Big Sky Power Rankings 9-14

[JALMOND]

As we head into the conference games, there are some changes in the rankings this week, based on the outcomes of the games last week. Six teams start the conference season this weekend, finally. Anyway, here are the new power rankings for the Big Sky conference. All are solely my opinion and all are open for discussion. This week (last week)

1. Montana (1)---A little shaky for the Griz, but they still found a way to win last week at UC-Davis, which is beginning to become a very tough place for opponents. Maybe not pretty, but a win is still nice. Do they appear to be shaky as they head into conference play against Portland State? Maybe, but the game is still at home and the Vikings have never beaten the Griz in Missoula since they joined the Big Sky.

2. Weber State (2)---The Wildcat faithful may be wondering what else can they do? They have shown that, even with the differences between FBS and FCS, they can still hang with the Mountain West, or at least the lower division of the Mountain West. Close losses to FBS teams are impressive but a win is always good. This week, the Wildcats hope to get that win against Idaho State.

3. Eastern Washington (3)---So, the Eagles got the expected loss last week at Cal to go along with the expected win the week before. So where does that leave them? Still unsure about how this team will respond to the probation, the Eagles welcome Northern Colorado this week to open up conference play. Will they be eligible for the playoffs at the end? Will it matter?

4. Northern Arizona (5)---While most of the nation was resting on their own laurels, the Jacks were keeping their opening game against Pac-10 Arizona rather interesting. The Jacks were supposed to be rebuilding this year, yet it was hard to see a rebuilding team in that game. This week, still an out of conference game as they welcome Southern Utah, a team that gave last year's Jacks team fits before succumbing to a loss.

5. Northern Colorado (7)---Hard to imagine a game this early and against a non-scholly team to be really important, but for this Bears team intent on making some noise in the conference this year, last week's game against San Diego was a must win game. So they won. Time to make some noise? This week, they start their march through the conference slate with a trip to Eastern Washington, a formidable foe. Can the Bears continue their winning ways in Cheney?

6. Montana State (4)---If anyone wants to learn how to win ugly needs to only watch last week's Bobcat game against Dixie State. A game that was only supposed to be a tuneup for the Bobcats was anything but. Combined with the ugly loss to Big 10 Michigan State the week before and it seems the Bobcats are intent on playing ugly this year. This week, a much needed bye to iron out the kinks and just play football.

7. Portland State (8)---Sure the Vikings got the win last week against Southern Oregon, a game NAIA squad, but big problems emerged on punt returns as the Vikings had a difficult time catching the ball. Still, the offense is looking good and the defense is stopping people so maybe the Vikings can make a little noise this year. But then again, this week, the Vikings head to Missoula to face Montana. Perhaps a return to reality.

8. Sacramento State (6)---Losing Hilliard before the start of the season is looming to be a bigger problem for the Hornets than first believed. The Hornets needed to get the win last week against a rebuilding Cal Poly team, yet they failed miserably. Questions abound on both side of the ball and a week off may be just what they need to right the ship.

9. Idaho State (9)---Last week, the Bengals played Oklahoma and, even without Heisman winner Bradford, the Sooners were still much better than the Bengals. The offense is non-existant and the defense cannot stop anyone. Problems all around. This week, not much better as the Bengals head down the freeway to face Weber State. This could get bad in a hurry.

[I Bleed Purple]

What took you so long?

And "hope" to get a win against ISU? If we don't win, there'll be an uprising among the dozens of fans.

[kalm]

As we head into the conference games, there are some changes in the rankings this week, based on the outcomes of the games last week. Six teams start the conference season this weekend, finally. Anyway, here are the new power rankings for the Big Sky conference. All are solely my opinion and all are open for discussion. This week (last week)
.

He has made 43 consecutive free throws...He hasn't missed a putt inside of 5 feet all week.

We all know what you're trying to do here.

Homer Jinx!

:)

[SactoHornetFan]

Can't argue our spot right now..as much as I want too.

[ncbears]

nice job Jalmond.

[wapiti]

One could argue that Montana State should be in the 8 spot and Portland State and Sac State each move up one spot.
xbawlingx xbawlingx xbawlingx xbawlingx

[Native]

One could argue that Montana State should be in the 8 spot and Portland State and Sac State each move up one spot.
xbawlingx xbawlingx xbawlingx xbawlingx

Montana State's performance has been shocking!

