begins for the Mustangs with a new coach and new faces. But, they start this year at home against a non-scholly team from the Pioneer. Maybe a few good bounces here and there, but maybe few and far between...San Diego 21, CP 14.

EWU vs North Dakota State (FCS Missouri Valley)---The Eagles are trying to claw their way back to the top of the conference and what better way to make some noise than playing one of the top teams in FCS. It is a neutral site game, but it is still one of the top teams...North Dakota State 35, EWU 15.

ISU at San Diego State (FBS Mtn West)---The new look Bengals bring their team down to southern California for a tough clash against a good FBS program. The only thing good about this for the Bengals is the payday they will receive. Everything else hurts...San Diego State 48, ISU 7.

Butler (FCS) Pioneer at UM---The Grizzlies may have some questions at some key positions so what better way to hopefully play a bunch of players and bring in a non-scholly Pioneer league team to their mighty home. A bunch of players should play, for sure...UM 42, Butler 14.

Utah Tech (FCS United) at MSU---The Bobcats continue to roll on and this season should be roughly the same as the last few seasons. Starting in their own home is a plus. Playing a quality opponent should also work in their favor as well. A good win on the horizon...MSU 31, Utah Tech 17.

NAU at Arizona (FBS Pac-12)---The Lumberjacks may have enough here to throw a scare into their in state brethren from the south. However, trying out a new quarterback, and a few other postions are new as well, it may be a case of close but no cigar...Arizona 28, NAU 21.

PSU at Oregon (FBS Pac-12)---The Vikings will be the latest conference team to play in Eugene, a place that the conference as a whole has not done well recently. The Vikings are going up against a strong FBS team with a lot to prove and they won't let up here...Oregon 54, PSU 14.

[bonarae]

Vandals
ACU
Sac
UC Davis
Weber
CP (Half of the Toreros' roster is suspended; this game may be forfeited or cancelled)
NDSU
Aztecs
Griz
Montana State
NAU (scalp, maybe?)
Ducks

[SeattleCat]

Idaho over Lamar 35-17
Abilene Christian over UNC 28-21
Sac over Nicholls 31-17
Davis over a&m commerce 49-10
Weber over Central WA 31-10
Cal Poly over SD 35-21
NDSU over Ewu 40-7
Sdsu over ISU 70-0
um over Bulter 28-7
MSU over UT 44-27
AZ over NAU 40-7
Oregon over PSU 70-7

[FUBeAR]

Oh sorry…FUBeAR saw the thread title and thought it was the predicted overall record of every Big Sky Team. He really is a Bear of very little brain. Carry on.

[wapiti]

Opening weekend!!!!! and several good OOC games against decent fellow FCS teams.
Every team in the Big Sky should finish 9-2 this year.

Thursday's games

UI 32 at Lamar 28 (FCS Southland)---UI should pick up the W, but this game is on the road for them and Lamar is no slouch of a team.

UNC 16 at Abilene Christian 27 (FCS United)---UNCU is rebuilding after the McCaffery fiasco and they left the team in a mess.

SAC 24 at Nicholls 17 (FCS Southland)---A good road game for Sac against a good team.

UCD 27 at Texas A&M-Commerce 21 (FCS Southland)---If UCD builds on what they did last year UCD should get the W.

Central Washington 13 (DII) at WSU 48---A good warm up game for the new coach at BBQ

Saturday's games

San Diego 14 (FCS Pioneer) at CP 31---I figure CP will be better than they were last year and will get the W

EWU 17 vs North Dakota State 45 (FCS Missouri Valley)---EWU may get curb stomped in this one

ISU 3 at San Diego State 62 (FBS Mtn West)---SDSU will make ISU look bad.

Butler 9 (FCS) Pioneer at UM 42---Cupcake for UM,

Utah Tech 21 (FCS United) at MSU 38---Good warm up game for MSU

NAU 10 at Arizona 48 (FBS Pac-12)---NAU has at least once surprised Arizona, but not this year.

PSU 17 at Oregon 52 (FBS Pac-12)---Oregon is going to want to leave the PAC# with a good record and especially no losses to a lower team.

