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Big Sky Power Rankings 9-18

Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2017 8:03 pm
by JALMOND
This has certainly been a crazy start to the season in the Big Sky. Teams start looking good, then go bad. Teams that are supposed to be good look bad, then bounce back. Teams that are usually bad end up good. I've been doing these rankings since 2004 and I can't recall a weird start to the season as this one. At this point, maybe I do need a dartboard. Here are this week's power rankings (last week in parenthesis). I'm sure this week will spark some interesting discussion.

1. Weber State (2)---Last week, won at Sacramento State 31-24. this week UC-Davis at home---What was strange was the Wildcats were supposed to win in a place that has been their bugaboo in recent years. They start off their season at home this weekend.

2. Southern Utah (4)---Last week, beat Northern Iowa (Mo Valley) at home 24-21, this week at Sacramento State---Opening week's thumping by Oregon is looking a bit better every week, just as long as the Thunderbirds continue to win. This week, they open the conference season on the road.

3. North Dakota (1)---Last week, lost at South Dakota (Mo Valley) 45-7, this week Montana State at home---After looking so good against the Valley at home the previous week, the Hawks looked pretty bad against the Valley on the road. Fortunately, they are at home for the conference opener.

4. Montana State (6)---Last week, bye, this week at North Dakota---With carnage flying all around them, the Bobcats took last week off after a close home loss to a top 5 team to refocus and get ready for the conference season. They head out on the road for a good tilt.

5. Montana (7)---Last week, beat Savannah State (MEAC) at home 56-3, this week Eastern Washington at home---Finally, the Grizzlies took care of business early on. Unfortunately, they lost their starting quarterback to a bad injury. They do start the conference season at home.

6. Northern Arizona (5)---Last week, bye, this week at Cal Poly---The Lumberjacks quiet bye week was interrupted with the news that their longtime coach will be gone after this season. How that plays out for the team remains to be seen. They hit the road to start.

7. Eastern Washington (8)---Last week, won at Fordham (Patriot) 56-21, this week at Montana---The Eagles finally emerged with an impressive road win to enter the conference slate. Time will tell if this signals the start of a good year. They have to go on the road to start the year.

8. UC-Davis (12)---Last week, won at Portland State 37-14, this week at Weber State---No one thought much of the Aggies win the previous week against San Diego. So, to prove it was no fluke, they throttled Portland State from beginning to end. They are hoping it continues.

9. Idaho State (13)---Last week, won at Nevada (Mountain West) 30-28, this week at Northern Colorado---The usual patsy, the Bengals are typically found at the bottom of the standings, but beating an FBS team is truly impressive. Maybe a sign of good things this year?

10. Portland State (3)---Last week, lost to UC-Davis at home 37-14, this week bye---After two great efforts against the FBS, the Vikings were pounded at home by a fellow Big Sky member. It is back to the drawing board as they take this weekend off to prepare for the start of the year.

11. Cal Poly (9)---Last week, bye, this week Northern Arizona at home---The Mustangs took last week off in order to regroup and prepare for the start to the conference season, and a good showing on the road in the last game should be a precursor of things to come.

12. Northern Colorado (10)---Last week, lost at Colorado (Pac-12) 41-21, this week Idaho State at home---The Bears took the fight to their big FBS brothers and finally succumbed in the end. Still, a good showing should lead into a good start to the season as they go back home.

13. Sacramento State (11)---Last week, lost to Weber State at home 31-24, this week Southern Utah at home---The Hornets looked tough and poised to come through against Weber State last week, only to come just short. They start the year at home in conference, ready to make some noise.

RECAP: When your 1st place team beat your last place team by only 7, the only way to go is 1-13 in a big pile.

Re: Big Sky Power Rankings 9-18

Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2017 8:57 pm
by SDHornet
JALMOND wrote: RECAP: When your 1st place team beat your last place team by only 7, the only way to go is 1-13 in a big pile.
Looking over the results I was curious how your power ranking was going to shake out. I think this sums it up quite well. The picture will start to get more clear from here on out.

Re: Big Sky Power Rankings 9-18

Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 5:39 am
by Wildcat Ryan
Don't think I've ever seen the conference this wide open since I started following Weber State and Big Sky Football.

Should make for an exciting season.

Re: Big Sky Power Rankings 9-18

Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 3:25 pm
by Thundernuts
What an interesting year so far, I do like seeing 2 Utah teams at 1 and 2 for now. I hope it stays that way but reverses roles. :thumb:

Re: Big Sky Power Rankings 9-18

Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:41 pm
by mtgrizfankb
I don't think the conf is as open as it seems. I think a few teams have played decent games but really other than MSU looking better And Weber I guess think it's only still the normal front runners. I think EWU, Weber, UM, UND And MSU are the only teams with a chance. I could be dead wrong but I imagine as the conf play starts you will start to see the weak fall back a ways

Re: Big Sky Power Rankings 9-18

Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 6:29 pm
by SuperHornet
Look, I know Incarnate Word is FCSINO, but a D-I win is a D-I win...at least in the Committee's minds, anyway....