Sunshine has more than half the total team points to date and appears to be the only reliable offensive performer. Good news for his All-Conference chances, I guess, but can the Bobcat offense get him close enough to the end zone to be relevant this season?

The defensive performance against Dixie State is even more shocking! Is Dixie State's offense better than San Diego's? Dixie put up 474 yards against the vaunted Montana State defense, while lowly UNC allowed DI USD only 248 yards in Greeley.

The bad news for MSU is that UNC has better special teams than Dixie State. The good news is that Cunningham's range is about 15 yards more than York's, but if UNC can score as many TDs as Dixie State, it may not matter.

Will home field advantage tip the scales in favor of the Bears?

[Canyoncat]

Montana State's performance has been shocking!

Sunshine has more than half the total team points to date and appears to be the only reliable offensive performer. Good news for his All-Conference chances, I guess, but can the Bobcat offense get him close enough to the end zone to be relevant this season?

The defensive performance against Dixie State is even more shocking! Is Dixie State's offense better than San Diego's? Dixie put up 474 yards against the vaunted Montana State defense, while lowly UNC allowed DI USD only 248 yards in Greeley.

The bad news for MSU is that UNC has better special teams than Dixie State. The good news is that Cunningham's range is about 15 yards more than York's, but if UNC can score as many TDs as Dixie State, it may not matter.

Will home field advantage tip the scales in favor of the Bears?

MSU's secondary is extremely beat up right now. There were times last week when we had two true freshman playing at the same time (Jones CB and Fuller S). Hopefully Nicol will be back at CB in two weeks when we play Northern Colorado. That will allow Retoriano to move back to saftey and shore up 3/4 of the secondary. What concerns me it he lack of pass rush from the front 4. If that doesn't get better, I don't care how good your secondary is. Give a half way decent QB enough time and he'll pick you apart.

[Native]

MSU's secondary is extremely beat up right now. There were times last week when we had two true freshman playing at the same time (Jones CB and Fuller S). Hopefully Nicol will be back at CB in two weeks when we play Northern Colorado. That will allow Retoriano to move back to saftey and shore up 3/4 of the secondary. What concerns me it he lack of pass rush from the front 4. If that doesn't get better, I don't care how good your secondary is. Give a half way decent QB enough time and he'll pick you apart.

Wow! I had the Bobcats in the my pre-season top 20! What a fall from grace!

Good luck, Canyoncat. I hope the injuries get healed and MSU gets back on track.

[GrizFanStuckInUtah]

What took you so long?

And "hope" to get a win against ISU? If we don't win, there'll be an uprising among the dozens of fans.

I'd come join you if the game was earlier in the day, why schedule it the same time as the other game in the area. xrolleyesx I think you guys are going to kill ISU so I am going to head to the FSU vs BYU game instead. Utah schools have done a lot of the same time slots this year too, a lot of same game times for BYU, Utah, Ut St, etc. I just want to go watch some football and as much as possible xthumbsupx

[CopperCat]

Wow! I had the Bobcats in the my pre-season top 20! What a fall from grace!

Good luck, Canyoncat. I hope the injuries get healed and MSU gets back on track.

Our preseason injuries really hurt us before we even stepped on the field, especially in the secondary. I think this was one of the worst years for injuries in spring ball I can remember. At the same time, Dixie was NOT the same team MSU saw two years ago. They were passing and catching like they were a DI team, not like the lowly DII patsy that everyone expected. But that isn't an excuse at all. What happened last Saturday was a pathetic display of football from a team that is easily twice as talented as they showed. The bye week will be key for us to re-tool some things in the secondary and hopefully learn a little more about executing the offensive plan. Hopefully the team doesn't get the flu like alot of teams are!:o

[JALMOND]

Our preseason injuries really hurt us before we even stepped on the field, especially in the secondary. I think this was one of the worst years for injuries in spring ball I can remember. At the same time, Dixie was NOT the same team MSU saw two years ago. They were passing and catching like they were a DI team, not like the lowly DII patsy that everyone expected. But that isn't an excuse at all. What happened last Saturday was a pathetic display of football from a team that is easily twice as talented as they showed. The bye week will be key for us to re-tool some things in the secondary and hopefully learn a little more about executing the offensive plan. Hopefully the team doesn't get the flu like alot of teams are!:o

