Big Sky Power Rankings 10-1

[JALMOND]

The September fun is over and now with the advent of October, this is when things start getting serious. Likewise, things are clearing up in the conference as well. Some great games last week have set the tone for what promises to be an entertaining season. Here are this week's power rankings for the Big Sky. This week (last week). All are based on my opinions only. Here they are for this week.

1. Montana State (1)---The toughest thing to do, especially in the Big Sky is to go on the road and get a win. The Bobcats have been able to do that, at times not too pretty like last week at Southern Utah, but a win anyway. This week finds them again on the road, this time at UC-Davis.

2. Eastern Washington (2)---The toughest test for the Eagles last week as they were able to withstand an angry Montana team and rally at the end for a hard fought, and well deserved, victory. This week, they stay at home and take on the upstart North Dakota team.

3. Cal Poly (3)---Often overlooked, the Mustangs are putting together quite the season in their first year in the Big Sky. Their first real test, last week at North Dakota was just a mild stepping stone for them. This weekend finds them at Weber State for an unusual Friday night game.

4. Northern Arizona (4)---The Lumberjacks last week stayed busy keeping the reins on their season as they held back Portland State at home. Difficulites do face them later in the season but for now, a well deserved week off.

5. North Dakota (5)---Poised for making a big statement in their first year in the Big Sky, the Dakotans were eager to follow their road win at Sacramento State with a home win against Cal Poly last week. However, they folded and have taken a step behind. Trying to recover this weekend means a trip to Eastern Washington.

6. Southern Utah (7)---On paper it was a loss but the Thunderbirds gave Montana State all they could handle in their first home game as a Big Sky member, staying in the game all the way up to the end. This weekend they stay home and welcome Sacramento State.

7. Montana (6)---Victory was theirs, it was right there for the Grizzlies at Eastern Washington last week, only to let it elude them in the last few minutes. This season is definite growing pains for the Grizzlies and the road is now longer. However, this weekend they are at Northern Colorado.

8. Sacramento State (8)---The Hornets clearly had no problem stopping Idaho State's vaunted passing attack and also showed they could score almost at will. The question is can they continue it? This weekend they head to Southern Utah.

9. UC-Davis (11)---The Aggies defense has shown to be really good, but the offense exploded last week against Weber State. With the defense they have, any offense will be enough to win games usually. This weekend they welcome conference power Montana State.

10. Portland State (10)---Not much was expected from the Vikings last week at Northern Arizona after their failure at home the week before. But they kept the Lumberjacks in sight, they just couldn't seem to catch them. This week, they stay home to play Idaho State.

11. Northern Colorado (13)---The Bears had a week off to get ready for the rest of the conference season. Clearly up to this point, they have played better than the other years, but is it good enough to finally get a conference win? This week they welcome the reeling Montana team.

12. Idaho State (12)---One question for the Bengals remains, what good is there to have a great passing attack if the defense cannot stop anyone? Last week, Sacramento State came into their barn and made it look too easy. This week, they go to Portland State, a team that is equally as flummoxed.

13. Weber State (9)---Excuses galore for the Wildcats for the fact they have not won. A tough schedule, but they have played everyone tough and a win is just around the corner. Everyone can buy that. Then they do not show up last week at UC-Davis. This week, a much better team in Cal Poly comes calling.

RECAP---1-2 close, then 3, 4, 5, then 6-8 grouped together and 9-13 bringing up the rear.

[dbackjon]

What have MSU or EWU done that puts them a grouping ahead of Poly and NAU?

Honestly. NAU and Poly have better resumes than MSU and equal to EWU

[SuperHornet]

What Jon said.

Plus, what did UNC do on a BYE week to jump up two spots? Sure, Weber screwed the pooch against UCD, but ISU actually played a halfway decent game before fourth quarter mistakes blew it wide open for Sac.

Other than that, the groupings are about right, though I disagree with putting SUU ahead of Sac AND Montana.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

What have MSU or EWU done that puts them a grouping ahead of Poly and NAU?

Honestly. NAU and Poly have better resumes than MSU and equal to EWU

It's Jalmond's rankings, so he can put them wherever he pleases. That said, I agree with your post for the most part. CP, NAU and MSU all played a D-II, whereas EWU has not. EWU also played a close game in their one FBS loss, unlike NAU. MSU's schedule has been pretty weak so far, and they've struggled with it, despite going 5-0.

I'd rank them...

1. EWU
2. CP
3. NAU
4. MSU

[JALMOND]

What have MSU or EWU done that puts them a grouping ahead of Poly and NAU?

Honestly. NAU and Poly have better resumes than MSU and equal to EWU

Bobcats have a win on the road at a pretty good Southern Utah team.
EWU has beaten FBS (should have had another), but barely got a win at lowly Weber State who got crushed by Davis.

CP struggled at home against Davis. NAU struggled at home against Portland State and also has an ugly loss to Arizona State (just as ugly as ISU's loss to Nebraska).

