As October closes, some things are becoming apparent in the Big Sky, but there are still some things that need to be cleared up. Playoff talk usually starts up about now and the conference is trying to gear up to get the maximum number of teams invited to the playoffs. Some teams are emerging in the role of spoiler and would love to throw a wrench into other teams' plans. Here are this weekend's predictions. As usual, all are my opinion only and so far for the season, I am at 36-9. Hoping for perfection...

ISU at MSU---One thing that has shown is that the Bengals are getting ready for next year, especially on the heels of the big beatdown last week at Brigham Young. One other thing is that the Bobcats may think they have things sewn up, which is dangerous in its own right because any team can bite you. Which is exactly what Kramer will want to do to the Bobcats. The Bengals will be ready, will the Bobcats?...MSU 34, ISU 10.

NAU at Sac State---The Lumberjacks have to be elated with a moral victory of sorts last week against Montana, having played the Grizzlies tough the whole game. The Hornets had their game with Eastern Washington won and their dream season continuing, only to see it slip away in overtime. Now the Hornets' dream season is on the verge of going away. Will it?...NAU 28, Sac State 26.

PSU at EWU---Interesting matchup in that the Vikings love to run the ball, including the quarterback and the Eagles, with all their injuries, have been suspect against the run. The Eagles have a strong passing attack and the achillies heel of the Vikings defense has been in the secondary. What could transpire is the biggest shootout in quite some time...EWU 48, PSU 42.

North Dakota at UNC---After last week, one could look at the score of the Bears game against Montana State and see that they lost another one. But what was not evident was the fact that the Bears did not let the Bobcats ever pull comfortably ahead in the game. Throughout the year, the Bears have improved and are not the same youthful team that started the year. The big question, though, is can they get a win?...UNC 21, North Dakota 17.

WSU at UM---The Grizzlies outlasted Northern Arizona last week and have shown an ability to do just enough to get a win. The Grizzly fan base is beginning to talk playoffs again. For the Wildcats, they had a good start last week against Southern Utah, but gave it up in the third quarter. Now they have to regroup and try to save the season. The problem is that they do not win at Washington Grizzly stadium...UM 27, WSU 14.

Need perfection.