[THE DANIMAL]

Idaho 35 at Lamar 24
UNC 17 at Abilene Christian 31
SAC 31 at Nicholls 20
UCD 41 at Texas A&M Commerce 21
CWU 14 at WSU 41
San Diego 21 at Cal Poly 38
EWU 20 at NDSU 48
ISU 0 at SDSU 45
Butler 10 at Montana 42
Utah Tech 24 at MSU 45
NAU 24 at Arizona 34
PSU 10 at Oregon 55

[MSUBobcat]

Opening weekend!!!!! and several good OOC games against decent fellow FCS teams.
Every team in the Big Sky should finish 9-2 this year.

Thursday's games

UI 32 at Lamar 28 (FCS Southland)---UI should pick up the W, but this game is on the road for them and Lamar is no slouch of a team.

UNC 16 at Abilene Christian 27 (FCS United)---UNCU is rebuilding after the McCaffery fiasco and they left the team in a mess.

SAC 24 at Nicholls 17 (FCS Southland)---A good road game for Sac against a good team.

UCD 27 at Texas A&M-Commerce 21 (FCS Southland)---If UCD builds on what they did last year UCD should get the W.

Central Washington 13 (DII) at WSU 48---A good warm up game for the new coach at BBQ

Saturday's games

San Diego 14 (FCS Pioneer) at CP 31---I figure CP will be better than they were last year and will get the W

EWU 17 vs North Dakota State 45 (FCS Missouri Valley)---EWU may get curb stomped in this one

ISU 3 at San Diego State 62 (FBS Mtn West)---SDSU will make ISU look bad.

Butler 9 (FCS) Pioneer at UM 42---Cupcake for UM,

Utah Tech 21 (FCS United) at MSU 38---Good warm up game for MSU

NAU 10 at Arizona 48 (FBS Pac-12)---NAU has at least once surprised Arizona, but not this year.

PSU 17 at Oregon 52 (FBS Pac-12)---Oregon is going to want to leave the PAC# with a good record and especially no losses to a lower team.

Admittedly I don't follow the offseason of the Southland, but do you know something I don't?? Lamar was 1-10 last year with their sole win being Nicholls. And Nicholls was 3-8 with a 2pt road win against a bad HCU team (who beat... Lamar), a 5pt home win against McNeese (which MSU trucked even with a slow 1st half) and a 2pt home win over transitioning TAMU-Commerce. Even being on the road, if those are 1-score games I would be shocked and Idaho and Sac St. would have fallen WAY off from last season. Davis should also be looking to dump truck Commerce, but they pulled some decent W's last year (@SELA, beat McNeese on the road by more than the Bobcats beat them).

My score predictions yet to come. I've slacked off too much. I just wanted to see what the predictions are so far.

[wapiti]

Admittedly I don't follow the offseason of the Southland, but do you know something I don't?? Lamar was 1-10 last year with their sole win being Nicholls. And Nicholls was 3-8 with a 2pt road win against a bad HCU team (who beat... Lamar), a 5pt home win against McNeese (which MSU trucked even with a slow 1st half) and a 2pt home win over transitioning TAMU-Commerce. Even being on the road, if those are 1-score games I would be shocked and Idaho and Sac St. would have fallen WAY off from last season. Davis should also be looking to dump truck Commerce, but they pulled some decent W's last year (@SELA, beat McNeese on the road by more than the Bobcats beat them).

My score predictions yet to come. I've slacked off too much. I just wanted to see what the predictions are so far.

I did not do any homework on the Southland teams.
I did figure Southland > Pioneer and several other FCS leagues and it is a road game for the Big Sky team.

[McCowboys]

Admittedly I don't follow the offseason of the Southland, but do you know something I don't?? Lamar was 1-10 last year with their sole win being Nicholls. And Nicholls was 3-8 with a 2pt road win against a bad HCU team (who beat... Lamar), a 5pt home win against McNeese (which MSU trucked even with a slow 1st half) and a 2pt home win over transitioning TAMU-Commerce. Even being on the road, if those are 1-score games I would be shocked and Idaho and Sac St. would have fallen WAY off from last season. Davis should also be looking to dump truck Commerce, but they pulled some decent W's last year (@SELA, beat McNeese on the road by more than the Bobcats beat them).

