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Now that the preconference non conference brouha is over for most teams, we can all move on to the conference schedule (except for Idaho State of course). Maybe now we can get most of the questions answered as well. Here are this week's power rankings (last week). As usual, all are my opinions only. Should make for some great discussions.

1. Montana State (1)---So the Bobcats are not looking as sharp as maybe they should, but they are still winning, having knocked off a top 25 team in Stephen F Austin last week. Even after going undefeated, there is still room for improvement. They start conference play at home this weekend against Northern Colorado.

2. Eastern Washington (2)---Having earned a much needed weekend off after going 1-1 on the Palouse, the Eagles are hoping to start conference play with a win. They head on the road to Weber State this weekend, hoping to continue the good play.

3. Cal Poly (4)---Going up in level as well as altitude did not bother the Mustangs as they were able to get a win against the FBS Wyoming team. A great way to gain momentum heading into their first season as a Big Sky member. They entertain UC-Davis this weekend.

4. Montana (3)---More fallout from the offseason seems to want to keep coming back, yet the Grizzlies still are playing great football. This weekend's victim was from the east coast in Liberty. Now the start of the conference season and playing host to Northern Arizona.

5. Northern Arizona (5)---The Lumberjacks were able to follow up their win over FBS UNLV with a good showing over the DII's Fort Lewis team. Now they have to start conference play at Montana, a team they have not beaten anywhere in quite a long time.

6. North Dakota (7)---This just in, the former Sioux have a potent offense. Combine that with a defense that does just enough and you have a great team. Last week they just fell short to FBS San Diego State. This weekend they start on the road against Sacramento State.

7. Sacramento State (6)---The Hornet fan base is hoping this will not be like last year, yet after a strong win against the Pac-12, they struggled to a win over an improved Northern Colorado squad. They can eliminate those thoughts of doubt with a win at home this weekend over a strong North Dakota team.

8. Southern Utah (8)---So the Thunderbirds got the win as expected last week over a struggling DII team in New Mexico Highlands. What was not expected was the difficulty they had in securing the win. Things need to get better as they start conference play on the road against Portland State.

9. Idaho State (11)---A week off for the Bengals to fully develop their potent passing attack. How far it will take them remains to be seen. Conference play looms on the horizon, but first they take that passing attack to FBS Nebraska.

10. Weber State (10)---A game against McNeese State marked a return for the Wildcats to the FCS, but the same result greeted them. They enter conference play as the only team left not to win a game yet. They get a chance to fix that as they host Eastern Washington this weekend.

11. Portland State (9)---Pretty sad performance by the Vikings against the FBS Washington team as the game was over in the second quarter. Too early to quit on the season, they prepare to host Southern Utah this weekend in the conference opener.

12. UC-Davis (12)---The Aggies defense is pretty stingy, but one would think they could win a game by holding South Dakota State to just 12 points. But it could not be done and now they start conference play on the road at former Great West foe Cal Poly.

13. Northern Colorado (13)---Believe it, this Bears team has improved, throwing a scare into a Sacramento State team fresh off a win at Pac-12 Colorado. However, they still have not won a conference game in over two years. Perhaps they can get it this week, on the road at Montana State.

JALMOND wrote: 6. North Dakota (7)---This just in, the former Sioux have a potent offense. Combine that with a defense that does just enough and you have a great team. Last week they just fell short to FBS San Diego State. This weekend they start on the road against Sacramento State.

Disagree.

That defense has done nothing anywhere close to "enough"..............................

I don't understand how a bye week justifies bumping up ISU. I know PSU crapped out against the Doggies, but to jump ISU over PSU AND a WSU team that was actually fairly decent against an upper-middle-class FCS squad hardly seems justifiable.

But that's the worst of an otherwise pretty good power ranking. Good job as per usual, JALMOND.

