Championship Subdivision Football | FCS Football | Stadiums | Blogs | Forums

A lot of fluff blowing around out west last weekend and it had nothing to do with the various storms around. Not the best performance for anyone in the conference. Interesting standings as Sacramento State and UC-Davis are near the top and Montana and North Dakota are near the bottom. Parity may be good, but it sure looks funny. Here are this week's power rankings (last week's rankings in parenthesis). This may set up for some great discussion. All are my opinion only. Have at it.

1. Eastern Washington (1)---In a great battle between two top teams, the Eagles gave Sam Houston State quite a tussle before coming up on the losing end. Fortunate because of the crazy week that the Eagles did not start their conference schedule until this week when they host Weber State. After their tough start, a breather is welcomed, but after last week's conference games, nothing is a breather.

2. Montana (2)---After looking like the world beaters they have been in the past, the Grizzlies headed down the road to Northern Arizona and looked downright awful. Where everything went right against North Dakota, everything went wrong against the Lumberjacks. This week they get a chance to right the ship as they play their home conference opener against Portland State.

3. Montana State (4)---The Bobcats fortunes (or misfortunes) seem to hang on one person and last week marked the return of their star quarterback and a return to their high powered offense, which in turn resulted in a good road win at North Dakota. Now that their train is back on track, they welcome Northern Arizona for their conference home opener.

4. Cal Poly (3)---The Mustangs headed on the road for an early game at Portland State and rallied for a win in the second half. Their running game and their defense seemed poised to carry them this season. This week, they step out of conference and welcome the Ivy League, Yale, to their home field. A rare opportunity for a Big Sky vs Ivy match.

5. Northern Arizona (8)---After making it seem like they were playing just to get by inferior opponents, the Lumberjacks welcomed a more formidable opponent in Montana and promptly put them away. Have they found their offense to go with their defense or was this just one game. They get to see if they can do it on the road as they head up to Montana State.

6. Portland State (6)---The Vikings welcomed Cal Poly last week on a short week for them and gave the Mustangs a good game before running out of gas in the second half. Now they get to head out on the road to the unfriendly confines of Montana. They have won there before, a long time ago, and this will be tough.

7. Southern Utah (7)---The Thunderbirds had quite the game on their hands last week at Northern Colorado, finally pulling it out near the end. They at least got the win and have a chance to make it two conference wins in a row, welcoming UC-Davis to their home turf. Possible chance to make a statement on the conference level.

8. North Dakota (5)---This was the year that the former Sioux were supposed to make some noise within the conference. However that is beginning to wane after being blown out at home to Montana State on the heals of another blowout against Montana. Will things start to turn around for them? It can start this weekend when they visit Idaho State.

9. Sacramento State (11)---The Hornets may be coming around after a perplexing start. This past weekend they drubbed Weber State on the road for an impressive and surprising win. Can it continue? This weekend they bring on Northern Colorado to their nest. Another win and people can forget their strange start.

10. UC-Davis (13)---Maybe a slight advantage for the Aggies, starting their season with a home win against Idaho State. Or maybe a chance to improve on this otherwise rebuilding season. Whichever, they did start the conference season with a win. This week, Southern Utah comes calling.

11. Northern Colorado (9)---The Bears gave Southern Utah quite a game at home last week before coming up short at the end. A bit disappointing as they were expecting better things this year. They get a chance to get things going this weekend as they head on the road to surprising Sacramento State. They need a win somehow.

12. Weber State (10)---After a great opening season win, the Wildcats have been on a spiral downhill, culminating in last week's stunning loss at home to struggling Sacramento State. Things can't get much worse, or could they. Looking for a win, they go on the road to face Eastern Washington. A daunting task, but they did scare the Eagles last year.

13. Idaho State (12)---The Bengals can beat DII, that is for sure. But playing above that is where they seem to have problems. Last week, they were at UC-Davis and could not get things going. They need to find some way to play in the conference. This week, they bring in struggling North Dakota to their friendly dome. Maybe a chance to create some thunder.

RECAP: 1-2 still out front, 3-5 gaining, 6 treading water, 7-8 a bit behind, 9-13 bringing up the rear.

Top 4 DEFINITELY correct.

I'd bump PSU in front of NAU. Sac in front of UND. Weber in front of UNC. ISU DEFINITELY brings up the rear.

