Big Sky Power Rankings 9-18

[JALMOND]

I know its not the 18th yet, but I probably will be unavailable most of the week as I'm heading to Helena, MT to see my mother and that side of the family, and between doing family things and whatnot, I may not be able to get these out when I usually do. So, here is this week's power rankings in a quick form. The conference got one more scalp against the Pac-12, a conference that had been showing no mercy towards the Big Sky, and also the conference saw the most points scored by a Big Sky team ever in a single game. What did those things do to the rankings this week. Here they are, with last week's rankings in parenthesis. Conference play starts this weekend. Good luck to all the teams.

1. Sacramento State (3)---Last week won at Stanford (FBS Pac-12) 30-23, this week at Idaho---After showing no mercy against the Southland, the Hornets got an impressive win over the Pac-12 last week and saved the conference from total embarrassment against them. They got momentum heading into conference play, a road date against the Vandals.

2. Montana State (2)---Last week beat Stetson (FCS Pioneer) at home 57-20, this week at Weber State---The Bobcats recovered nicely from their close loss to the top team in all of FCS with a solid win against a Pioneer conference member. They are looking strong and playing well heading into conference play with a road date at Weber State, always a tough place to visit.

3. Idaho (1)---Last week lost at California (FBS Pac-12) 31-17, this week Sacramento State at home---For awhile it looked like the Vandals may get their second win over the FBS and a win over the Pac-12. But closing out those type of games are always difficult and there really is no fault in losing them. They start conference play in a big way, bringing in the Hornets for a good home contest.

4. Montana (4)---Last week beat Ferris State (DII) 17-10, this week at Northern Arizona---The Grizzlies brought in the two-time defending DII national champions and came out after halftime to get the win. While none of the opponents have been that impressive, they are still wins and wins are good. They start on the road for conference play against the Lumberjacks.

5. Eastern Washington (7)---Last week beat SE Louisiana (FCS Southland) 40-29, this week at UC Davis---No one is talking about the Eagles, but they put together an impressive non conference slate and, while they only got the one win this past weekend, they looked good in all of them. That kind of schedule should have them ready for the conference slate at UC Davis.

6. Weber State (5)---Last week lost at Utah (FBS Pac-12) 31-7, this week Montana State at home---Moving up to the Pac-12 level and playing their big brothers just down the road a bit proved fruitless for the Wildcats as they closed out the non-conference slate with a loss. But, all in all a good schedule has them ready for conference play. They welcome Montana State to town.

7. UC Davis (6)---Last week beat Southern Utah (FCS United) 23-21, this week Eastern Washington at home---Nothing too surprising about the outcomes of the Aggies' games in non-conference play, other than the scores. They did get through them with a 2-1 record. Did it adequately prepare them for conference play? The get the upstart Eagles team at home this weekend.

8. Portland State (9)---Last week beat North American (NAIA) 91-0, this week Cal Poly at home---Interesting non-conference games for the Vikings. They have one game where they gave up 81 points and they have one game where they turned back the clock to the Mouse Davis years and scored 91 points. Are they ready for conference play? They welcome Cal Poly to their home.

9. Northern Arizona (8)---Last week lost to Utah Tech (FCS United) at home 50-36, this week Montana at home---The Lumberjacks have had a rough go of it in non-conference play, capped off by last week's loss at home to a team that was trounced by the Montana schools. They need to be ready because conference play starts and they welcome Montana to their happy dome.

10. Idaho State (11)---Last week lost to Northern Iowa (FCS Missouri Valley) 41-17, this week Northern Colorado at home---After looking somewhat competitive against the Mountain West, other than a disastrous second quarter of one, the Bengals welcomed a strong FCS team and took one on the chin. They move on to conference play with a good chance at a win this weekend.

11. Cal Poly (10)---Last week beat Lincoln, CA (NAIA) at home 41-20, this week at Portland State---Yeah, so it was a win over an inferior opponent and it pushed the Mustangs to a respectable 2-1 in non-conference play. But they let the opponent stick around. An opponent that had no business sticking around. How will that translate to conference play as they go on the road and face the Vikings.