Re: Big Sky Power Rankings 9-18

Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 6:46 pm
by kalm
mtgrizfankb wrote:I don't think the conf is as open as it seems. I think a few teams have played decent games but really other than MSU looking better And Weber I guess think it's only still the normal front runners. I think EWU, Weber, UM, UND And MSU are the only teams with a chance. I could be dead wrong but I imagine as the conf play starts you will start to see the weak fall back a ways
SUU has a dominate FCS road win, a win against UNI, a good quarterback, and a defense that held said Panthers to -14 yards rushing.

ISU has experience at QB, maybe the best linebacker in the conference, and an FBS win.

Davis has impressed as well.

Re: Big Sky Power Rankings 9-18

Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 7:15 pm
by JALMOND
kalm wrote:
mtgrizfankb wrote:I don't think the conf is as open as it seems. I think a few teams have played decent games but really other than MSU looking better And Weber I guess think it's only still the normal front runners. I think EWU, Weber, UM, UND And MSU are the only teams with a chance. I could be dead wrong but I imagine as the conf play starts you will start to see the weak fall back a ways
SUU has a dominate FCS road win, a win against UNI, a good quarterback, and a defense that held said Panthers to -14 yards rushing.

ISU has experience at QB, maybe the best linebacker in the conference, and an FBS win.

Davis has impressed as well.
Sac State has looked impressive to me in their losses to Idaho and Weber. Also, Northern Colorado gave Colorado a good, tough game last weekend. Don't forget Poly took UNI to overtime in Cedar Falls a couple weeks ago. Portland State did look good against BYU and Oregon State. And I know NAU has had some injuries, but as long as Cookus stays healthy, they are dangerous.

Re: Big Sky Power Rankings 9-18

Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 7:54 pm
by kalm
JALMOND wrote:
kalm wrote:
SUU has a dominate FCS road win, a win against UNI, a good quarterback, and a defense that held said Panthers to -14 yards rushing.

ISU has experience at QB, maybe the best linebacker in the conference, and an FBS win.

Davis has impressed as well.
Sac State has looked impressive to me in their losses to Idaho and Weber. Also, Northern Colorado gave Colorado a good, tough game last weekend. Don't forget Poly took UNI to overtime in Cedar Falls a couple weeks ago. Portland State did look good against BYU and Oregon State. And I know NAU has had some injuries, but as long as Cookus stays healthy, they are dangerous.
All true. I just ran out of motivation to write more... :ohno:

Re: Big Sky Power Rankings 9-18

Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2017 2:25 pm
by mtgrizfankb
kalm wrote:
mtgrizfankb wrote:I don't think the conf is as open as it seems. I think a few teams have played decent games but really other than MSU looking better And Weber I guess think it's only still the normal front runners. I think EWU, Weber, UM, UND And MSU are the only teams with a chance. I could be dead wrong but I imagine as the conf play starts you will start to see the weak fall back a ways
SUU has a dominate FCS road win, a win against UNI, a good quarterback, and a defense that held said Panthers to -14 yards rushing.

ISU has experience at QB, maybe the best linebacker in the conference, and an FBS win.

Davis has impressed as well.
OOC is so misleading is what I'm saying. UM dominated UNI last year too. Forced their QB all over. Just looked lights out. Then we sucked... so idk. ISU once again yes has looked good, but I don't think they really are. They average giving up 35+ in BSC play last year and even tho they can score...they just don't have a team to compete week and and out. Davis has impressed, once again tho they don't have th horses week in and out. 3-7 last year and didn't gain too much as far as talent. PSU also has looked worse than expected, so has CP and NAU. once the conf season comes we start to see what teams are actually together enough to win week in and out. I just don't see it from teams other than UND, Weber, EWU, UM and maybe MSU. I think similar to other years you will see the top 4 ish teams...maybe 5. Then a step down then 6-10. i could be dead wrong. Maybe it would be good if I was

Re: Big Sky Power Rankings 9-18

Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2017 6:18 pm
by Beardown
JALMOND wrote:This has certainly been a crazy start to the season in the Big Sky. Teams start looking good, then go bad. Teams that are supposed to be good look bad, then bounce back. Teams that are usually bad end up good. I've been doing these rankings since 2004 and I can't recall a weird start to the season as this one. At this point, maybe I do need a dartboard. Here are this week's power rankings (last week in parenthesis). I'm sure this week will spark some interesting discussion.

1. Weber State (2)---Last week, won at Sacramento State 31-24. this week UC-Davis at home---What was strange was the Wildcats were supposed to win in a place that has been their bugaboo in recent years. They start off their season at home this weekend.

2. Southern Utah (4)---Last week, beat Northern Iowa (Mo Valley) at home 24-21, this week at Sacramento State---Opening week's thumping by Oregon is looking a bit better every week, just as long as the Thunderbirds continue to win. This week, they open the conference season on the road.

3. North Dakota (1)---Last week, lost at South Dakota (Mo Valley) 45-7, this week Montana State at home---After looking so good against the Valley at home the previous week, the Hawks looked pretty bad against the Valley on the road. Fortunately, they are at home for the conference opener.