Speaking of UND: I was pretty sure all that pre-season hype was overblown, but you're right about one thing, JAL: playing ISU is enough medicine to right ANYONE's ship. I'm not sure the Sioux' season will turn around based on this game alone, but it certainly comes at a good time for them.

Overall, a pretty good lineup as per usual, JAL. Good job.

NAU and Montana should at least be T3, followed by Poly, SUU, and PSU. SUU's D1 wins might not be impressive but they were all on the road.

I think one more week and we will start to get a clearer picture. I am real interested in the PSU/UM game. UC Davis had a 10-7 4th quarter lead on NAU (lost the game on two pick 6's) and were hammered by PSU 41-10. I think PSU and Davis are better than people think.

13 teams in a conference. That's just ridiculous.

UM #2 yep this power poll is crap. UM #5-6 Cal Poly #2, MSU #3, obviously UNA is better #4, and I think PSU, SUU and UM are tied for #5.

89Hen wrote:13 teams in a conference. That's just ridiculous.

89Hen wrote:13 teams in a conference. That's just ridiculous.

Actually I think only 6 of them count as real teams.

Sapper wrote:UM #2 yep this power poll is crap. UM #5-6 Cal Poly #2, MSU #3, obviously UNA is better #4, and I think PSU, SUU and UM are tied for #5.

Troll harder, jackass.

Anyone that rates Montana higher than NAU is really clueless. I understand SH, but Jalmond?

dbackjon wrote:Anyone that rates Montana higher than NAU is really clueless. I understand SH, but Jalmond?

At least I'm not rating NAU worse than ISU/UND/UNC....

Sapper wrote:UM #2 yep this power poll is crap. UM #5-6 Cal Poly #2, MSU #3, obviously UNA is better #4, and I think PSU, SUU and UM are tied for #5.

North Alabama?

dbackjon wrote:Anyone that rates Montana higher than NAU is really clueless. I understand SH, but Jalmond?

You banking on 14 points from your defense every weekend?

AZGrizFan wrote:

dbackjon wrote:Anyone that rates Montana higher than NAU is really clueless. I understand SH, but Jalmond?

You banking on 14 points from your defense every weekend?

Well, they do have 5 defensive TDs in 4 games (3 FCS games).

AZGrizFan wrote:

dbackjon wrote:Anyone that rates Montana higher than NAU is really clueless. I understand SH, but Jalmond?

You banking on 14 points from your defense every weekend?

They would have won last week without those.

dbackjon wrote:Anyone that rates Montana higher than NAU is really clueless. I understand SH, but Jalmond?

The Grizzlies first bad game they've played all year. Put them on a neutral field, the outcome might be different. MSU, CP and NAU all pretty equal, even last week. MSU great road win, CP good road win, NAU great home win. I'll put conference road wins ahead of home wins for equal teams. Beating Montana at home is something, beating MSU with McGhee on the road, that is something else.

dbackjon wrote:Anyone that rates Montana higher than NAU is really clueless. I understand SH, but Jalmond?

Also no arguments with J's rankings. However I'd drop UM due to their no-show. Hard to move a defenseless CP above them though.

JALMOND wrote:

dbackjon wrote:Anyone that rates Montana higher than NAU is really clueless. I understand SH, but Jalmond?

The Grizzlies first bad game they've played all year. Put them on a neutral field, the outcome might be different. MSU, CP and NAU all pretty equal, even last week. MSU great road win, CP good road win, NAU great home win. I'll put conference road wins ahead of home wins for equal teams. Beating Montana at home is something, beating MSU with McGhee on the road, that is something else.

It was a total beat down. NAU dominated entire game. Home is worth 3-5 points. Don't give me this "wait until MSU game crap. NAU demonstrated they are far better than Montana

dbackjon wrote:

JALMOND wrote:
The Grizzlies first bad game they've played all year. Put them on a neutral field, the outcome might be different. MSU, CP and NAU all pretty equal, even last week. MSU great road win, CP good road win, NAU great home win. I'll put conference road wins ahead of home wins for equal teams. Beating Montana at home is something, beating MSU with McGhee on the road, that is something else.

