Is the BSC overrated this year?

[Lumberjacks76]

Is the BSC overrated?

This week, the BSC had the following results:

Montana 7, SDSU 0 (only 7 points??)

Idaho State 37, West Montana 0 (okay, so they were playing a weak opponent...but how good will they be in conference play?)

NAU 27, Southern Utah 7 (the Lumberjacks again sputtered on offense in the 1st half...4 quarters, fellas...4 quarters!)

ND. State 41, Weber State 0 (Weber is going to really need to improve, or they won't even win 2 games in the BSC this year).

Cal Poly 38, Montana State 10 (This REALLY surprised me...I thought Montana State was a contender for the BSC Title...maybe not :confused: ).

E. Washington 48, Western Oregon 7 (Not much to gauge from this one...just another Division II win).

Portland State 28, Sacramento State 12 (Again, not much to gauge from this one...I'm not sold on Portland State, and Sacramento State isn't very good this year...we'll see once Portland State plays in conference).

Here are the BSC standings after 3 games:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/confstandings?confID=20

The number that jumps out at me immediately is Idaho State's 104 points thus far this season. E. Washington only has 72. :confused:

Ditto with Montana (only 76). NAU has 91. And we've been inept in most games.

Paul

[Weberrr]

I don't think the Big Sky is overrated, but I do think the Great West is underated.

[VictorG]

Way to early in the season to draw conclusions yet.

I know that Montana is struggling offensively, but that will improve as time goes on. They are still platooning players freely trying to get everyone reps and get them ready for conference play. Consequently, not everyone is on the same page yet and also figure in some very poor special teams play which has lead to extremely poor field position in the past 2 games. It's pretty bad when you finally do string together 3 or 4 1st downs and you're still on your own side of the field!

If any of the top teams are over rated in the BSC conference, EWU, UM and MSU, I'd say it would be the UM because of very poor special teams play and inconsistency in a young offense, and MSU because they are one dimensional.

Teams will figure out how to contain Lulay like the Griz did last year and Cal Poly did last night. Unless they find a good running game, it's going to be home for turkey at Thanksgiving again for the Cat's.

The Griz have offensive and special teams problems but those can be improved upon. With the defense the Griz have, they don't need a "Craig Ochs" type of QB play to win games. If they can just get steady, consistent, smart play from the QB position they'll be O.K. but they MUST improve special teams play or they too will be home for Thanksgiving!!!

[JALMOND]

Paul---Portland State did play a conference game (1 down, six to go). Sloppy win, but a win, just like last week against Davis (which after seeing their performance against Stanford, should now be seen as a quality win.). We still need to get the offense clicking and try to keep our defense off the field.

What surprises me is the play of EWU. Yes it seems they had a big win over Western Oregon, but the score was close through midway in the 3rd quarter before the Eagles took over. Living in the Willamette Valley, I can tell you that Western Oregon is not on the normal scope of tough football schools in the region. I would be hard pressed to name any of their conference opponents, even with all my years of living here. This should have been maybe slightly better than a scrimmage for the Eagles, but it looked close for the first half.

[Hansel]

Paul---Portland State did play a conference game (1 down, six to go). Sloppy win, but a win, just like last week against Davis (which after seeing their performance against Stanford, should now be seen as a quality win.). We still need to get the offense clicking and try to keep our defense off the field.

What surprises me is the play of EWU. Yes it seems they had a big win over Western Oregon, but the score was close through midway in the 3rd quarter before the Eagles took over. Living in the Willamette Valley, I can tell you that Western Oregon is not on the normal scope of tough football schools in the region. I would be hard pressed to name any of their conference opponents, even with all my years of living here. This should have been maybe slightly better than a scrimmage for the Eagles, but it looked close for the first half.
WOU has about 7 football scholarships and lost to a D3 school (Linfield) last week 49-7, I wouldn't be shocked to see ISU beat EWU next weekend

[TulsaBobcat]

I wouldn't be shocked to see ISU beat EWU next weekend

At this point in the season it looks as if ISU could take the Big Sky. They seem to be having the most consistent performances.

[Obzerver]

As far as EWU is concerned; 1) Yes, they have scored 72 points but in only two games compared to three for everyone else. 2) Penalties killed a couple of TD's in the first half half and several other big plays (12 penalties is too many!) yesterday. 3) EWU is not concerned that their offense will show...they are concerned that their D shows up along with their less than stellar special teams play(when the bright spot is your kickoff guy somethings wrong).

[JALMOND]

The thing that baffles me about EWU right now is the results of their two games. A loss to Division 1 San Jose State, which I would really be hard-pressed to put the Spartans in the same category as Arizona, Oregon, Oregon State, Cal, Fresno, Oklahoma State and Kentucky (the other Division 1 schools that beat the Big Sky this year), and a win against Western Oregon, which did get blown out the week before by Linfield. Based on this, if I were a gambling man, I'd have to say the smart money is on Idaho State in Pocatello this weekend.

[biobengal]

"Based on this, if I were a gambling man, I'd have to say the smart money is on Idaho State in Pocatello this weekend."

After years of following the bengals I'm left with just one conclusion, if you're a betting man, stay away from ISU.