The way I see it,

1. MSU
2. EWU
3. CP
4. NAU

[Mvemjsunpx]

8. Sacramento State (8)---The Hornets clearly had no problem stopping Idaho State's vaunted passing attack and also showed they could score almost at will. The question is can they continue it? This weekend they head to Southern Utah.

Uh… Kevin Yost threw for 534 yards and 4 TDs.

[JALMOND]

What Jon said.

Plus, what did UNC do on a BYE week to jump up two spots? Sure, Weber screwed the pooch against UCD, but ISU actually played a halfway decent game before fourth quarter mistakes blew it wide open for Sac.

Other than that, the groupings are about right, though I disagree with putting SUU ahead of Sac AND Montana.

UNC---Bye week but has looked more competitive this year than last year. Has one win.
ISU---Blowout loss at home to a struggling Sac State team coming off of a bad loss themselves against North Dakota.
WSU---No wins, and gave up 37 points to a team that had struggled to get any points at all coming into this game.

[Keeper]

Montana State = 71.60
Cal Poly = 71.06
Northern Arizona = 69.15
Eastern Washington 67.33
Montana = 59.77
North Dakota = 58.26
Southern Utah = 56.75
UC-Davis = 55.91
Sacramento State = 54.87
Portland State = 51.35
Weber State = 49.92
Idaho State = 45.28
Northern Colorado= 43.89

[CPAlum]

What have MSU or EWU done that puts them a grouping ahead of Poly and NAU?

Honestly. NAU and Poly have better resumes than MSU and equal to EWU

It's Jalmond's rankings, so he can put them wherever he pleases. That said, I agree with your post for the most part. CP, NAU and MSU all played a D-II, whereas EWU has not. EWU also played a close game in their one FBS loss, unlike NAU. MSU's schedule has been pretty weak so far, and they've struggled with it, despite going 5-0.

I'd rank them...

1. EWU
2. CP
3. NAU
4. MSU

Cal Poly has not played a DII this year, all DI wins at 4-0.

[kalm]

After watching the replay of our last game, I would have EWU at 4 and Montana at 5. Montana's defense and QB play are only going to get better and nobody is going to stop that rushing attack - their o-line is massive. Defense is our obvious liability. I'm not saying we won't be 1 by the end of the season, but until we get back to playing d like we did against Idaho and WSU we are prone to being beat at least a couple more times.

[dbackjon]

What have MSU or EWU done that puts them a grouping ahead of Poly and NAU?

Honestly. NAU and Poly have better resumes than MSU and equal to EWU

Bobcats have a win on the road at a pretty good Southern Utah team.
EWU has beaten FBS (should have had another), but barely got a win at lowly Weber State who got crushed by Davis.

CP struggled at home against Davis. NAU struggled at home against Portland State and also has an ugly loss to Arizona State (just as ugly as ISU's loss to Nebraska).

The way I see it,

1. MSU
2. EWU
3. CP
4. NAU

NAU's road win over Montana >>>> MSU's Road win over SUU


A two TD win is struggling?? Then MSU did struggle to beat, by less of a margin, non-schollie Drake.

NAU blew out it's D2, MSU "struggled" in their D2 game.

[SUUTbird]

Other than that, the groupings are about right, though I disagree with putting SUU ahead of Sac AND Montana.

We barely lost to the #2 team in the nation were in it all the way to the end of the game and probably should have won with all the turnovers in that game. Compared to beating a usual cellar dweller in the Big Sky I think us being ahead of Sac is accurate. Montana has unfortunately not been the team they usually are this season, dont know if we are better then them but I am pretty sure we will compete when we play.

[SuperHornet]

What Jon said.

Plus, what did UNC do on a BYE week to jump up two spots? Sure, Weber screwed the pooch against UCD, but ISU actually played a halfway decent game before fourth quarter mistakes blew it wide open for Sac.

Other than that, the groupings are about right, though I disagree with putting SUU ahead of Sac AND Montana.

UNC---Bye week but has looked more competitive this year than last year. Has one win.
ISU---Blowout loss at home to a struggling Sac State team coming off of a bad loss themselves against North Dakota.
WSU---No wins, and gave up 37 points to a team that had struggled to get any points at all coming into this game.

Did you not watch the game? Or did you just look at the final score? Were it not for a couple of epic fail coaching decisions and bad decisions on the part of the quarterback, through three quarters ISU was in the game and looked like they were going to have a chance to win it. I guess a big fourth quarter skews people's perceptions of the entire game....

[SDHornet]

8. Sacramento State (8)---The Hornets clearly had no problem stopping Idaho State's vaunted passing attack and also showed they could score almost at will. The question is can they continue it? This weekend they head to Southern Utah.

Uh… Kevin Yost threw for 534 yards and 4 TDs.

Most of which came in the first half. 1 TD and 1 2-pt conversion was all Yost could muster after half time.