4. Montana State (6)---Last week, bye, this week at North Dakota---With carnage flying all around them, the Bobcats took last week off after a close home loss to a top 5 team to refocus and get ready for the conference season. They head out on the road for a good tilt.

5. Montana (7)---Last week, beat Savannah State (MEAC) at home 56-3, this week Eastern Washington at home---Finally, the Grizzlies took care of business early on. Unfortunately, they lost their starting quarterback to a bad injury. They do start the conference season at home.

6. Northern Arizona (5)---Last week, bye, this week at Cal Poly---The Lumberjacks quiet bye week was interrupted with the news that their longtime coach will be gone after this season. How that plays out for the team remains to be seen. They hit the road to start.

7. Eastern Washington (8)---Last week, won at Fordham (Patriot) 56-21, this week at Montana---The Eagles finally emerged with an impressive road win to enter the conference slate. Time will tell if this signals the start of a good year. They have to go on the road to start the year.

8. UC-Davis (12)---Last week, won at Portland State 37-14, this week at Weber State---No one thought much of the Aggies win the previous week against San Diego. So, to prove it was no fluke, they throttled Portland State from beginning to end. They are hoping it continues.

9. Idaho State (13)---Last week, won at Nevada (Mountain West) 30-28, this week at Northern Colorado---The usual patsy, the Bengals are typically found at the bottom of the standings, but beating an FBS team is truly impressive. Maybe a sign of good things this year?

10. Portland State (3)---Last week, lost to UC-Davis at home 37-14, this week bye---After two great efforts against the FBS, the Vikings were pounded at home by a fellow Big Sky member. It is back to the drawing board as they take this weekend off to prepare for the start of the year.

11. Cal Poly (9)---Last week, bye, this week Northern Arizona at home---The Mustangs took last week off in order to regroup and prepare for the start to the conference season, and a good showing on the road in the last game should be a precursor of things to come.

12. Northern Colorado (10)---Last week, lost at Colorado (Pac-12) 41-21, this week Idaho State at home---The Bears took the fight to their big FBS brothers and finally succumbed in the end. Still, a good showing should lead into a good start to the season as they go back home.

13. Sacramento State (11)---Last week, lost to Weber State at home 31-24, this week Southern Utah at home---The Hornets looked tough and poised to come through against Weber State last week, only to come just short. They start the year at home in conference, ready to make some noise.

RECAP: When your 1st place team beat your last place team by only 7, the only way to go is 1-13 in a big pile.
You're right about UNC. Only down 10 going in to the the 4th QT against the reigning Pac12 South Champs. Why so low?

Re: Big Sky Power Rankings 9-18

Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2017 9:04 pm
by Jjoey52
The year looks bright for the BSC. As a Bengal fan I was shocked and elated at last weeks win over Nevada. While I am not saying they are going to win the conference, a win like that can turn a season around. UNC played a very good FBS team tough last week, so both them and Bengals should be respectable this year, who wins this week? Who knows.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Re: Big Sky Power Rankings 9-18

Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2017 7:50 am
by Grizalltheway
Jjoey52 wrote:The year looks bright for the BSC. As a Bengal fan I was shocked and elated at last weeks win over Nevada. While I am not saying they are going to win the conference, a win like that can turn a season around. UNC played a very good FBS team tough last week, so both them and Bengals should be respectable this year, who wins this week? Who knows.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Don't forget the cautionary tale of the MSU boobcats, who beat a bad Colorado team and lost to D-II Chadron State the very next week. :nod:

Re: Big Sky Power Rankings 9-18

Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2017 10:29 am
by mtgrizfankb
Colorado is not very good or non of you follow FBS. They graduated a ton of talent and are playing a ton of young players this year. They are picked 4th in the south but after the first couple weeks have been criticized to maybe being the worst in the south and second worst in all of Pac-12. ND played Utah who may compete for the south championship and they played them well. This is why OOC is misleading , we always like to think teams are legit who really are not. 2 weeks I'm conf play and you should be able to see the top teams

Re: Big Sky Power Rankings 9-18

Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2017 11:32 am
by SuperHornet
Looking at this again, I'm finding that PSU drop to be rather cruel for an in-conference loss, and I'm STILL not buying EWU/UM being THAT far down or SUU/NAU being THAT high up....

Re: Big Sky Power Rankings 9-18

Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2017 2:07 pm
by JALMOND
SuperHornet wrote:Looking at this again, I'm finding that PSU drop to be rather cruel for an in-conference loss, and I'm STILL not buying EWU/UM being THAT far down or SUU/NAU being THAT high up....
For as long as I've been doing these, I thought people knew how I felt about home conference losses (even non-conference home conference losses). If you look sloppy at home and it results in a loss to a conference opponent, you most likely are going to drop. If you look good on the road against a conference foe, and you get the win, you most likely will move up. Some exceptions and other factors, of course, but usually this is the outcome.

Re: Big Sky Power Rankings 9-18

Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 4:51 pm
by SuperHornet
OK. Thank you for stating your rationale, JAL. I'm sure you're also concerned about appearing homerish (which you haven't really shown much of a propensity for). But conference games are always dicey....