Big Sky Power Rankings 8-24

[JALMOND]

And so we begin again with football on the horizon in the Big Sky. Idaho State gets things going early, with a game this Saturday against UNLV. The rest of the teams begin next week. I begin my 20th season of compiling these rankings, once again pointing out that they are my opinion only and open for discussion. As Idaho State is the only team to play this weekend, and is the only team NOT to play next weekend, the next power rankings will come out on September 5th. Here are the opening rankings. Have fun.

1. Montana State Bobcats---Next game, 9-3 McNeese State (FCS, Southland) at home---Following a rather surprising run to the FCS national championship game last season, the Bobcats have some strong pieces coming back to show it was no fluke.

2. Sacramento State Hornets---Next game, 9-3, Utah Tech (FCS, WAC) at home---A surprising season last year and some good pieces returning has got the Hornets looking to build on last year's success.

3. Montana Grizzlies---Next game, 9-3, Northwestern State (FCS, Southland) at home---The Grizzlies will rely on a stout defense until their offense can get its legs under them. Then, watch out.

4. Eastern Washington Eagles---Next game, 9-3 Tennessee State (FCS, Ohio Valley) at home---The Eagles always will be tough and this year should be no different, one a few questions get answered.

5. UC Davis Aggies---Next game, 9-3 at California (FBS, Pac-12)---The Aggies are hoping to build on their playoff appearance last season, one that led to a first round loss. They would love to start the year with a lower tier Pac-12 school.

6. Weber State Wildcats---Next game, 9-1 Western Oregon (DII) at home---Eager to show that they belong near the top of the conference again, the Wildcats will start the season against a DII opponent.

7. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks---Next game, 9-1 at Arizona State (FBS, Pac-12)---Questions abound for the Lumberjacks heading in to the season, but how fast they answer them could determine how successful this year will be.

8. Idaho Vandals---Next game, 9-3 at Washington State (FBS Pac-12)---New coach, new system and plenty of questions everywhere, but the Vandals a hoping for a good showing against their big neighbors.

9. Portland State Vikings---Next game, 9-1 at San Jose State (FBS, Mtn West)---The Vikings are going to rely on their defense to keep their ship afloat until the offense gets going. Many questions surround this team.

10. Northern Colorado Bears---Next game, 9-3 Houston Baptist (FCS, Southland) at home---They Bears get to start their season at home and against a fellow FCS school. Some early questions to be answered and they could be knocking on the door.

11. Cal Poly Mustangs---Next game, 9-1 at Fresno State (FBS, Mtn West)---This year should find the Mustangs to be much improved over the previous years, but do they have enough to get back on top?

12. Idaho State Bengals---Next game 8-27 at UNLV (FBS, Mtn West)---If some good things go right for the Bengals this year, they won't be near the bottom for long. They may not have enough to beat an FBS team, but they may when conference play begins.

RECAP: 1-6 contenders, 7-12 maybe.

[wapiti]

And so we begin again with football on the horizon in the Big Sky. Idaho State gets things going early, with a game this Saturday against UNLV. The rest of the teams begin next week. I begin my 20th season of compiling these rankings, once again pointing out that they are my opinion only and open for discussion. As Idaho State is the only team to play this weekend, and is the only team NOT to play next weekend, the next power rankings will come out on September 5th. Here are the opening rankings. Have fun.

1. Montana State Bobcats---Next game, 9-3 McNeese State (FCS, Southland) at home---Following a rather surprising run to the FCS national championship game last season, the Bobcats have some strong pieces coming back to show it was no fluke.

2. Sacramento State Hornets---Next game, 9-3, Utah Tech (FCS, WAC) at home---A surprising season last year and some good pieces returning has got the Hornets looking to build on last year's success.

3. Montana Grizzlies---Next game, 9-3, Northwestern State (FCS, Southland) at home---The Grizzlies will rely on a stout defense until their offense can get its legs under them. Then, watch out.

