2016 Big Sky Conference Preview

[MrTitleist]

http://www.egriz.com/2016/08/2016-big-s ... e-preview/
I did some writing for eGriz about this coming Big Sky football season. I discuss a lot of things. It's a long one, so schedule out some time.. I went all Peter King on MMQB for this one.

[Mvemjsunpx]

Not much to disagree with here, though I think you're overrating the 'Cats.

[kalm]

Admitting it's long up front is a sure fire way to get me to put off reading it.

[kalm]

Ok, I got through it. Phew!

Lots of good info there. Man do BSC defenses suck!

Agree that it's a wide open race this year.

Jordan West has not been named the starter yet and right now, my money is on sophomore Gage Gubrud. He's more mobile and we need that given the inexperience at o-line.

I'd place Montana, UND, and PSU slightly ahead of NAU and EWU due to better balance. Agreed that PSU is the front runner given their schedule.

[JALMOND]

Ok, I got through it. Phew!

Lots of good info there. Man do BSC defenses suck!

Its been a really long time since the Big Sky has been known for their defense. Most years, the conference has based its reputation on wide open offenses. Most years teams knew that you could just chuck the ball down the field and almost regularly, you could get a pass interference penalty on the defense.

[MrTitleist]

Jordan West has not been named the starter yet and right now, my money is on sophomore Gage Gubrud. He's more mobile and we need that given the inexperience at o-line.

Good note. I'll remember that for the individual preview.

[Wildcat Ryan]

Ok, I got through it. Phew!

Lots of good info there. Man do BSC defenses suck!

Agree that it's a wide open race this year.

Jordan West has not been named the starter yet and right now, my money is on sophomore Gage Gubrud. He's more mobile and we need that given the inexperience at o-line.

I'd place Montana, UND, and PSU slightly ahead of NAU and EWU due to better balance. Agreed that PSU is the front runner given their schedule.

Some teams defenses do

[catbooster]

Not much to disagree with here, though I think you're overrating the 'Cats.

The Wildcats or the Bengal Tiger type of cats? You certainly don't mean the Bobcats!



Based on last year's performance (actually the last several years) and the changes since last year I think it's reasonable to pick them around 8th. It's reasonable to pick them a little above or below that IMO, though probably easier to make the argument for lower than higher. I think the Cats will show improvement from last year, but so will some other teams, I'm sure ( A number of teams have good arguments for why they will be better this year).

Based on what I know, I like the hiring of Choate and the changes he's making. I think he's moving us in the right direction. He seems to have brought in some transfers and recruits that will improve our talent. And they are stressing fundamentals and defense more. But just like a high school recruit that looks great on signing day, we really won't know for awhile.

Personally, I'll be disappointed if we aren't at least 6-5 - not torches and pitchforks upset, just disappointed. I may be drinking blue kool-aid while wearing gold colored glasses, but I wouldn't be too surprised to see us do better than that. But there are lots of new pieces that have to gel quickly for that to happen.

Edit: Kicking is a concern for us - we need one of the new guys to step it up.

[Mvemjsunpx]

Not much to disagree with here, though I think you're overrating the 'Cats.

The Wildcats or the Bengal Tiger type of cats? You certainly don't mean the Bobcats!



Based on last year's performance (actually the last several years) and the changes since last year I think it's reasonable to pick them around 8th. It's reasonable to pick them a little above or below that IMO, though probably easier to make the argument for lower than higher. I think the Cats will show improvement from last year, but so will some other teams, I'm sure ( A number of teams have good arguments for why they will be better this year).

Based on what I know, I like the hiring of Choate and the changes he's making. I think he's moving us in the right direction. He seems to have brought in some transfers and recruits that will improve our talent. And they are stressing fundamentals and defense more. But just like a high school recruit that looks great on signing day, we really won't know for awhile.

Personally, I'll be disappointed if we aren't at least 6-5 - not torches and pitchforks upset, just disappointed. I may be drinking blue kool-aid while wearing gold colored glasses, but I wouldn't be too surprised to see us do better than that. But there are lots of new pieces that have to gel quickly for that to happen.

Edit: Kicking is a concern for us - we need one of the new guys to step it up.

Anything better than 5-6 would really shock me for MSU, to be honest, for two major reasons…


1. I do think the Gregorak hire will improve the D, but that doesn't fix the recent void in defensive talent. Any gains the defense makes this year should be more than offset by the loss of Prukop (and 4 O-Linemen) on the other side of the ball. Losing Tim Cramsey & Luke Daly doesn't help, either. In other words, this team looks worse on paper than last year's squad that went 5-6.

2. The schedule is pretty tough. There are 6 games on there where MSU is a clear underdog, and only 1 or 2 where they're a clear favorite.