Big Sky power Rankings 9-1

[JALMOND]

Now that the first true weekend of Big Sky football is in the works, still not much has been decided. Two teams on top, two teams on the bottom, and a mush in between. With 10 of the 12 games last weekend involving the Big Sky against various levels of FBS teams, it is truly difficult to see differences between the teams. Should make for some good discussion. Here are this week's power rankings in the Big Sky. All are my opinion only. This week (last week).

1. Eastern Washington (1)---Last week the Eagles dispatched the NAIA's Montana -Western squad pretty handily. After beating the lower division and a good FCS team, this weekend they head up to the Pac-12 and play Washington.

2. Montana (2)---Thunder and lightning and a pretty crazy day last week for the Grizzlies in their loss to FBS Wyoming. This weekend, perhaps a bit less lightning and a more manageable opponent in DII's Central Washington.

3. Montana State (3)---Last week, the Bobcats stayed with the Sun Belt's Arkansas State team for most of the game. Pretty encouraging, and good feelings heading in to this weekend's game at home against DII Black Hills State.

4. Sacramento State (8)---While most the of the conference teams were playing up a level, the Hornets were giving Southland newcomer Incarnate Word a very rude welcome to the FCS. Does it give them confidence this weekend as they move up to the Pac-12 and play California?

5. Southern Utah (6)---The Thunderbirds played Mountain West's Nevada pretty close but, unlike last year, could not come through for the victory. They have another tough one this weekend as they head out to Southeastern Louisiana.

6. Northern Arizona (7)---The Lumberjacks headed out to play San Diego State last week and come out on the short end. This weekend finds them out on the road again to play Southland newcomer Abilene Christian.

7. UC-Davis (4)---The Aggies were the first victim in what could be a successful year for Pac-12 Stanford, who took it to the Aggies with reckless abandonment. Now they must regroup as they entertain DII Fort Lewis.

8. Cal Poly (5)---So the Mustangs also played at the FBS level last week, but their opponent, New Mexico State was thought to be down this year. That is until the game was played and the Mustangs lost. Now they go back on the road to play Missouri Valley's South Dakota State.

9. Portland State (9)---The Vikings sought to continue the conference dominance over Pac-12 Oregon State and had the lead at halftime. Then the wheels fell off and the Vikings found themselves short. This weekend they bring in DII Western Oregon.

10. Idaho State (10)---The Bengals had some bright spots in their loss last weekend to the Pac-12 Utah team. Whether they can translate that into some wins later remains to be seen, but for now they head back to the FBS and play Utah State.

11. Weber State (11)---The Wildcats gamely took on a strong Pac-12 team last weekend at Arizona State and could not get the win. Now they come back to the FCS but things do not get easier as they welcome North Dakota State.

12. North Dakota (12)---The No-Names tried to stay around last weekend against San Jose State but in the end it was too tall of an order. This week may be easier as they entertain the Northeast's strong Robert Morris team.

13. Northern Colorado (13)---Maybe it was a good thing that the Bears held off starting their season until this weekend as they make a trip to Nevada-Las Vegas. Then again, maybe the same result that befell most of the conference teams this weekend.

RECAP: 1-2 together, 3-11 mushed up, 12-13 bringing up the rear.

[Mvemjsunpx]

I think you have your own team a bit too low.

[AZGrizFan]

MSU got outgained 558 yards to 228. It's a fucking miracle that score wasn't 60-10.

[Grizalltheway]

MSU got outgained 558 yards to 228. It's a fucking miracle that score wasn't 60-10.

Knowing their fans, they probably still think they should be ranked #1.

Spoiler: show

Ssssh. I'm hunting Saccat

[SACCAT]

MSU got outgained 558 yards to 228. It's a **** miracle that score wasn't 60-10.

Knowing their fans, they probably still think they should be ranked #1.