It was a total beat down. NAU dominated entire game. Home is worth 3-5 points. Don't give me this "wait until MSU game crap. NAU demonstrated they are far better than Montana

Hard to disagree with this.

dbackjon wrote:It was a total beat down. NAU dominated entire game. Home is worth 3-5 points. Don't give me this "wait until MSU game crap. NAU demonstrated they are far better than Montana

It's because JALMOND, just like the rest of us, knows how NAU's season is gonna end up.

SDHornet wrote:

dbackjon wrote:Anyone that rates Montana higher than NAU is really clueless. I understand SH, but Jalmond?

Also no arguments with J's rankings. However I'd drop UM due to their no-show. Hard to move a defenseless CP above them though.

I'm not sure I'd move them ahead of Montana anyway but I think all the talk of Cal Poly's weak defense is premature. I think time will show that Portland State has a hell of an offense and I think folks forget who Cal Poly has played.......Alabama's defense yielded similar numbers to Colorado St.......and Fresno State is currently ranked at about 20th in the country; Derek Carr will be getting Heisman hype by seasons end.

I'm not saying they are good...what I am saying is that it's a bit hard to judge right now. Lets see what PSU hangs on Montana this weekend......

CPAlum wrote:

SDHornet wrote:

Also no arguments with J's rankings. However I'd drop UM due to their no-show. Hard to move a defenseless CP above them though.

I'm not sure I'd move them ahead of Montana anyway but I think all the talk of Cal Poly's weak defense is premature. I think time will show that Portland State has a hell of an offense and I think folks forget who Cal Poly has played.......Alabama's defense yielded similar numbers to Colorado St.......and Fresno State is currently ranked at about 20th in the country; Derek Carr will be getting Heisman hype by seasons end.

I'm not saying they are good...what I am saying is that it's a bit hard to judge right now. Lets see what PSU hangs on Montana this weekend......

I agree. Kind of funny SDHornet is calling Cal Poly defenseless when Sac State gave up 56 points and 599 yards to a NAIA team. Cal Poly held Fresno State's offense to a season low of 370 yards and 27 points (14 points were on punt returns). Cal Poly's D held PSU's offense to their lowest yardage this season (487 yards). PSU had over 550 yards of offense in their game against Cal and averaged over 600 yards for the season prior to playing Cal Poly. Are they a top D? Still too early to say, but I think it is safe to say they are not defenseless.

SloStang wrote:

CPAlum wrote:

I'm not sure I'd move them ahead of Montana anyway but I think all the talk of Cal Poly's weak defense is premature. I think time will show that Portland State has a hell of an offense and I think folks forget who Cal Poly has played.......Alabama's defense yielded similar numbers to Colorado St.......and Fresno State is currently ranked at about 20th in the country; Derek Carr will be getting Heisman hype by seasons end.

I'm not saying they are good...what I am saying is that it's a bit hard to judge right now. Lets see what PSU hangs on Montana this weekend......

I agree. Kind of funny SDHornet is calling Cal Poly defenseless when Sac State gave up 56 points and 599 yards to a NAIA team. Cal Poly held Fresno State's offense to a season low of 370 yards and 27 points (14 points were on punt returns). Cal Poly's D held PSU's offense to their lowest yardage this season (487 yards). PSU had over 550 yards of offense in their game against Cal and averaged over 600 yards for the season prior to playing Cal Poly. Are they a top D? Still too early to say, but I think it is safe to say they are not defenseless.

Not to mention you are returning most of the starters from one of the only teams that's been able to slow SHSU down over the past couple years.

Mvemjsunpx wrote:

dbackjon wrote:It was a total beat down. NAU dominated entire game. Home is worth 3-5 points. Don't give me this "wait until MSU game crap. NAU demonstrated they are far better than Montana

It's because JALMOND, just like the rest of us, knows how NAU's season is gonna end up.

dbackjon wrote:

JALMOND wrote:
The Grizzlies first bad game they've played all year. Put them on a neutral field, the outcome might be different. MSU, CP and NAU all pretty equal, even last week. MSU great road win, CP good road win, NAU great home win. I'll put conference road wins ahead of home wins for equal teams. Beating Montana at home is something, beating MSU with McGhee on the road, that is something else.

It was a total beat down. NAU dominated entire game. Home is worth 3-5 points. Don't give me this "wait until MSU game crap. NAU demonstrated they are far better than Montana

Yep, just like Weber was FAR better than us in '08, Sac was FAR better in '11...you get the idea.