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Sorry for being late with this. It's been an interesting last couple of days over here (personal crap, I hate it). It would seem that the conference race would be clear by now, but with not eveyone playing each other (MSU vs NAU ain't gonna happen until the playoffs, if then), the view may stay muddled. Here are this week's power rankings for the conference (once again, last week's ranking in parenthesis). All reflect my opinion and I'm sure we all will continue to have a great discussion, led of course by CPAlum (I'm gonna try to jump the shark this time again )

1. Montana State (1)---At this point in time a win on the road looks good in the eyes of the committee and the Bobcats put a dent in Sacramento State's playoff hopes last week, getting a hard win at the end. This week, they go home to face a strong Portland State team.

2. Northern Arizona (2)---After a couple weeks of playing in mud, so to speak, the Lumberjacks woke up and destroyed hapless Idaho State on the road. A good thing no doubt as this week they will need to speed some things up as they welcome Southern Utah.

3. Eastern Washington (3)---Last week, the Eagles shot down Cal Poly at home, gaining some momentum from the unexplainable loss at Southern Utah the week before. This week they stay home again and face UC-Davis.

4. Sacramento State (4)---The Hornets had Montana State on the ropes, but just could not finish and get another huge home win. This weekend finds them taking it off, preparing for their rival, UC-Davis, and also a possible playoff berth.

5. Cal Poly (5)---The Mustangs chances for the playoffs continued to spiral out of reach with a loss at Eastern Washington. Whether they have done enough to impress the committee remains to be seen as they have Northern Arizona on the horizon. First, though, they can't look past Idaho State.

6. Montana (7)---Some things may not look pretty, especially during a rebuilding year, but the Grizzlies got a win last weekend at Weber State. Still hoping to finish strong, they would love to bring their rival, Montana State, down a notch. They will have this week to prepare.

7. North Dakota (8)---The Dakotans met Southern Utah at their place and promptly brought them back to earth with a good home win. Still a strong chance to make a good start in the conference, they end their season at Northern Colorado in two week. This week, they rest.

8. Southern Utah (6)---Continuing their Jeckyl and Hyde traits, the Thunderbirds went into North Dakota with strong feelings of creeping up the conference standings, only to have any hope dashed inside that Dakota dome. Now to turn back into world beaters this week, they head to Northern Arizona.

9. Weber State (10)---The Wildcats have only won one game so far but they were right there last week against Montana. They should get some good wins even with the season winding down. This weekend they entertain Northern Colorado.

10. Northern Colorado (11)---The thing that seems to cure any ills the Bears may have during the season is a game at Portland State. This season was no different as they were able to rally and steal a win. This week, possibly another good shot at a win as they head over to Weber State.

11. Portland State (9)---The Vikings had everything going right against Northern Colorado in the first half, then went dead in the second and watched the Bears come back for the win. Things don't get easier as they go out to Montana State this weekend.

12. UC-Davis (12)---The Aggies took last week off to recover from their home loss the week before against Portland State and to prepare to shake it off, going up to play Eastern Washington on the road this weekend. Nothing coming easy for the Aggies.

13. Idaho State (13)---The Bengals hosted Northern Arizona this past weekend (big deal). They got trounced again by the Lumberjacks (big deal). This weekend they head out of Pocatello to play Cal Poly (big deal). Probably another trouncing (yawn).

RECAP: 1-3 setting the pace, 4 trying to keep up, 5 falling back, 6-8 by themselves, 9-12 farther back, 13 not even close.

I find it difficult to justify stating that a team with only two losses is "done." "Spiraling out of reach" borders on "done."

1. NAU
2. EWU
3. MSU
4. SAC
5. CP
6. UND
7. UM
8. SUU
9. WSU
10. UNC
11. PSU
12. UCD
13. ISU

Screamin_Eagle174 wrote: 1. NAU
2. EWU
3. MSU
4. SAC
5. CP
6. UND
7. UM
8. SUU
9. WSU
10. UNC
11. PSU
12. UCD
13. ISU

I'm calling BS here, SE. What's your agenda by placing NAU first?

Jalmond - Enjoy your weekly write-ups/rankings. Thanks.

mtjack wrote:

Screamin_Eagle174 wrote: 1. NAU
2. EWU
3. MSU
4. SAC
5. CP
6. UND
7. UM
8. SUU
9. WSU
10. UNC
11. PSU
12. UCD
13. ISU

I'm calling BS here, SE. What's your agenda by placing NAU first?

It's not BS. They're currently undefeated in conference play, and thrashed ISU as they should have. Don't worry, they'll drop in the next two weeks.

Screamin_Eagle174 wrote: It's not BS. They're currently undefeated in conference play, and thrashed ISU as they should have. Don't worry, they'll drop in the next two weeks.