My score predictions yet to come. I've slacked off too much. I just wanted to see what the predictions are so far.

I'm not here to change your mind or dispute what you have said. I will add this. Lamar has a new head coach, one who rebuilds teams. Admirably or crazily, he retained much of the staff from the previous coach. So there is some familiarity there between most of the coaches and players. Lamar may still be searching for their quarterback, but expect a fight for all four quarters.

Speaking of all four quarters: It will be played with miserably hot weather. A long trip for Idaho for an early week game.

Commerce also has a new coach who has coached in the Arena League. No telling what this team will look like this year, but they have been a successful Division II program.

As for Nicholls, expect Voodoo on the Bayou. This is never an easy place to play - strange things happen here, and Sac State will also have to deal with the hot, swampy weather.

[JALMOND]

Admittedly I don't follow the offseason of the Southland, but do you know something I don't?? Lamar was 1-10 last year with their sole win being Nicholls. And Nicholls was 3-8 with a 2pt road win against a bad HCU team (who beat... Lamar), a 5pt home win against McNeese (which MSU trucked even with a slow 1st half) and a 2pt home win over transitioning TAMU-Commerce. Even being on the road, if those are 1-score games I would be shocked and Idaho and Sac St. would have fallen WAY off from last season. Davis should also be looking to dump truck Commerce, but they pulled some decent W's last year (@SELA, beat McNeese on the road by more than the Bobcats beat them).

My score predictions yet to come. I've slacked off too much. I just wanted to see what the predictions are so far.

I don't think you are giving the Southland enough respect here. Granted all three Southland teams have not been world beaters, but the Big Sky is sending both Causeway teams and also one that plays indoors to Bayou country at the end of August. The fact that the Big Sky teams are not playing the top Southland teams on the road is why I'm picking all three to come back home with wins, but it would not surprise me if at least one of them comes out on the short end. Regardless of past success (or lack of it in the case of the Southland schools), all three will be tough games for the Big Sky teams.

[MSUBobcat]

I'm not here to change your mind or dispute what you have said. I will add this. Lamar has a new head coach, one who rebuilds teams. Admirably or crazily, he retained much of the staff from the previous coach. So there is some familiarity there between most of the coaches and players. Lamar may still be searching for their quarterback, but expect a fight for all four quarters.

Speaking of all four quarters: It will be played with miserably hot weather. A long trip for Idaho for an early week game.

Commerce also has a new coach who has coached in the Arena League. No telling what this team will look like this year, but they have been a successful Division II program.

As for Nicholls, expect Voodoo on the Bayou. This is never an easy place to play - strange things happen here, and Sac State will also have to deal with the hot, swampy weather.

Thank you for the input, McCowboys. A lot can change from one year to the next. Lamar would need to be dramatically improved or Idaho regressed for it to be a one-score game, IMO. With the 7pm kickoff, the forecasted temp will be 92, not out of the ordinary even in Moscow.

Nicholls has a better chance to keep it close, as I honestly have no idea what to expect out of Sac State with all they lost from last year. They could run the Big Sky or finish in the bottom half of the conference. If they truly are worthy of their top 10 ranking (I suspect not due to the aforementioned losses), they should handle Nicholls. I was not intending to throw shade at the teams and I apologize if it came off that way. However, if these ARE some of the top of the Big Sky facing off against the bottom half of the Southland, a one-score differential would rightly get the same scrutiny that Mercer is receiving for their game against UNA. With the transfer portal craziness, wild swings can happen from year to year, so we shouldn't read much into the first few weeks until there's some data points to evaluate.