Spoiler: show

Ssssh. I'm hunting Saccat

We should be...We played one of, IF NOT, the fastest team in the football world. There QB will probably win the Heisman, and most of the DB's on there team were 6'6" and ran 3.4 40's. Prukop had 4 runs of 120 yards called back on horrible calls (WTF is holding?) Our best player, Johnson, was hit so illegally that the Ferguson police sent him a get well card....

[EWURanger]

I think you have your own team a bit too low.

"Expectation Management"?

[JALMOND]

I think you have your own team a bit too low.

I think I have us where we should be. Everything but the score was indicative of a typical Pac-12 team against a mid-pack Big Sky team. We led at the half but it really wasn't anything we did but mostly the mistakes that Oregon State did. The second half, we never crossed midfield, had only 40 total yards and 5 turnovers. Our defense came up big, holding the Beavers to field goals, but it scares the hell out of me to think the defense will have to carry us early on. We clearly were not at our best, and we were fortunate that Oregon State was not either. Our overall performance was on par with Davis, Poly and ISU.

[AZGrizFan]

Knowing their fans, they probably still think they should be ranked #1.

Spoiler: show

Ssssh. I'm hunting Saccat

We should be...We played one of, IF NOT, the fastest team in the football world. There QB will probably win the Heisman, and most of the DB's on there team were 6'6" and ran 3.4 40's. Prukop had 4 runs of 120 yards called back on horrible calls (WTF is holding?) Our best player, Johnson, was hit so illegally that the Ferguson police sent him a get well card....

[SDHornet]

Watched a few games last week thanks to ESPN3 replay.

MSU hung tough with Ark State. The MSU defense was able to contain their speed and limited their scores and maybe could have even won if the MSU offense could have gotten something done. MSU’s only TD was set up by a muffed punt. Regardless, MSU fans should be encouraged by what they saw defensively…but it will be a long season for them if the offense doesn’t get things going.

CP did ok, and not as bad as some of their posters indicated. As pointed out on their board, if they can’t pass the ball enough to at least keep defenses honest, then they are in trouble. They were able to move the ball early and had some good plays with Brown at QB. The Mustang defense looks pretty stout. CP just got worn out as NMSU stacked the box in the 2nd half and eventually just broke CPs back.

Sac State benefitted from the UIW QB breaking his ankle late in the 1st qtr. The Hornets still would have won, but I think UIW would have kept it close for a bit. They were able to move the ball early on against the Hornet defense. The Hornet coaches emptied the benches late in the 3rd qtr. Offensively the Hornets looked fine, but UIW just isn’t very good so can’t really take much away from the first game even if it was the BSC’s only D1 win of the week.

UND-SJSU game is on ESPN3 but won’t watch it since the Hornets and former Sioux don’t play this year. I don’t think there were any other games available on ESPN3.

As far as the rankings go...meh too early to really care at this point.

[MTfan4life]

We should be...We played one of, IF NOT, the fastest team in the football world. There QB will probably win the Heisman, and most of the DB's on there team were 6'6" and ran 3.4 40's. Prukop had 4 runs of 120 yards called back on horrible calls (WTF is holding?) Our best player, Johnson, was hit so illegally that the Ferguson police sent him a get well card....

Haha, well done! I read the first two sentences, and was thinking here is another one of those out of their mind fans. Then I read the rest and enjoyed the hyperbole. The 3.4 40's have got to be impressive. They weren't only taller than usain bolt, but also quicker!

[Mvemjsunpx]

I think you have your own team a bit too low.

I think I have us where we should be. Everything but the score was indicative of a typical Pac-12 team against a mid-pack Big Sky team. We led at the half but it really wasn't anything we did but mostly the mistakes that Oregon State did. The second half, we never crossed midfield, had only 40 total yards and 5 turnovers. Our defense came up big, holding the Beavers to field goals, but it scares the hell out of me to think the defense will have to carry us early on. We clearly were not at our best, and we were fortunate that Oregon State was not either. Our overall performance was on par with Davis, Poly and ISU.

You're basing your power rankings entirely on Week 1 mismatches?