[SDHornet]

UNC---Bye week but has looked more competitive this year than last year. Has one win.
ISU---Blowout loss at home to a struggling Sac State team coming off of a bad loss themselves against North Dakota.
WSU---No wins, and gave up 37 points to a team that had struggled to get any points at all coming into this game.

Did you not watch the game? Or did you just look at the final score? Were it not for a couple of epic fail coaching decisions and bad decisions on the part of the quarterback, through three quarters ISU was in the game and looked like they were going to have a chance to win it. I guess a big fourth quarter skews people's perceptions of the entire game....

Did YOU watch the Sac State game? Honest question.

[SDHornet]

Good arguments for CP and NAU…and as of now I have to agree with them. CP is undefeated against a full D-1 slate. No reason they shouldn’t be in the running for the top spot. NAU has a comparable resume’ as well. I’d put more value in their road win at that cold and loud place and have them in the top 3.

Good thing all these teams play each other and this will sort itself out….oh wait.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

It's Jalmond's rankings, so he can put them wherever he pleases. That said, I agree with your post for the most part. CP, NAU and MSU all played a D-II, whereas EWU has not. EWU also played a close game in their one FBS loss, unlike NAU. MSU's schedule has been pretty weak so far, and they've struggled with it, despite going 5-0.

I'd rank them...

1. EWU
2. CP
3. NAU
4. MSU

Cal Poly has not played a DII this year, all DI wins at 4-0.

My bad, I guess I think of San Diego as D-II.

[weberwildcat]

Weber 13th LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am ok with that, after all its a weekly ranking. But I dont think Davis is a joke this year.

[CPAlum]

Cal Poly has not played a DII this year, all DI wins at 4-0.

My bad, I guess I think of San Diego as D-II.

I kind of thought that might have been your angle but wasn't sure....San Diego is certainly DI as compared to Fort Lewis or Chadron St.

[LDopaPDX]

"The toughest test for the Eagles last week as they were able to withstand an angry Montana team and rally at the end for a hard fought, and well deserved, victory. "

Yikes. Well deserved victory? I'd call it a lucky victory. And I'm an Eagle fan... but I'm also a realist.

Eastern really hasn't proven anything to me to be considered at or near the top of the conference. The resume is decent on paper, but I've watched all the games form start to finish and really haven't thought Eastern plays all that well. The funny thing is Jalmond has Montana State at the top and Sagarin does as well. I haven't thought much of MSU, either.

Therefore, mostly by default, I'd put Cal Poly on top. I can't really consider NAU for that spot given their no-show in week #1. You could make a decent argument for a whole lotta teams from 2-5, and any argument would be vailid but speculative.

And even though Weber is winless, I can't see them as worse than UNC or Idaho State.

[SACCAT]

Good job Jalmond. I like the fact no-one thinks MSU is any good. We will prove it one game at a time. I think there are alot of good team in the Big Sky this year. We will see if anyone can make it with out a loss. CATS 5-0, doesn't matter who we have played or how good everyone thinks those teams were, we still have no losses.

[JackParty]

True NAU got spanked but they lost Zack Bauman and their starting QB in the early 2nd quarter against ASU. Also ASU has a pretty good team in a tough Pac-12.

Whats more telling is the grit and no quit attitude of this group coming back from 14-0 down at half to UNLV and the total come from behind domination of the Griz.

This team is dangerous because they don't quit, they believe in themselves and their confidence is Big Sky high.

Just saying don't be so quick to count them out because of what happened in 2008.

They started 6-0 and then lost 5 straight. This is a different year, a different team and different attitude.

But you go right ahead and keep counting them out because of some ass wipe who keeps saying - NAU has a history of failure in the 2nd half of the season. Really? And how many guys from 2008 are still on this team as if it matters.

I am just watching and enjoying

[Brock Landers]

Seems like you still have quite the chip on your shoulder there

Maybe I'll take that approach next year with the Griz. It will be super annoying for all involved I'm sure

[LDopaPDX]

True NAU got spanked but they lost Zack Bauman and their starting QB in the early 2nd quarter against ASU. Also ASU has a pretty good team in a tough Pac-12.

Whats more telling is the grit and no quit attitude of this group coming back from 14-0 down at half to UNLV and the total come from behind domination of the Griz.

This team is dangerous because they don't quit, they believe in themselves and their confidence is Big Sky high.

Just saying don't be so quick to count them out because of what happened in 2008.

They started 6-0 and then lost 5 straight. This is a different year, a different team and different attitude.

But you go right ahead and keep counting them out because of some ass wipe who keeps saying - NAU has a history of failure in the 2nd half of the season. Really? And how many guys from 2008 are still on this team as if it matters.

I am just watching and enjoying

I'm only saying the lopsided loss makes NAU not qualify for the top spot. As I said, they could have a legit argument for being listed anywhere 2-5. Cal Poly is the only Big Sky team I can't find a reason to knock on, so I put them #1.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Seems like you still have quite the chip on your shoulder there

Maybe I'll take that approach next year with the Griz. It will be super annoying for all involved I'm sure

Maybe that approach will work for you just like the BF approach did.