12. Northern Colorado (12)---Last week lost at Washington State (FBS Pac-12) 64-21, this week at Idaho State---Two games against strong competition in the FCS and one on the road against the unrelenting Pac-12 has the Bears entering conference play without a win. But, as long as they are prepared, that is all that matters. They could get a win this week, heading out to play the Bengals.

RECAP: 1-3 breaking out on top, 4-7 trying to keep up, 8 holding steady, 9-12 trying to catch up.

[THE DANIMAL]

1. MSU - I think their loss against SDSU is more impressive than Sac and Idaho's wins against the FBS. But just slightly
2. Sac St. - I think the win over Stanford was more impressive than the Nevada win
3. Idaho - Very solid team
4. Weber St. - Still not sure totally what to think about this team.
5. Montana - Thee offense needs to get an identity quickly. So far not even a little impressed with the play calling. They have 2 more weeks to get it clicking or it may get ugly for my Griz.
6. EWU
6. UC Davis
8. Portland St
12. NAU - None of these teams are very impressive.
12. ISU
12. Cal Poly
12. UNC

[wapiti]

The OOC part of the season is over and conference play begins:

1. Sacramento State -- Impressive victory over a P5 team

2. Montana State -- Did what they needed to against Stetson. Vigen also gave 2nd and 3rd strings good playing time in the 2nd half.

3. Idaho -- Started off well against Cal, but could not carry it through the 2nd half.

4. Weber State -- BBQ did well in the OOC games. The one tough loss was a against a top FBS team.

5. Eastern Washington -- I thought EWU looked good in their losses and beat SELA by more than expected.

6. Montana -- I did not expect them to struggle against Ferris state as hard as they did. Yes Ferris is the number 1 Div 2 team, but lowly Florida AM beat a top Div 2 team 31 to 10. and combine that with the struggle against Butler, there are doubts.

7. UC Davis --- UC Davis can be a dangerous team, but the beating they took against Oregon State and barely beating Southern Utah has left me wondering a bit.

8. Portland State -- It's too bad the game against North American was scheduled, but a late change in opponents made it hard to fill with another team that would travel to Portland.

9. Cal Poly ---Lincoln had a 20 to 7 lead on CP in the first half. CP shut them down after that, but CP's OOC games have not impressed me much. CP continues to rebuild.

10. Northern Arizona -- Good thing ISU and UNCU have been really terrible. This loss against Utah Tech looks really bad.

11. Idaho State -- ISU should be better than this.

12. Northern Colorado -- UNCU is a mess

RECAP: 1-3 breaking out on top, 4-7 trying to keep up, 8-9 showing some promise, 10-12 Yuck

[lucchesicourt]

Southern Utah's defense is real. They played two FBS teams - close to ASU 24-21 and BYU game was what you would expect.

[caribbeanhen]

Big Sky team vs Holy Cross in Frisco

[crusader11]

Big Sky team vs Holy Cross in Frisco

Preceded by a Valley team in Worcester. 👊🏻

[SeattleCat]

Big Sky team vs Holy Cross in Frisco

That'd be sweet, but I'd rather have a Dakota team. #revenge

[MSUBobcat]

1. MSU (1) - I was this close to putting Sac State at #1 after that nice P5 win. The fluky-ness of the GW TD cast just enough doubt. Beat Idaho on the road and they'll be solidly #1.
2. Idaho (2) - Part of my reasoning to not bump Sac State to #1 was I think Idaho wins a slobberknocker and I don't want to have to knock Sac down after elevating them to the #1 spot.
3. Sac St. (5) - Unlike last year, the top 3 (from appearances so far) all play each other (with MSU getting Sac and Idaho back to back on the road xpissedx but iron sharpens iron)
4. Weber (3) - Weber played Utah tougher than Davis played Oregon St. and has a nice MVFC road win.
5. Davis (4) - Davis played Oregon St. weaker than Weber played Utah and while SUU is a decent team a 2pt home win over SUU<17pt road win over UNI.
6. Montana (6) - Some shakiness in games against Butler and Ferris (yes, I know Ferris would be top 25 FBS...)
7. EWU (7) - EWU is solidifying their spot as fringe playoff contender. This weekend will tell us a lot.
8. PSU (9) - Could have beat Bishop Sycamore, errr.... North American by triple digits. The bottom 4 teams look really bad.
9. ISU (10) - 24pt home loss to UNI>14pt home loss to a UTU team that got thumped in its first 2 games.
10. NAU (8) - Gave up 50 in a home loss to UTU?!? The only reason they aren't lower is because of how awful the teams below them are.
11. NoCo (12) - I previously thought Cal Poly would get the H2H but then....
12. Cal Poly (11) - Cal Poly struggled a bit against a school with barely enough students to even field a football team.