I was shocked reading about all the injuries the Bobcats have had since spring ball. Dixie is improving (rumors abound about them moving to DI within five years), but no one thought they would stay with you. A very good time for a team to have a bye week.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Our preseason injuries really hurt us before we even stepped on the field, especially in the secondary. I think this was one of the worst years for injuries in spring ball I can remember. At the same time, Dixie was NOT the same team MSU saw two years ago. They were passing and catching like they were a DI team, not like the lowly DII patsy that everyone expected. But that isn't an excuse at all. What happened last Saturday was a pathetic display of football from a team that is easily twice as talented as they showed. The bye week will be key for us to re-tool some things in the secondary and hopefully learn a little more about executing the offensive plan. Hopefully the team doesn't get the flu like alot of teams are!:o

I don't believe in kicking a man when he (or his team) is down.





















So instead, I'll laugh. xlolx xlolx xlolx xlolx xlolx xlolx

[CrazyCat]

Can't blame anyone for questioning this teams ability but when all is said and done the record is 1-1 and exactly where everybody thought they would be. I mean really its not like a few other teams in the recent past haven't had troubles with a DII early in the season. At this point Jalmonds rankings look good and those that want to make fun of the Bobcats can go for it.

Two weeks to heal up, fix some problem areas and let the Northern Colorado coaches watch all the tape they want because it won't be the same team that comes to Greeley on the 26th.

[CopperCat]

I don't believe in kicking a man when he (or his team) is down.





















So instead, I'll laugh. xlolx xlolx xlolx xlolx xlolx xlolx

Trash.

[CopperCat]

Strangely enough, reading some of the things that the team and the coaches have said in the last few days really make me think that this team has a bit more intestinal fortitude than may be apparent. Ash is a workhorse, and he made that known the first day he came to MSU. Someone over on BN said that players take on the personality of their coaches, and I think we are seeing that in their comments. Maybe this wakeup call will bring out the best in this team, and at the right time as well. I don't think the psychological aspect of football gets talked about much sometimes, but in this case the Cats have some demons to exorcise, and I think with this bye week they have a good shot to get rid of them. UNC is to be taken very seriously this year, they are much better than they have been in recent years. The next two weeks should really tell us what kind of team we are inside and out.

[catatac]

Strangely enough, reading some of the things that the team and the coaches have said in the last few days really make me think that this team has a bit more intestinal fortitude than may be apparent. Ash is a workhorse, and he made that known the first day he came to MSU. Someone over on BN said that players take on the personality of their coaches, and I think we are seeing that in their comments. Maybe this wakeup call will bring out the best in this team, and at the right time as well. I don't think the psychological aspect of football gets talked about much sometimes, but in this case the Cats have some demons to exorcise, and I think with this bye week they have a good shot to get rid of them. UNC is to be taken very seriously this year, they are much better than they have been in recent years. The next two weeks should really tell us what kind of team we are inside and out.

Ya... all this panic talk cracks me up... fall from grace, etc... we're 1 and 1 with a loss to Michigan State. Can't wait for conference ball to start so we can show just how competitive we will be this year.

[CopperCat]

Ya... all this panic talk cracks me up... fall from grace, etc... we're 1 and 1 with a loss to Michigan State. Can't wait for conference ball to start so we can show just how competitive we will be this year.

I'll admit, I am one of the guys who was in panic mode during that game. But I didn't know how many 2 and 3 guys we were playing, which no doubt had an impact on the scoreboard. I would say I am back to cautious optimism now.

[bpcats]

Right now, I think that Weber is showing that they are the class of the Big Sky. Montana is going to get tougher as the season goes on, but they are a little shaky right now, and a lot of it could be settled once they pick a quarterback and go with it.

The rest of the teams you can pick out of a hat and it wouldn't matter. I do think that Northern Colorado and Portland State have progressed but how far is hard to tell.

The rest of the teams in the Big Sky seem to have taken a step sideways, improving in some areas and stepping back in others.

The Bobcats are going to be very tough to run on this year which won't matter much except against the Griz and Weber. For the last few years the Bobcats have led the league in pass efficiency defense. We won't be doing that this year.