4. Eastern Washington Eagles---Next game, 9-3 Tennessee State (FCS, Ohio Valley) at home---The Eagles always will be tough and this year should be no different, one a few questions get answered.

5. UC Davis Aggies---Next game, 9-3 at California (FBS, Pac-12)---The Aggies are hoping to build on their playoff appearance last season, one that led to a first round loss. They would love to start the year with a lower tier Pac-12 school.

6. Weber State Wildcats---Next game, 9-1 Western Oregon (DII) at home---Eager to show that they belong near the top of the conference again, the Wildcats will start the season against a DII opponent.

7. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks---Next game, 9-1 at Arizona State (FBS, Pac-12)---Questions abound for the Lumberjacks heading in to the season, but how fast they answer them could determine how successful this year will be.

8. Idaho Vandals---Next game, 9-3 at Washington State (FBS Pac-12)---New coach, new system and plenty of questions everywhere, but the Vandals a hoping for a good showing against their big neighbors.

9. Portland State Vikings---Next game, 9-1 at San Jose State (FBS, Mtn West)---The Vikings are going to rely on their defense to keep their ship afloat until the offense gets going. Many questions surround this team.

10. Northern Colorado Bears---Next game, 9-3 Houston Baptist (FCS, Southland) at home---They Bears get to start their season at home and against a fellow FCS school. Some early questions to be answered and they could be knocking on the door.

11. Cal Poly Mustangs---Next game, 9-1 at Fresno State (FBS, Mtn West)---This year should find the Mustangs to be much improved over the previous years, but do they have enough to get back on top?

12. Idaho State Bengals---Next game 8-27 at UNLV (FBS, Mtn West)---If some good things go right for the Bengals this year, they won't be near the bottom for long. They may not have enough to beat an FBS team, but they may when conference play begins.

RECAP: 1-6 contenders, 7-12 maybe.

Glad to see you are back doing these again this season. I enjoy reading your quick quirps about each team each week.

[wapiti]

1. Montana State Bobcats---Since their last game was in the NC they start the season number 1

2. Montana Grizzlies---griz have been rebuilding for a few years. Will this be the year they are back?

3. Sacramento State Hornets---In recent years Sac has had a great regular season, but then blow it in the playoffs. They should have another great season, will they translate that to success in the postseason this year?

4. Eastern Washington Eagles---To me EWU seems to be a new team after a decade+ of having a great QB and receivers? Will that continue this season? We should know a few weeks in.

5. UC Davis Aggies---UCD seems to be a team on the cusp of being a great team. Not just in conference, but nationally as well.

6. Weber State Wildcats---Weber State should be primed for another good season and should be competitive in all of their games

7. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks---I think NAU has more potential then it is achieving. Large student body. City pop of 65,000 plus the surrounding area to draw from. A pop of around 100,000 with no other major sport teams in the area. But here they sit in the middle of the pack.

8. Idaho Vandals---Idaho is another team that is under achieving. Did the move back to FCS hurt more than it helped as far as fielding a quality team?

9. Portland State Vikings---PSU has other major sports team in its market. Making it more difficult to attract fans.

10.Cal Poly Mustangs---Has the Beau rebuild been effective? He has been there long enough that this is all his team now. Will that be enough to climb this ladder?

11. Idaho State Bengals---ISU has struggled with getting the right coach for their school. Will Ragle be the one to improve this team?

12. Northern Colorado Bears---The MccAffrey experiment at UNCU did not do well last season. I see they are back again this year. Will a clipboard fly again this season?

RECAP: 1-6 contenders, 7-8 in the middle, 9-12 we will see.

[dbackjon]

Looks reasonable for pre-season

[JALMOND]

1. Montana State Bobcats---Since their last game was in the NC they start the season number 1

2. Montana Grizzlies---griz have been rebuilding for a few years. Will this be the year they are back?

3. Sacramento State Hornets---In recent years Sac has had a great regular season, but then blow it in the playoffs. They should have another great season, will they translate that to success in the postseason this year?

4. Eastern Washington Eagles---To me EWU seems to be a new team after a decade+ of having a great QB and receivers? Will that continue this season? We should know a few weeks in.

