Big Sky Power Rankings 9-14

[JALMOND]

With the second week commencing, the Big Sky is shaping up to be a wide open, yet highly competitive conference this season with quite a few teams believing they have a shot at the conference title. Yes it is early but the playoffs could have quite a Big Sky feel to them. Here are this week's power rankings (last week in parenthesis). All are my opinion only and all open for discussion.

1. Cal Poly (2)---last week, lost at Pac-12 Arizona State 35-21, this week at Northern Iowa (Mo Valley)---When you can do one thing great, to the point that everyone knows what you are doing, yet they still can't stop it, you will win a bunch of games. The Mustangs performance showed they can play.

2. Montana (3)---last week, bye, this week at Liberty (Big South)---The Grizzlies took a quick rest last weekend to recover from their first home games and also to prepare for a rare trip back east, facing a strong Liberty team.

3. Montana State (4)---last week, bye, this week at Eastern Washington---The Bobcats also took last week off but will get back in the swing of things, playing one of those non-conference, conference games in a definite hostile field.

4. Eastern Washington (1)---last week, lost at Northern Iowa (Mo Valley) 38-35, this week, home against Montana State---Don't look now but the Eagles are 0-2, one loss was expected and one was thought to be a slight possibility. They need to be ready this weekend as they don't want to start 0-3.

5. Northern Arizona (5)---last week beat DII New Mexico Highlands 41-5, this week at Pac-12 Arizona---The Lumberjacks flushed a DII last weekend and now seek to continue the conference's great showing against the Pac-12 so far. The bar has been raised so they need a good game.

6. Portland State (8)---last week, beat Idaho State 34-14, this week, bye---The Vikings are off this weekend after their two impressive road wins over Washington State and Idaho State have totally jumpstarted this season.

7. North Dakota (7)---last week, beat Drake (Pioneer) at home 21-18, this week at North Dakota State (Mo Valley)---The Dakotas looked great as they should have early against Drake, then somehow lost momentum and almost the game. In the battle for North Dakota, their defense needs to play a whole game.

8. Idaho State (6)---last week lost at home to Portland State 34-14, this week at Boise State (Mountain West)---This year, what was supposed to be a breakout year for the Bengals, took a serious hit when the Bengals didn't come to play. All of a sudden, a tough road is ahead, starting with an angry Boise State.

9. Southern Utah (9)---last week lost at South Dakota State (Mo Valley) 55-10, this week Northern Colorado at home---A feel good game against the FBS quickly faded away in the next contest against a solid South Dakota State team. They should be able to recover this weekend.

10. Sacramento State (10)---last week lost at Pac-12 Washington 49-0, this week at Weber State---In any other year, just showing up and playing the Pac-12 would be enough to not lose too much ground. But given that the conference has looked pretty good against the Pac-12 does not bode well for the Hornets.

11. Weber State (11)---last week lost at North Dakota State (Mo Valley) 41-14, this week Sacramento State at home---The Wildcats had the misfortune of facing the defending national champions after a hard loss to Montana and a bye week to think about it. Their defense will have to bounce back this weekend.

12. UC-Davis (12)---last week, lost at home to South Dakota (Mo Valley) 27-17, this week at Hawaii (Mountain West)---The Aggies still struggling on offense and the defense is trying to keep them within games. That in itself may be a tall order if they want something other than a short vacation.

13. Northern Colorado (13)---last week, won at Houston Baptist 34-10, this week at Southern Utah---The Bears now sit at 2-0 with a strong showing last weekend. They still have not played anyone at the skill level they will see in conference so reaching 3-0 may be a stretch.

RECAP: 1-6 in a bunch at the top, 7-8 right there as well, 9-13 off the pace.

[Mvemjsunpx]

NAU above PSU?

[AZGrizFan]

NAU above PSU?

My sentiments exactly.

[JALMOND]

NAU above PSU?

Maybe a dead heat. NAU had a strong showing against a DII like they should. I would have had a tough time bringing them down a spot. And I can't really justify thinking the Viks are top 5 in the conference yet. I have been told from time to time that I'm tougher on PSU than others. If the Jacks don't look as good against Arizona as the conference as a whole has looked against the Pac-12, maybe I'll rethink it next week.

[SuperHornet]

Not sure I like two idlers jumping over EWU.

Sac's probably about right for now. I would have had them higher after last week, but that egg we laid THIS week justifiably drops us to about where Jal has us now.

I agree with AZ and Venus on the placement of PSU. The Vikes have a FBS win and knocked off last year's pretenders, while NAU had to deal with a D-II that has a history of cr@p.

My rankings:

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

[SDHornet]

Off topic but I didn't wanna start a new thread:

So is there a replay function for the online BigSkyTV (or whatever it's called now)? Or did they do away with that? Seems like the new platform doesn't carry it. Anyone know?

[kalm]

Not sure I like two idlers jumping over EWU.

Sac's probably about right for now. I would have had them higher after last week, but that egg we laid THIS week justifiably drops us to about where Jal has us now.

I agree with AZ and Venus on the placement of PSU. The Vikes have a FBS win and knocked off last year's pretenders, while NAU had to deal with a D-II that has a history of cr@p.

My rankings:

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

Yeah! In your fucking face ya idlers!