There's that agenda I was looking for.

Screamin_Eagle174 wrote:1. NAU
2. EWU
3. MSU
4. SAC
5. CP
6. UND
7. UM
8. SUU
9. WSU
10. UNC
11. PSU
12. UCD
13. ISU

Hard to argue with this.

PSU. Strong.

My only problem with your picks Jalmond is that you have Montana over SUU and North Dakota, two teams that beat the Griz

Other than that nice work

Wildcat Ryan wrote:My only problem with your picks Jalmond is that you have Montana over SUU and North Dakota, two teams that beat the Griz

Other than that nice work

Do you have a problem with Weber over UCD, a team that blew them out?

5. Cal Poly (5)---The Mustangs chances for the playoffs continued to spiral out of reach with a loss at Eastern Washington. Whether they have done enough to impress the committee remains to be seen as they have Northern Arizona on the horizon. First, though, they can't look past Idaho State.


Playoffs spiral out of reach???? The Mustangs are 7-2 (5-1 BSC). Cal Poly controls their own fate. With a game they should win this week against Idaho State which would put them at 8-2 (6-1 BSC) and put them in a position to play for the Big Sky Championship the next week against NAU. Win both the last two games and they finish at 9-2 (7-1 BSC) and have at least a share of the Big Sky Championship. I like our chances.

SloStang wrote:5. Cal Poly (5)---The Mustangs chances for the playoffs continued to spiral out of reach with a loss at Eastern Washington. Whether they have done enough to impress the committee remains to be seen as they have Northern Arizona on the horizon. First, though, they can't look past Idaho State.


Playoffs spiral out of reach???? The Mustangs are 7-2 (5-1 BSC). Cal Poly controls their own fate. With a game they should win this week against Idaho State which would put them at 8-2 (6-1 BSC) and put them in a position to play for the Big Sky Championship the next week against NAU. Win both the last two games and they finish at 9-2 (7-1 BSC) and have at least a share of the Big Sky Championship. I like our chances.

If you lose to NAU then you may become a bubble team, by virtue of having lost 3 of your last 4 games one of which was to SAC which may also be a bubble team for the same at large spot, I agree that you would have the best record but the committee looks at SOS too and likes "hot" teams.

cats2506 wrote:

SloStang wrote:5. Cal Poly (5)---The Mustangs chances for the playoffs continued to spiral out of reach with a loss at Eastern Washington. Whether they have done enough to impress the committee remains to be seen as they have Northern Arizona on the horizon. First, though, they can't look past Idaho State.


Playoffs spiral out of reach???? The Mustangs are 7-2 (5-1 BSC). Cal Poly controls their own fate. With a game they should win this week against Idaho State which would put them at 8-2 (6-1 BSC) and put them in a position to play for the Big Sky Championship the next week against NAU. Win both the last two games and they finish at 9-2 (7-1 BSC) and have at least a share of the Big Sky Championship. I like our chances.

If you lose to NAU then you may become a bubble team, by virtue of having lost 3 of your last 4 games one of which was to SAC which may also be a bubble team for the same at large spot, I agree that you would have the best record but the committee looks at SOS too and likes "hot" teams.

That's the basis of the complaint, Cat. CP MIGHT be a bubble team IF they fail to beat NAU. Stang here (as I) is complaining that J's comment that CP's playoff hopes were for all practical purposes ALREADY down the tubes. As Stang notes, with two games left (one of which is against EVERYONE's wonder cure, ISU), the season is ANYTHING but over for CP, and they could EASILY still make some noise. They stand in NO danger (as far as I'm concerned) of getting snubbed, as does potential 9-2 Albany (which hasn't really played anyone of note, and lost the only potentially notable games they've played, YSU and Wagner). SOS is still pretty high for them (NAU/EWU/Sac in the last half of the season, with a FBS win to boot).

Brock Landers wrote:

Wildcat Ryan wrote:My only problem with your picks Jalmond is that you have Montana over SUU and North Dakota, two teams that beat the Griz

Other than that nice work

Do you have a problem with Weber over UCD, a team that blew them out?

Actually yeah, the only team Weber should be ahead of in the rankings is Idaho State

Jalmond no...you haven't jumped the shark...I may have

I wouldn't change much here and I'm not going to go too crazy with providing the empirical evidence to support this but I'd put the top 6 like this...my apologies to the bottom 7 but I'm just not paying that much attention unless you are upsetting one of the teams below.

EWU

because they are the best team in the conference.

NAU

because nobody has proven that they are not the best team in the conference but then again they haven't played the best either.

MSU

because despite popular opinion, they have the weakest schedule in the conference. When you compare EWU's schedule to MSU's there is simply no comparison. They beat Sac and that is the big one for them as of now.