Getting starting cb Nicol back for the conference opener is huge as he can for the most part solidify one side. I think that the coaches are going to stick with the move of all conference safety Reitoriano to the other starting cb position and move Andrews to nickle back. The coaches believe in putting the best players on the field and Reitoriano should be able to make the transition after two weeks of practice vs 3 days he had before Dixie State game. With the move of Reitoriano to cb, we gain in physical play at the safety position but lose some needed speed. We may be able to patch up the pass defense this year, but we have a lot of questions in the young guys about how far they will develop.

On offense there are some subtle but significant changes. We have better receivers this year as a group. With Iddins at quarterback, he is bringing a consistency of performance to that position. Iddins is for the most part making the right reads and is a fairly accurate qb. Coach Ash got tired of watching teams load up against the run and since play calling is going through him this year, he going to open up the passing game. Good idea since we have struggled to establish the run like we did last year.

We are solid on special teams..no problems there. Thanks Sunshine.

Bottom line is we have the coaches on staff to make this team better, but the players have to step up their play.

[kalm]

The rest of the teams you can pick out of a hat and it wouldn't matter. I do think that Northern Colorado and Portland State have progressed but how far is hard to tell.

The rest of the teams in the Big Sky seem to have taken a step sideways, improving in some areas and stepping back in others.

.

At the risk of sounding like chopped liver, EWU is returning 15 starters including 9 seniors and the 2007 conference offensive MVP, throw out one of the two body bag games last year and we go 7-4, have winning seasons 9 out of the last 10 years, and enter the 2nd year of a new coaching staff and system. True we lost our center and 3 very good d-lineman including a Buch Buchannon Award winner, but everyone loses good players to graduation.

I'd set us a little ahead of the other six. But we'll see.

[ncbears]

Our preseason injuries really hurt us before we even stepped on the field, especially in the secondary. I think this was one of the worst years for injuries in spring ball I can remember. At the same time, Dixie was NOT the same team MSU saw two years ago. They were passing and catching like they were a DI team, not like the lowly DII patsy that everyone expected. But that isn't an excuse at all. What happened last Saturday was a pathetic display of football from a team that is easily twice as talented as they showed. The bye week will be key for us to re-tool some things in the secondary and hopefully learn a little more about executing the offensive plan. Hopefully the team doesn't get the flu like alot of teams are!:o

We've got injuries too. Our offensive line is banged up and our two starting wide receivers are injured and done for the year.

[UNCBears2010]

We've got injuries too. Our offensive line is banged up and our two starting wide receivers are injured and done for the year.

Our starting left tackle is likely done for the year, but our other two offensive linemen with injuries should be back pretty soon. Also, our top WR, Alex Thompson, is fine, our #2 and #3 are done for the year.

[bpcats]

I'm not saying that EWU is not currently the third best team in the conference at this point.

Every year the University of Northern Colorado and add this year Portland State, just seem to take that next step in progression of becoming a competitive team in the Big Sky.

EWU already plays at a high level, but have they progressed overall as a team? That will be answered on how well the defense does in its second year of implementation.

[kalm]

I'm not saying that EWU is not currently the third best team in the conference at this point.

Every year the University of Northern Colorado and add this year Portland State, just seem to take that next step in progression of becoming a competitive team in the Big Sky.

EWU already plays at a high level, but have they progressed overall as a team? That will be answered on how well the defense does in its second year of implementation.

It was the "rest of the teams you can pick out of a hat" comment that got me going.

The kids seemed to get DC John Graham's system at the end of last season giving up 15 points on average the last 5 games. Of course that's much easier when you have a senior led d-line anchored by a Buchanon Award winner.

Like I said, we'll see. If defense and special teams are decent we can hang with anyone in the country.

[catatac]

I'm not saying that EWU is not currently the third best team in the conference at this point.

Every year the University of Northern Colorado and add this year Portland State, just seem to take that next step in progression of becoming a competitive team in the Big Sky.

EWU already plays at a high level, but have they progressed overall as a team? That will be answered on how well the defense does in its second year of implementation.


I still have NAU as the dark horse this year. I think they could easily be competetive in every BS game this year.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

I still have NAU as the dark horse this year. I think they could easily be competetive in every BS game this year.

They did well against Arizona, but NAU is known for mediocrity. They always choke, so until proven otherwise, I'm not worried.