My estimation is that Commerce has the best chance of keeping it close. They had some nice wins as mentioned, some decent losses (dunno if that's the right word for the 1-pt loss @TTU, but a 10-pt loss to transitioning SHSU is respectable), and then some bad losses (the home blowout at the hands of NW State and I'm sure they'd like a do-over for that 2-pt loss @ Nicholls with a safety in the 4th being the difference). It seems like they could be on the cusp of turning a few of those around and ending on the plus side of the W-L ratio. And Davis also lost a stud RB in Gilliam.

[McCowboys]

Admittedly I don't follow the offseason of the Southland, but do you know something I don't?? Lamar was 1-10 last year with their sole win being Nicholls. And Nicholls was 3-8 with a 2pt road win against a bad HCU team (who beat... Lamar), a 5pt home win against McNeese (which MSU trucked even with a slow 1st half) and a 2pt home win over transitioning TAMU-Commerce. Even being on the road, if those are 1-score games I would be shocked and Idaho and Sac St. would have fallen WAY off from last season. Davis should also be looking to dump truck Commerce, but they pulled some decent W's last year (@SELA, beat McNeese on the road by more than the Bobcats beat them).

My score predictions yet to come. I've slacked off too much. I just wanted to see what the predictions are so far.

In the SLC Pick 'Em Poll, most "experts" agree. The voters give Sac State and UCD both an 82% chance of victory over their SLC foes, and the Vandals are favored by 90%.

But upsets can and do happen and that's why we play the game. Any Given Thursday! Let's hope for some exciting games.

[MSUBobcat]

I don't think you are giving the Southland enough respect here. Granted all three Southland teams have not been world beaters, but the Big Sky is sending both Causeway teams and also one that plays indoors to Bayou country at the end of August. The fact that the Big Sky teams are not playing the top Southland teams on the road is why I'm picking all three to come back home with wins, but it would not surprise me if at least one of them comes out on the short end. Regardless of past success (or lack of it in the case of the Southland schools), all three will be tough games for the Big Sky teams.

I didn't intend to appear to have a Big Sky superiority complex, but I really don't see weather being much of a factor. Sacramento gets very hot (98 today, per Weather Channel) and these are "night" games. Commerce and Thibodaux are forecast to be just 90 at kickoff and around 80 by the end of the game. Beaumont will be slightly hotter at 92, but WC is saying just 32% humidity for a "feels like" that is 93, which even for Moscow isn't unusual. If the games are close or a Southland team wins, the weather excuse would ring pretty hollow with me.

[MSUBobcat]

In the SLC Pick 'Em Poll, most "experts" agree. The voters give Sac State and UCD both an 82% chance of victory over their SLC foes, and the Vandals are favored by 90%.

But upsets can and do happen and that's why we play the game. Any Given Thursday! Let's hope for some exciting games.

Indeed! I am ready for the season to start. LET'S GO!!! Hoping SDSU isn't the beast they appear the should be and we all aren't playing for 2nd place before the season even starts! xlolx

[McCowboys]

I didn't intend to appear to have a Big Sky superiority complex, but I really don't see weather being much of a factor. Sacramento gets very hot (98 today, per Weather Channel) and these are "night" games. Commerce and Thibodaux are forecast to be just 90 at kickoff and around 80 by the end of the game. Beaumont will be slightly hotter at 92, but WC is saying just 32% humidity for a "feels like" that is 93, which even for Moscow isn't unusual. If the games are close or a Southland team wins, the weather excuse would ring pretty hollow with me.

What was really ironic and a bit funny was last year when the Cowboys played in Bozeman, and would have welcomed some cooler weather, Montana was experiencing a heat wave. LOL

McNeese with a new head coach and a serious lack of depth went up there to play the mighty Bobcats and lost. You didn't hear any excuses or boo-hooing from the Cowboys or their fans. We just looked at Montana State and said that's how good we want to be (again).

[MSUBobcat]

What was really ironic and a bit funny was last year when the Cowboys played in Bozeman, and would have welcomed some cooler weather, Montana was experiencing a heat wave. LOL

McNeese with a new head coach and a serious lack of depth went up there to play the mighty Bobcats and lost. You didn't hear any excuses or boo-hooing from the Cowboys or their fans. We just looked at Montana State and said that's how good we want to be (again).