[putter]

The Montana game was the only surprise but since it was played in a constant rain...

Constant rain? More like a constant drizzle - very light drizzle.

[GrizFoo]

Too early to tell. MSU may still be the team to beat, IMO. Regardless how bad they looked last weekend. EWU playing a DII school, or whatever they were isn't going to tell much, IMO. UM, constantly overrated early in the season, but seem to come together to make the early season ratings look good.
ISU usually has a fairly high powered O, it seems their D is better this year, they always seem to be a team that can beat just about anyone on any given day, but have no consistency and rarely a running game.
Weber, I suspect they will need at least a year for this coach to get things going where it is visible to outsiders.
Sac, who the heck knows about these guys. They are kind of like ISU in that they sometimes have great games, but just not as often. Mole should be able to carry them a bit, but they will need a lot more than him.
NAU is a team to worry about, but I haven't kept up on them this year.
PSU, I think will come along pretty nicely this season. They've got a lot of new guys at key positions playing, and some talent in the wings. They beat UC Davis, didn't fair well against Oregon St., and came away with a win against Sac. I wouldn't write them off.

BSC has been thought of as a 1 team conference for a long time, I don't think the conference is really overrated, though for some it is. What it seems like is an inconsistant conference. Teams will play great, and then fall apart. MSU is notorious for this, and seems to do it every year at one point or another. The Griz always have the games where they squeek by or just barly loose, and then come back against tough teams and blow them out, but the Griz have been the most consistant of the bunch.

[Jacks99]

The NDSU at Montana St. game this week should give a better indication if the Cats can step it up and compete for the BSC title or if NDSU deserves to keep climbing the rankings.

The Griz D will win them most of their games, but their offense needs to do better. Don't get me wrong, I respect SDSU's D, but they aren't the Griz D.

[Ronbo]

The NDSU at Montana St. game this week should give a better indication if the Cats can step it up and compete for the BSC title or if NDSU deserves to keep climbing the rankings.

The Griz D will win them most of their games, but their offense needs to do better. Don't get me wrong, I respect SDSU's D, but they aren't the Griz D.


They aren't the Grz D but they are pretty darn good Jacks. I look for you guys to do pretty good this year. You have a really good defensive line and linebackers. :) Hey I wonder if it isn't as good as the Griz D, we did score 14 on Oregon and only 7 on you guys. But of course as some Griz fans point out what's a little drizzle, shouldn't affect anything. :confused:

[putter]

I agree with Ronbo. Your defense had good speed and your front 4 did a good job against our run game. You should be ok if you can put some points on the board and you will find out this weekend against Poly!

[ChickenMan]

This looks like one wild year... there will be no teams like Southern Cal dominating in 1AA... the 1AA title along with most leagues appear to be totally up for grabs. Anyone care to predict who will win the A10... SoCon... Gateway... Big Sky or Southland this year??? At this point... it's would be foolish to say any conference is over or under rated.

[Grizo406]

The NDSU at Montana St. game this week should give a better indication if the Cats can step it up and compete for the BSC title or if NDSU deserves to keep climbing the rankings.

The Griz D will win them most of their games, but their offense needs to do better. Don't get me wrong, I respect SDSU's D, but they aren't the Griz D.

Very well put, Jacks.

The impact of the Cats/Bison game, this weekend has a much larger implication that a lot of folks realize. I think it's absolutely huge for the Bobcats. They need this one very badly, and I think they will play accordingly. I hope they handle NDSU in a way we couldn't. I think Lulay will find a way to win.

As far as the Griz D, well, that very bright area of our team is getting better, and better. It's becoming a fairly substantial force.

[DaGriz]

I don't think you can ever get a feel for the Big Sky until the playoffs. MSU never starts good, we either lose big early or lose to an unranked team late, EWU is up and down, and then we all beat each other up inconference. Then what looks like an over rated conference gets a #16 seed and knocks off a #1 seed or we have a year like last year, we don't look that good and then make a run in the playoffs. It's early still.

[Jacks99]

They aren't the Grz D but they are pretty darn good Jacks. I look for you guys to do pretty good this year. You have a really good defensive line and linebackers. :) Hey I wonder if it isn't as good as the Griz D, we did score 14 on Oregon and only 7 on you guys. But of course as some Griz fans point out what's a little drizzle, shouldn't affect anything. :confused:

It's good news to hear about our DEF/LB. We graduated our #1 defender last year and have had some injuries. This game was our first big test.

I have a feeling Cal Poly will do a better job exploiting our weakness against the pass this week.

[WYOBISONMAN]

I am very uptight about the MSU game this weekend. I think the Cats will be the most potent team that NDSU has faced this year. Lulay scares the hell out of me. It will take a total effort from the Bison to get the win in Bozeman.

[89Hen]

Is the BSC overrated?

Not IMO.

2. Eastern Washington (14) NC: I have them #1
5. Montana (2) +1: Perfect IMO
20. Montana State -8 I don't have them ranked
Others receiving votes (minimum of 5 votes):
Portland State (33) I have them ranked
Northern Arizona (5) I wouldn't have them, but not really unrealistic

Overall, IMO if you switch MSU and PSU the rankings would be dead on.