And PSU's performance was better than at least Poly or ISU. Utah isn't that great, and losing to NMSU by 18 is not something a halfway decent Big Sky team should do.

[JALMOND]

I think I have us where we should be. Everything but the score was indicative of a typical Pac-12 team against a mid-pack Big Sky team. We led at the half but it really wasn't anything we did but mostly the mistakes that Oregon State did. The second half, we never crossed midfield, had only 40 total yards and 5 turnovers. Our defense came up big, holding the Beavers to field goals, but it scares the hell out of me to think the defense will have to carry us early on. We clearly were not at our best, and we were fortunate that Oregon State was not either. Our overall performance was on par with Davis, Poly and ISU.

You're basing your power rankings entirely on Week 1 mismatches?

And PSU's performance was better than at least Poly or ISU. Utah isn't that great, and losing to NMSU by 18 is not something a halfway decent Big Sky team should do.

Not entirely on Week 1 mismatches. I had PSU at #9 going in to the season. How we played at Oregon State, good moments as well as bad, really didn't change anything. Really the only team that made a major move up was Sacramento State and the only ones that made major moves down were Poly and Davis. A lot of weight still on the preseason.

NMSU beating Poly makes me wonder 1) how bad Poly is, if they really are, and 2) are EWU and UM the only two teams in the conference that could get a win at NMSU, given playing on the road and the increase in scholarships at the FBS level. More questions to be answered in the next week or so. It will definitely be clearer after conference play starts.

[SDHornet]

You're basing your power rankings entirely on Week 1 mismatches?

And PSU's performance was better than at least Poly or ISU. Utah isn't that great, and losing to NMSU by 18 is not something a halfway decent Big Sky team should do.

Not entirely on Week 1 mismatches. I had PSU at #9 going in to the season. How we played at Oregon State, good moments as well as bad, really didn't change anything. Really the only team that made a major move up was Sacramento State and the only ones that made major moves down were Poly and Davis. A lot of weight still on the preseason.

NMSU beating Poly makes me wonder 1) how bad Poly is, if they really are, and 2) are EWU and UM the only two teams in the conference that could get a win at NMSU, given playing on the road and the increase in scholarships at the FBS level. More questions to be answered in the next week or so. It will definitely be clearer after conference play starts.

UM couldn’t get a win on the road against a weak Wyo team, why would they win at a weak NMSU team?

[Grizalltheway]

Not entirely on Week 1 mismatches. I had PSU at #9 going in to the season. How we played at Oregon State, good moments as well as bad, really didn't change anything. Really the only team that made a major move up was Sacramento State and the only ones that made major moves down were Poly and Davis. A lot of weight still on the preseason.

NMSU beating Poly makes me wonder 1) how bad Poly is, if they really are, and 2) are EWU and UM the only two teams in the conference that could get a win at NMSU, given playing on the road and the increase in scholarships at the FBS level. More questions to be answered in the next week or so. It will definitely be clearer after conference play starts.

UM couldn’t get a win on the road against a weak Wyo team, why would they win at a weak NMSU team?

NMSU is weaker, and if Johnson had been his normal self, we probably would have won.

[SACCAT]

UM couldn’t get a win on the road against a weak Wyo team, why would they win at a weak NMSU team?

NMSU is weaker, and if Johnson had been his normal self, we probably would have won.

MSU would have beat NMSU as well. Didn't you people see my reasoning above? If the Cats had played any other team in the country, they would have cake walked through the first game...We just happend to schedule the greatest team in the written history of skinned pigs, for our opener.

[Grizalltheway]

[catbooster]

NMSU is weaker, and if Johnson had been his normal self, we probably would have won.

MSU would have beat NMSU as well. Didn't you people see my reasoning above? If the Cats had played any other team in the country, they would have cake walked through the first game...We just happend to schedule the greatest team in the written history of skinned pigs, for our opener.

Excellent analysis Saccat. Your ability to bring impartial, unbiased information to these discussions is appreciated.