JALMOND wrote:13. Northern Colorado (13)---Believe it, this Bears team has improved, throwing a scare into a Sacramento State team fresh off a win at Pac-12 Colorado. However, they still have not won a conference game in over two years. Perhaps they can get it this week, on the road at Montana State.

Where is everyone seeing this "improvement" from the Bears? I really don't seeing us being any better than last season, just lucky that Colorado Mesa was far worse than any team we played in 2011. In fact, we may be worse than last year and I fully expect MSU to beat us by 5 TDs or more.

If anyone's seeing something I've missed, feel free to let me know.

Not many arguments here aside from the fact that I think UND and Sac State should be swapped. After all they did lose and we did win. Also to coat-tail on what free said, UNC did not score an offensive touchdown until the 4th quarter against us. Sure the score wasn't a blow out and sure our offense tripped over their dicks for 2.5 quarters but the game was never in question. UNC did not move the ball until we went soft zone in the 4th quarter with a 28-10 lead.

Additionally, I'm not so sure I'd consider NMHU as still "struggling." I know they had that huge losing streak that my buddy John Fassel (my teammate at UOP before he transferred to Weber) broke during his short stint as their HC (hired at age 29) before he was lured to the Ravens (now with the Rams after overseeing Lechler/Janikowski for several years). But even with their loss to SUU, they are 2-1, with wins over E New Mexico (42-14) and Ft Lewis (50-0). Their first test will be this week against Colorado Mines (3-0, all huge wins), who OUGHT to be ranked. In fact, the Cowboys may not be challenged after that until the next to last week of the season, when they face current #4 CSU-Pueblo. Adams St (Wk 7) and Chadron St (Wk 8) are possibilities, but the rest of NMHU's schedule is utterly HORRIBLE. Having gone from one win in 2010 to four last year, the Cowboys may well be on the verge of making some noise in D-II within the next year or two.

SuperHornet wrote:Additionally, I'm not so sure I'd consider NMHU as still "struggling." I know they had that huge losing streak that my buddy John Fassel (my teammate at UOP before he transferred to Weber) broke during his short stint as their HC (hired at age 29) before he was lured to the Ravens (now with the Rams after overseeing Lechler/Janikowski for several years). But even with their loss to SUU, they are 2-1, with wins over E New Mexico (42-14) and Ft Lewis (50-0). Their first test will be this week against Colorado Mines (3-0, all huge wins), who OUGHT to be ranked. In fact, the Cowboys may not be challenged after that until the next to last week of the season, when they face current #4 CSU-Pueblo. Adams St (Wk 7) and Chadron St (Wk 8) are possibilities, but the rest of NMHU's schedule is utterly HORRIBLE. Having gone from one win in 2010 to four last year, the Cowboys may well be on the verge of making some noise in D-II within the next year or two.

Why do you posess this wealth of useless knowledge, but had no idea what state McNeese was in? Inquiring minds want to know.

JALMOND wrote: 8. Southern Utah (8)---So the Thunderbirds got the win as expected last week over a struggling DII team in New Mexico Highlands. What was not expected was the difficulty they had in securing the win. Things need to get better as they start conference play on the road against Portland State.

The "difficulty" that we experienced was two unlucky picks that were returned for touchdowns and a slow start in 1st quarter. I never thought I would agree with hornet but the Cowboys do have a pretty decent looking team this season. Other then that we played quite well but agree we cannot play as sloppy as we did against the Cowboys, looking forward to our first Big Sky matchup vs Portland State

BTW our brand new turf field looks sick! And just got news today I will be watching my T-Birds take on the Griz in Missoula

SDHornet wrote:Not many arguments here aside from the fact that I think UND and Sac State should be swapped. After all they did lose and we did win. Also to coat-tail on what free said, UNC did not score an offensive touchdown until the 4th quarter against us. Sure the score wasn't a blow out and sure our offense tripped over their dicks for 2.5 quarters but the game was never in question. UNC did not move the ball until we went soft zone in the 4th quarter with a 28-10 lead.