5. UC Davis Aggies---UCD seems to be a team on the cusp of being a great team. Not just in conference, but nationally as well.

6. Weber State Wildcats---Weber State should be primed for another good season and should be competitive in all of their games

7. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks---I think NAU has more potential then it is achieving. Large student body. City pop of 65,000 plus the surrounding area to draw from. A pop of around 100,000 with no other major sport teams in the area. But here they sit in the middle of the pack.

8. Idaho Vandals---Idaho is another team that is under achieving. Did the move back to FCS hurt more than it helped as far as fielding a quality team?

9. Portland State Vikings---PSU has other major sports team in its market. Making it more difficult to attract fans.

10.Cal Poly Mustangs---Has the Beau rebuild been effective? He has been there long enough that this is all his team now. Will that be enough to climb this ladder?

11. Idaho State Bengals---ISU has struggled with getting the right coach for their school. Will Ragle be the one to improve this team?

12. Northern Colorado Bears---The MccAffrey experiment at UNCU did not do well last season. I see they are back again this year. Will a clipboard fly again this season?

RECAP: 1-6 contenders, 7-8 in the middle, 9-12 we will see.


Nice to see you're back as well. This should be fun.xthumbsupx

[MSUBobcat]

I appreciate the preseason rankings you both provided. Outside of the MT teams, which are reported on locally, I don't follow the departures and additions of the other teams enough to know where to place them, so I'll throw some **** against the wall based almost entirely on last year how the program has been trending the last few years and see what sticks.

1. Montana - Sadly, Coach has them trending back to old form. The QB play last year was nothing special, so if transfer Lucas Johnson can up the performance, they should be the team to beat.
2. Montana State - We lost 5 players that are/were fighting for a spot on NFL rosters - Troy Anderson, Lance McCutcheon (blowing it up), Daniel Hardy (injured last Friday, likely to be on designated injured reserve), Tre Webb (cut in the roster shrink from 90 to 85) and Lewis Kidd (according to ESPN Saints reporter, has a chance to make the 53 man roster). That's a lot of talent for an FCS team to lose, so I'll wait to see how the replacements fare.
3. Sac State - have been a major force in the last 2 seasons (3 years) in the Big Sky. Can they replicate it again and perhaps win a playoff game?
4. UC Davis - another team trending upward lately, making the playoffs 2 of the last 3 seasons. They start the year off with a tough schedule, then tones down until the final game in the Causeway Cup.
5. Weber - The Grills had a tough schedule last season and this year isn't much different. The difference between 4th and 5th for me is that Davis has BBQ at home.
6. EWU - The Eags defense was mediocre last year, leaving the offense to do the heavy lifting. Need to see how they replace Barriere, Limu-Jones and Merritt on offense.
7. NAU - 'Jacks were middle of the pack last year, winning the games expected except UNC and losing the ones expected except FBS Arizona (maybe, Wildcats were terrible). Figuring a similar result this year.
8. Idaho - Something has to change in Moscow (both Idaho and Russia). Bottom half finishes can not be what they were shooting for when they dropped down from FBS.
9. PSU - One of a few Big Sky teams to opt for not one, but two, money games yields a very tough start to the season. Expecting a similar result to last year, except flip-flopping with UI because I don't expect them to win in the Quonset this time.
10. Cal Poly - Baldwin's turnaround is not going as smoothly as he had hoped.
11. ISU-o - perennial bottom feeds. Won't move them up til they prove me wrong.
12. UNC - see ISU-o, but less disciplined, both the players (10th @ 59.2ypg in 2021) and coaching staff (cuz... you know).

My recap - 1-3 will be in the playoffs; 4-6 have a good chance to make the post-season; 7-9 I would not be extremely surprised to find one of them above .500 and possibly even getting playoff consideration if they over-perform my "expectations" (read: WAG); 10-12 need an overhaul.

[bobcathpdevil56]

Thanks all for the ranking. Let's get it rolling!!!