Yeah, tailgating for that game was HOT. August and early Sept. are often very warm (Bozeman was 93 yesterday). Freshman year in the AC-less dorms was miserable, but at least it cools off significantly after the sun goes down, so open windows at night make a huge difference.

And we owed you for booting us from the 2002 playoffs back when I was still in school.

[JALMOND]

I didn't intend to appear to have a Big Sky superiority complex, but I really don't see weather being much of a factor. Sacramento gets very hot (98 today, per Weather Channel) and these are "night" games. Commerce and Thibodaux are forecast to be just 90 at kickoff and around 80 by the end of the game. Beaumont will be slightly hotter at 92, but WC is saying just 32% humidity for a "feels like" that is 93, which even for Moscow isn't unusual. If the games are close or a Southland team wins, the weather excuse would ring pretty hollow with me.

What I know about playing there is back in 2006 I think (Glanville's first year of head coach of Portland State), we played at McNeese on Labor Day weekend and it was hot and muggy and huge bugs flying around that I don't know what they were. Definitely not anything you see in Big Sky country. Also, the Jerry Reed song "Amos Moses" kept coming to me as I was envisioning 6 or 7 Amos Moses' on McNeese's O-Line. xlolx

btw...The halftime score was something like 30-0 in favor of McNeese. And we were supposed to have a good team back then.

[MSUBobcat]

What I know about playing there is back in 2006 I think (Glanville's first year of head coach of Portland State), we played at McNeese on Labor Day weekend and it was hot and muggy and huge bugs flying around that I don't know what they were. Definitely not anything you see in Big Sky country. Also, the Jerry Reed song "Amos Moses" kept coming to me as I was envisioning 6 or 7 Amos Moses' on McNeese's O-Line. xlolx

btw...The halftime score was something like 30-0 in favor of McNeese. And we were supposed to have a good team back then.

Looks like it was 2007. (https://mcneesesports.com/sports/football/schedule/2007) McNeese went undefeated, earning the #2 seed, and was upset by EWU in the first round. And PSU wasn't very good (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_State_Vikings_football_under_Jerry_Glanvi lle#2007_season), at least not record wise, though they did win the Dam Cup over the same EWU team that smoked McNeese in Lake Charles in the first round so xdontknowx PSU started off ranked 13th, but it didn't come to fruition. Interesting trivia, the PSU-BBQ game set a record for most points in an FCS game (141) and PSU earned the dubious record of most points scored in a loss (68).

[mvemjsunpx]

Thursday

Davis 34-17 Commerce — A team that surged late last season travels to a team that collapsed

Sac State 31-27 Nicholls — The Hornets should be the better overall team, but it's difficult to win in Louisiana in the summer

Idaho 42-17 Lamar — Another Gulf Coast game in August, but Lamar's terrible

CDub 6-34 Weber — Mickey Mental Meets the Mildcats

NoCo 14-31 Abilene Zoroastrian — The Big Sky can't win all the Texiana games

Saturday

EWU 21-41 NDSU (in Minneapolis) — The Bison are 4-0 against Eastern since the Bill Fette "Fiasco"

Portlol St. 17-58 Oregano — The Ducks have won their last 5 FCS games by an average of 47 points

San Diego 17-35 Cal Poly — The Toreros upset Poly in the 2016 playoffs, but they're 0-7 against the 'Stangs in the regular season

Idaho St. 7-38 San Diego St. — This was the score of last year's meeting, so why not?

NAU 10-48 Arizona — The Wildcats get revenge for their ultimate embarrassment

AskJeeves 10-38 Montana — I'm skeptical this game will tell us anything useful about the Griz

Utah Tech 24-44 Montana St. — The Blazers threw for 310 ypg last year, but they allowed 313 ypg xrotatehx

[MSUBobcat]

