Big Sky Conference week 6 is here and I’m really excited for about none of these matchups. Of all of the 7 games in the Big Sky this week only two will please fans, both of those games happen to take place within Big Sky country. Last week was not a good week predicting games for me. Montana State blew up North Dakota, Northern Arizona trucked Montana, and Cal Poly beat Portland State. Hopefully this week is a little kinder to me, and frankly, the games this week are a little more predictable. Let’s pick some games…

UC Davis (no dash) kicks off the week to face Southern Utah. The Thunderbirds are quietly putting together a nice season lead by quarterback Aaron Cantu. The T-birds have rolled out to a 4-1 start and seem to be on the cusp of breaking into the top 25. UC Davis on the other hand is doing the exact opposite. However, they did win their first game of the season last week by beating hapless Idaho State. I see no reason why Southern Utah won’t win this game, and I’d say they do it by a couple of touchdowns. Why not?

Montana kicks off shortly after that at home against Portland State. The Vikings are coming off of a heartbreaker against Cal Poly. The Mustangs rushing attack was too much for Portland State to overcome. The Viking quarterback Kieran McDonagh is a solid QB who’s a threat to run and pass. Montana has a quarterback like that too, his name is Jordan Johnson. Similar playing styles for both QBs. Montana’s at home, they’re angry after a loss to Northern Arizona, and I think they beat on Portland State just a little bit. I think the Griz win it by 13.

I can’t decide what to pick as the Big Sky pillow fight of the week, North Dakota and Idaho State or Northern Colorado and Sacramento State. Actually, I know my answer…

In the Big Sky pillow fight of the week we have North Dakota making the long trip to Pocatello to take on Idaho State. North Dakota has been absolutely killed by the state of Montana this year. Now they get to go on the road to take on the mighty Bengals. The Bengals own two wins over D2 teams, North Dakota owns a win over a team that has like seven scholarships or something and plays decent basketball. This game could end 2-0 and I’d hardly be surprised. North Dakota’s offense seems to be a little more apt to score touchdowns so I’m going to go with them to win. Final score will probably be like 15-12, no touchdowns.

In the other big game of the week Northern Arizona makes the trip north to take on Montana State. It’s October, we all know how this story ends for NAU. The Lumberjacks are coming off a big win vs Montana where Zach Bauman did his thing and dominated the Grizzly defense. Montana State recently got their quarterback, Denarius McGhee, back into the lineup after he suffered a shoulder injury vs SMU. I have a really hard time believing that 1. NAU will win in October, they don’t usually survive this time of year and 2. NAU will be in any kind of game shape to play after getting that win over Montana. The Cats roll by 21+ in this one.

In a rare and strange cross-country trip Yale is heading across our great country to take on Cal Poly. Seems like a nice matchup if you’re a physics bowl team, but I don’t think this will be too favorable for Yale. Ivy League teams play well against Ivy League teams, but outside of that I’m not sure they have a lot of success, especially against teams from the FCS power conferences. In fact, Yale hasn’t played a game West of the Mississippi, or Pennsylvania for that matter, since a 2005 loss to San Diego. Now that I look at it, this is the first time an Ivy League team has played a Big Sky team. Welcome to the West, Yale, you’re going to get killed by the Mustangs. I’m going Cal Poly by 21 over the Bulldogs.

Eastern Washington returns home this week to take on … LOL. Weber State still plays football? Interesting. Eastern Washington is coming off of a pretty disappointing performance against Sam Houston State last weekend while Weber State is wondering why they’re giving out scholarships this year. I can’t even imagine what Vernon Adams is going to do to Weber, but I can only imagine really really bad things. Is the scoreboard operator prepared to put up triple digits when Eastern puts their foot on the gas? Okay, it may not get that bad, but I can see Eastern winning this game by 45-50 points pretty easily. At least Weber didn’t lose to Stephen F Austin, amirite Bobcats?

That was an unnecessary dig at Montana State. I apologize. Kind of.

In the night cap of the week is the 2^nd place pillow fight of the week, Northern Colorado at Sacramento State. One team lost to a division 2 school the other should have lost to an NAIA school. Which juggernaut is going to take this one? I think a lot of this game depends on if Northern Colorado quarterback Seth Lobato plays in this game. I’m honestly stumped on who to pick for this game. Both teams are on losing streaks, Sacramento State is at home, but I don’t know if I can give ‘em the ol’ Vegas 3 point spread to win this. Time to go to something scientific. I’m grabbing my 100 Years of Wyoming Football coin.

/flips

HEADS!

Northern Colorado, you win. By 3.

This is some very scientific and well thought out predicting going on. I’ll probably be close to right on that last game. That’s it for this week. Enjoy your Big Sky football where ever you’re at.. even you guys in Bozeman!