1-3 Solid playoff contenders.
4-6 Strong playoff contenders but will start cannibalizing each other and 1 will likely stay home.
7 Could move into that 4-6 grouping. Hard to read so far, but appears to have made significant strides over last year's debacle.
8 Not likely to shake up the conference standings/playoff race, but not as bad as the bottom tier.
9-12 Dumpster fires.

[wapiti]

1. MSU (1) - I was this close to putting Sac State at #1 after that nice P5 win. The fluky-ness of the GW TD cast just enough doubt. Beat Idaho on the road and they'll be solidly #1.
2. Idaho (2) - Part of my reasoning to not bump Sac State to #1 was I think Idaho wins a slobberknocker and I don't want to have to knock Sac down after elevating them to the #1 spot.
3. Sac St. (5) - Unlike last year, the top 3 (from appearances so far) all play each other (with MSU getting Sac and Idaho back to back on the road xpissedx but iron sharpens iron)
4. Weber (3) - Weber played Utah tougher than Davis played Oregon St. and has a nice MVFC road win.
5. Davis (4) - Davis played Oregon St. weaker than Weber played Utah and while SUU is a decent team a 2pt home win over SUU<17pt road win over UNI.
6. Montana (6) - Some shakiness in games against Butler and Ferris (yes, I know Ferris would be top 25 FBS...)
7. EWU (7) - EWU is solidifying their spot as fringe playoff contender. This weekend will tell us a lot.
8. PSU (9) - Could have beat Bishop Sycamore, errr.... North American by triple digits. The bottom 4 teams look really bad.
9. ISU (10) - 24pt home loss to UNI>14pt home loss to a UTU team that got thumped in its first 2 games.
10. NAU (8) - Gave up 50 in a home loss to UTU?!? The only reason they aren't lower is because of how awful the teams below them are.
11. NoCo (12) - I previously thought Cal Poly would get the H2H but then....
12. Cal Poly (11) - Cal Poly struggled a bit against a school with barely enough students to even field a football team.

1-3 Solid playoff contenders.
4-6 Strong playoff contenders but will start cannibalizing each other and 1 will likely stay home.
7 Could move into that 4-6 grouping. Hard to read so far, but appears to have made significant strides over last year's debacle.
8 Not likely to shake up the conference standings/playoff race, but not as bad as the bottom tier.
9-12 Dumpster fires.

WOW!! CP at number 12. But CP schedule has not shown much to be ranked much. Only countable win is over non-scholly San Diego.
This game against PSU will be a much better indicator.

The bottom 4 of the Big Sky is HORRID!!!

[MSUBobcat]

WOW!! CP at number 12. But CP schedule has not shown much to be ranked much. Only countable win is over non-scholly San Diego.
This game against PSU will be a much better indicator.

The bottom 4 of the Big Sky is HORRID!!!

I have PSU beating Poly by 3 scores. They were only up 1 TD halfway thru the 3rd quarter against a San Diego team that was punishing players (not sure if they were impact players or not). San Diego lost to a D-II and it wasn't even Ferris State. The game against Lincoln solidified it for me. NAIA College of Idaho beat them by more than Poly, FFS. Poly wouldn't beat a top 10 NAIA or a mediocre D2 team.

The bottom 4 of the Big Sky is putrid. And we only get NAU.