Sac State 27 @ Nicholls 14 - This one is tough for me because of how much Sac State lost. Still the gap last year was pretty wide so I'm not thinking it shrunk that much.
Idaho 31 @ Lamar 13 - Idaho should be a bit better than last year, being the 2nd year for Eck and McCoy and Lamar was not good. Being a night game takes a lot of the "heat" factor out of the equation.
NoCo 17 @ ACU 31 - UNC ended the McCaffery experience undefeated against clipboards, but not much else good came of it. It's going to take a while to recover from that mess.
UC Davis 34 @ TAMU-Commerce 20 - Davis has a bad taste in their mouth from last year and comes out swinging.
CWU 14 @ BBQ 41 - The Grills get a cupcake to break in their new coach.
Butler 6 @ UM 41 - Montana is going to be obese from all the cupcakes on their OOC schedule by the time conference play rolls around.
PSU 13 @ Oregon 52 - Not much to say here. Ducks could name the score.
EWU 17 @ NDSU 38 - EWU is down. Bison roll.
USD 10 @ Poly 24 - With the troubles at San Diego, Cal Poly better take advantage of what may be their only D-I W of the year (maybe NoCo also)
UTU 14 @ MSU 42 - Similar to last year, MSU starts off a bit slow, but the game is well in hand by early 3rd quarter
NAU 13 @ Arizona 45 - Wildcats have not forgotten 2021. There will be blood...
ISU-o -6 @ SDSU 45 - In a first-time-ever, the Bungles somehow figure out a way to score negative points. xsmileyclapx

[Puddin Tane]

I'm not here to change your mind or dispute what you have said. I will add this. Lamar has a new head coach, one who rebuilds teams. Admirably or crazily, he retained much of the staff from the previous coach. So there is some familiarity there between most of the coaches and players. Lamar may still be searching for their quarterback, but expect a fight for all four quarters.

Speaking of all four quarters: It will be played with miserably hot weather. A long trip for Idaho for an early week game.

Commerce also has a new coach who has coached in the Arena League. No telling what this team will look like this year, but they have been a successful Division II program.

As for Nicholls, expect Voodoo on the Bayou. This is never an easy place to play - strange things happen here, and Sac State will also have to deal with the hot, swampy weather.

he kept 2. Secondary coach and another thats sposed to be Mr. Recruiter.
I think the only reason for keeping those 2, kids were hitting the portal, so keeping db coach slowed that. Other guy is supposed to “know everybody in the south”.

being from up north, he needed a setex, louisiana connection.

id be surprised if they are back once he gets a season behind him

[Puddin Tane]

Anddddd, we had a fricking cool front come thru. Game is a week late! Lower temps, lower humidity. Its was 112 Sunday, heat index around 130. I was really looking forward to seeing how Idaho handled that. But now, dont see weather being a factor. Shoulda moved kickoff up to 3 in the afternoon.

[Puddin Tane]

And yesss, weve sucked for most of the past decade. Who else has sucked for most of the past decade? IDAHO

Cards gonna win! Shock the world!

[FUBeAR]

And yesss, weve sucked for most of the past decade. Who else has sucked for most of the past decade? IDAHO

Cards gonna win! Shock the world!
Get ‘em!

FUBeAR approves of this message!!

[JALMOND]

And yesss, weve sucked for most of the past decade. Who else has sucked for most of the past decade? IDAHO

Cards gonna win! Shock the world!

Won't shock the world. A Lamar win may send small shockwaves through the Big Sky and the Southland, but not much elsewhere.

[JALMOND]

Idaho 42-17 Lamar — Another Gulf Coast game in August, but Lamar's terrible



Did you tell the Vandals to let the Cards score two late TD's?xlolx xthumbsupx

[Puddin Tane]

Did you tell the Vandals to let the Cards score two late TD's?xlolx xthumbsupx

naw. We can hang with a team’s 4th string.

[mvemjsunpx]

Did you tell the Vandals to let the Cards score two late TD's?xlolx xthumbsupx

Jason Eck knew he should put the backups in right after he saw the red dot moving up his shirt. xtroublex

[McCowboys]

Congrats to the Big Sky teams. Definitely not a good night for the SLC.