CP

because I'm biased and I feel like Cal Poly would beat Sac in SLO and further would beat them on a neutral site.....They could be #2 or #3 by year's end and may still prove better than NAU head to head. "Playoff hopes spiraling out of reach"??? pa leese. They will finish 9-2 or 8-3...in reach in either event.

Sac

because this is an extremely well coached team that is capable of playing over their head. As far as the CP/Sac debate that may ensue. Sac beat Cal Poly at home.....they also got beat at home by UND and struggled a bit against Weber and SUU. The team that beat Poly is better than Cal Poly; the team that lost at home to UND is not. Will the real Sac St please stand up?


Montana

because they are Montana....

SloStang wrote:5. Cal Poly (5)---The Mustangs chances for the playoffs continued to spiral out of reach with a loss at Eastern Washington. Whether they have done enough to impress the committee remains to be seen as they have Northern Arizona on the horizon. First, though, they can't look past Idaho State.


Playoffs spiral out of reach???? The Mustangs are 7-2 (5-1 BSC). Cal Poly controls their own fate. With a game they should win this week against Idaho State which would put them at 8-2 (6-1 BSC) and put them in a position to play for the Big Sky Championship the next week against NAU. Win both the last two games and they finish at 9-2 (7-1 BSC) and have at least a share of the Big Sky Championship. I like our chances.

I love how people twist my words around. I do stand by my "spiral out of reach" comment about Poly. In the last two weeks, the Mustangs' chances of making the playoffs have gone from "sure bet" to "maybe", putting them in the unenviable task of having to win at NAU to be assured of the playoffs. It's ironic that Walsh's first year back in the Big Sky bears some resemblance to the last year he was here. We all here think that the Big Sky should get five teams in, but recent years have shown that the committee usually will take one less team from the Big Sky to give an easy first round game to the CAA or SoCon champ. If Poly can't beat NAU, it may come down to either Poly or Sac State. Remind Walsh about 2006 when Montana State went to the playoffs and Portland State stayed home and he'll tell you how valuable the committee looks at head to head competition, right or wrong.

JALMOND wrote:

SloStang wrote:5. Cal Poly (5)---The Mustangs chances for the playoffs continued to spiral out of reach with a loss at Eastern Washington. Whether they have done enough to impress the committee remains to be seen as they have Northern Arizona on the horizon. First, though, they can't look past Idaho State.


Playoffs spiral out of reach???? The Mustangs are 7-2 (5-1 BSC). Cal Poly controls their own fate. With a game they should win this week against Idaho State which would put them at 8-2 (6-1 BSC) and put them in a position to play for the Big Sky Championship the next week against NAU. Win both the last two games and they finish at 9-2 (7-1 BSC) and have at least a share of the Big Sky Championship. I like our chances.

I love how people twist my words around. I do stand by my "spiral out of reach" comment about Poly. In the last two weeks, the Mustangs' chances of making the playoffs have gone from "sure bet" to "maybe", putting them in the unenviable task of having to win at NAU to be assured of the playoffs. It's ironic that Walsh's first year back in the Big Sky bears some resemblance to the last year he was here. We all here think that the Big Sky should get five teams in, but recent years have shown that the committee usually will take one less team from the Big Sky to give an easy first round game to the CAA or SoCon champ. If Poly can't beat NAU, it may come down to either Poly or Sac State. Remind Walsh about 2006 when Montana State went to the playoffs and Portland State stayed home and he'll tell you how valuable the committee looks at head to head competition, right or wrong.

If quoting your words is twisting them then I am guilty. Cal Poly's playoffs chance may have gone from a sure thing to they still have some work to do, but I would not say they continue to spiral out of reach. They are still very reachable. If they lose this weekend then I think you could say they continue to spiral, but I don't see that happening.

CPAlum wrote: CP

because I'm biased and I feel like Cal Poly would beat Sac in SLO and further would beat them on a neutral site.....They could be #2 or #3 by year's end and may still prove better than NAU head to head. "Playoff hopes spiraling out of reach"??? pa leese. They will finish 9-2 or 8-3...in reach in either event.

I wouldn't quite go that far...

SDHornet wrote:

CPAlum wrote: CP

because I'm biased and I feel like Cal Poly would beat Sac in SLO and further would beat them on a neutral site.....They could be #2 or #3 by year's end and may still prove better than NAU head to head. "Playoff hopes spiraling out of reach"??? pa leese. They will finish 9-2 or 8-3...in reach in either event.

I wouldn't quite go that far...

Of course you wouldn't

CPAlum wrote:

SDHornet wrote: I wouldn't quite go that far...

Of course you wouldn't

Well played sir, well played.