Disagree. UND put up 41 points, only losing by a score against FAR superior competition, and on the road, whereas Sac almost let a weak UNC team come back on them.

SuperHornet wrote:I don't understand how a bye week justifies bumping up ISU. I know PSU crapped out against the Doggies, but to jump ISU over PSU AND a WSU team that was actually fairly decent against an upper-middle-class FCS squad hardly seems justifiable.

But that's the worst of an otherwise pretty good power ranking. Good job as per usual, JALMOND.

Please explain to me how WSU did fairly decent against McNeese? Weber was dominated the whole way through, and scored 2 TDs in garbage time when McNeese had backups in.

SuperHornet wrote:Additionally, I'm not so sure I'd consider NMHU as still "struggling." I know they had that huge losing streak that my buddy John Fassel (my teammate at UOP before he transferred to Weber) broke during his short stint as their HC (hired at age 29) before he was lured to the Ravens (now with the Rams after overseeing Lechler/Janikowski for several years). But even with their loss to SUU, they are 2-1, with wins over E New Mexico (42-14) and Ft Lewis (50-0). Their first test will be this week against Colorado Mines (3-0, all huge wins), who OUGHT to be ranked. In fact, the Cowboys may not be challenged after that until the next to last week of the season, when they face current #4 CSU-Pueblo. Adams St (Wk 7) and Chadron St (Wk 8) are possibilities, but the rest of NMHU's schedule is utterly HORRIBLE. Having gone from one win in 2010 to four last year, the Cowboys may well be on the verge of making some noise in D-II within the next year or two.

I agree.

BTW, Colorado Mines is ranked 18th in the AFCA Coaches poll.

Screamin_Eagle174 wrote:

SDHornet wrote:Not many arguments here aside from the fact that I think UND and Sac State should be swapped. After all they did lose and we did win. Also to coat-tail on what free said, UNC did not score an offensive touchdown until the 4th quarter against us. Sure the score wasn't a blow out and sure our offense tripped over their dicks for 2.5 quarters but the game was never in question. UNC did not move the ball until we went soft zone in the 4th quarter with a 28-10 lead.

Disagree. UND put up 41 points, only losing by a score against FAR superior competition, and on the road, whereas Sac almost let a weak UNC team come back on them.

SDSU is a shell of its former self. Lindley and Hillman (the lions share of their offense that past 2+ years) are gone. The magic Hoke brought to SDSU is withering away and they put up 49 on UND.

As far as UNC goes, a 4th quarter TD put them within 2 possessions. What a comeback.

Screamin_Eagle174 wrote:

SuperHornet wrote:I don't understand how a bye week justifies bumping up ISU. I know PSU crapped out against the Doggies, but to jump ISU over PSU AND a WSU team that was actually fairly decent against an upper-middle-class FCS squad hardly seems justifiable.

But that's the worst of an otherwise pretty good power ranking. Good job as per usual, JALMOND.

Please explain to me how WSU did fairly decent against McNeese? Weber was dominated the whole way through, and scored 2 TDs in garbage time when McNeese had backups in.

So now you are discounting late TD's? What's it going to be. Pick a side please.

SDHornet wrote:

Screamin_Eagle174 wrote:
Please explain to me how WSU did fairly decent against McNeese? Weber was dominated the whole way through, and scored 2 TDs in garbage time when McNeese had backups in.

So now you are discounting late TD's? What's it going to be. Pick a side please.

UNC scored against your starters. Weber scored against McNeese's backups. Big difference. Go back to your siesta.

SDHornet wrote:

Screamin_Eagle174 wrote:
Please explain to me how WSU did fairly decent against McNeese? Weber was dominated the whole way through, and scored 2 TDs in garbage time when McNeese had backups in.

So now you are discounting late TD's? What's it going to be. Pick a side please.

Like I said after our 2 scores against UW (and Carroll's late score against us)...If a team scores late when no one is paying much attention, does it really count?