[JALMOND]

With some games being played on Thursday, I felt the rush to get the week 1 predictions out early for the conference. Some tough games to pikc right off the bat with four teams playing down South on Thursday. All teams will be in action either on Thursday or Saturday and most are playing another FCS opponent. As usual, Big Sky conference teams are represented by their scoreboard abbreviation, and non-Big Sky teams are spelled out (for example, PSU is Portland State, and if anyone was playing Penn State, they would be spelled out). Here are my predictions for the first week.

Thursday's games

UI at Lamar (FCS Southland)---Will the Vandals pick up where they left off last year and take off running? Good things are expected out of them this year. However, they start off by venturing into Southland country and a good opponent. A road win would be a great start...UI 31, Lamar 21.

UNC at Abilene Christian (FCS United)---New faces, new places for the Bears from last year to this year and a trip to the great state of Texas awaits them to begin the year. How soon will the new faces gel with each other? Time will tell, but probably not the first game...Abilene Christian 35, UNC 17.

SAC at Nicholls (FCS Southland)---Another Thursday trip for a Big Sky school in the Southland. Even with a new coach, feelings are high for the Hornets as they set out to defend their conference title. Can they start off by getting a good, tough road win?...SAC 34, Nicholls 28.

UCD at Texas A&M-Commerce (FCS Southland)---And yet another contest down in the Southland. High expectations this year for the Aggies as they start the year on the road in the heart of Texas. They will need this win, however, to keep those good thoughts going...UCD 27, Texas A&M-Commerce 21.

Central Washington (DII) at WSU---New coach but still the same grind it out philosophy for the Wildcats, and a good formula to start with, bringing in a lesser opponent to open with. A tough game next week awaits, but they need this one first...WSU 35, Central Washington 7.

Saturday's games

San Diego (FCS Pioneer) at CP---A new era begins for the Mustangs with a new coach and new faces. But, they start this year at home against a non-scholly team from the Pioneer. Maybe a few good bounces here and there, but maybe few and far between...San Diego 21, CP 14.

EWU vs North Dakota State (FCS Missouri Valley)---The Eagles are trying to claw their way back to the top of the conference and what better way to make some noise than playing one of the top teams in FCS. It is a neutral site game, but it is still one of the top teams...North Dakota State 35, EWU 15.

ISU at San Diego State (FBS Mtn West)---The new look Bengals bring their team down to southern California for a tough clash against a good FBS program. The only thing good about this for the Bengals is the payday they will receive. Everything else hurts...San Diego State 48, ISU 7.

Butler (FCS) Pioneer at UM---The Grizzlies may have some questions at some key positions so what better way to hopefully play a bunch of players and bring in a non-scholly Pioneer league team to their mighty home. A bunch of players should play, for sure...UM 42, Butler 14.

Utah Tech (FCS United) at MSU---The Bobcats continue to roll on and this season should be roughly the same as the last few seasons. Starting in their own home is a plus. Playing a quality opponent should also work in their favor as well. A good win on the horizon...MSU 31, Utah Tech 17.

NAU at Arizona (FBS Pac-12)---The Lumberjacks may have enough here to throw a scare into their in state brethren from the south. However, trying out a new quarterback, and a few other postions are new as well, it may be a case of close but no cigar...Arizona 28, NAU 21.

PSU at Oregon (FBS Pac-12)---The Vikings will be the latest conference team to play in Eugene, a place that the conference as a whole has not done well recently. The Vikings are going up against a strong FBS team with a lot to prove and they won't let up here...Oregon 54, PSU 14.

11-1 this week. Only missed the Cal Poly game.

[SeattleCat]

Idaho over Lamar 35-17
Abilene Christian over UNC 28-21
Sac over Nicholls 31-17
Davis over a&m commerce 49-10
Weber over Central WA 31-10
Cal Poly over SD 35-21
NDSU over Ewu 40-7
Sdsu over ISU 70-0
um over Bulter 28-7
MSU over UT 44-27
AZ over NAU 40-7
Oregon over PSU 70-7

12-0. Not necessarily a tough week, not too bad on the score picks though!

[McCowboys]

12-0. Not necessarily a tough week, not too bad on the score picks though!

You Da Man! xdrunkyx