Week #1 Theme: Lets Rebrand.
Hey folks. Your resident pedestrian former failed HS defensive coordinator here. As some as you may know (maybe 3 people) I started a power rankings deal on the basketball forum for the purpose of combining my 3 great loves in my life:
My hope is to do the same for the upcoming season of football. I’d like to say that it would be like clockwork when these come out, but just be thankful you receive the dose of greatness sometime during the week. Most of the time I’ll have a theme (this week courtesy of the Idaho Vandals “Fighting Taters” rebrand). Some serious and others in jest (this week in jest)...
So here we go…My first decidedly unscientific (no quantitative detail or research) power rankings of the year. Mind you I consult no one but the voices in my head (which there are multiple)...
What we learned from last week:
Odds, Ends, and other inane things:
Enjoy. Or not Enjoy.
Grizfan-24
Hey folks. Your resident pedestrian former failed HS defensive coordinator here. As some as you may know (maybe 3 people) I started a power rankings deal on the basketball forum for the purpose of combining my 3 great loves in my life:
- Obscure information/references and lots of it.
- Lack of scientific processes (just like to make shit up)
- Writing terribly. My college history said that I had elite ideas (Joe Flacco elite (my words not his)) but the writing of a 6th grader (his words). Forever thankful for Ken Lockridge and the History 300 class at the University of Montana for making me at least comprehensible as a writer.
My hope is to do the same for the upcoming season of football. I’d like to say that it would be like clockwork when these come out, but just be thankful you receive the dose of greatness sometime during the week. Most of the time I’ll have a theme (this week courtesy of the Idaho Vandals “Fighting Taters” rebrand). Some serious and others in jest (this week in jest)...
So here we go…My first decidedly unscientific (no quantitative detail or research) power rankings of the year. Mind you I consult no one but the voices in my head (which there are multiple)...
| Rank | Team | Record | Last Week: | This Week | 2025 Rebranding |
1 | Idaho | 0-1 (0-0) | L @ WSU 13-10 | v. St Thomas | Fighting Taters |
2 | Montana State | 0-1 (0-0) | L @ Oregon 59-13 | v. SDSU | Methane Miners |
3 | UC Davis | 1-0 (0-0) | W @ Utah Tech 31-24 | @ Washington | Almond Milkers |
4 | Montana | 0-0 (0-0) | DNP | v. Central Washington | Bergy Seltzers |
5 | Northern Arizona | 0-1 (0-0) | L @ Arizona State 39-13 | v. Utah Tech | Fossil Hunters |
6 | Idaho State | 0-2 (0-0) | L @ Southern Utah 46-24 | @ UNM Fighting Ecks’s | Radioactive Russetts |
7 | Eastern Washington | 0-1 (0-0) | L @ Incarnate Word 31-21 | @ Boise J.C. | Crimson Crab Apples |
8 | Weber State | 0-1 (0-0) | L @ Jame Madison 45-10 | @ Arizona | Salt Licks |
9 | Cal Poly | 1-0 (0-0) | W @ San Diego | @ Utah | Sassy Someliers |
10 | Sacramento State | 0-1 (0-0) | L @ S.D. State 20-3 | @ Nevada | Delta Mud Pies |
11 | Northern Colorado | 1-0 (0-0) | W v. Chadron St 17-3 | @ Colorado State | Rock-Flours |
12 | Portland State | 0-2 (0-0) | L @ BYU 69-0 | @ North Dakota | Beaked Moss |
What we learned from last week:
- Biggest Winners:
- Idaho’s moral victory in the pitched battle on the Palouse (a 13-10 loss). UC Davis’s defeated the artists formerly known as Dixie State in St. George in a game that aside from the 12 hearty souls who saw the game in person because no one saw because ESPN+ decided to do its best ‘watchbigsky’ impression from 2016. They win simply because they were putrid for 2.5 quarters of football and it was unobservable.
- Biggest Losers:
- Sacramento State’s no-go offense. There was not much on field for the finest cattle bought at the Cattlemans Market in Belle Fourche or the “Boss of the Plains” hat clad Brendon Marion had in Brookings. Just one FG (gifted by SDSU) and an offense that didn’t stampede as advertised. Portland State’s 69-0 loss was bad enough, but they are O-Fer 2025 so far on the scoreboard. Bronson Barron (much maligned former Weber State QB) in classic prodigal son form returned to Utah from his one year mission to Western Kentucky (threw one pass), beat up on the Idaho State Bengals once again (4-0 lifetime) in a 46-24 win in Cedar City. The Eastern Washington Eagles still struggle on defense, they gave up 27 first downs, 300 plus in the air, and lost to the Corporeal Expression Cardinals in San Antonio (not New York City) 31-21.
- Beyond the absurdist nicknames, Montana comes out of its long off-season slumber with a week 2 appearance against Division II Central Washington. You can only evaluate message board banter, tree ring growth and tea leaves so much before it just becomes necessary to see some actual game action. There are a bajillion (highly technical math word) questions that this particular space will not address for brevity purposes. Whether you are a GFP-ite, or a consumer of Fight On, they have the meats as it were.
- I don’t think we learned anything about Montana State in their trip to Autzen. Justin Lamson didn’t look terrible, but it is unknown if he has the ability to fill the Berkeley Pit sized shoes that were once worn by some kid named Tommy. They face the Californicus Lupus in (Bozeman next to the Methane rich settling pond) who as noted opened up a can of raid on the Vespa Crabro and not to be confused with Vespa Mandarina last Saturday in Brookings. The battle between two of the best teams in FCS in the 2020’s, is likely going to lean on whose offense has more bite. MSU hopes they’ll get a bit more sting in their offense than Sacramento State showed.
- The Fighting Alan Grants (Northern Arizona) play future BSC citizen in Utah Tech in the friendly confines of the Walkup Skydome. We can only hope the feed is better from Flagstaff high atop the edge of the Colorado Plateau (shorter travel distance for the microwaves to the geosynchronous satellite in low earth orbit might help). One might be convinced that Utah Tech is vastly improved model after last weeks game performance against UC Davis, but NAU is trying to develop some of their own street cred after last years much improved campaign.
Odds, Ends, and other inane things:
- Statistic of the Week (Odds thing…): 273. The number of days between Montana’s last game December 7, 2024 (loss in the FCS playoffs) and next game (this Saturday in Missoula). Without a lot scientific analysis: That is a long time. Too long.
- Factoid of the Week (Ends thinng…): In 2008, a senior receiver from Helena Montana by the name of Mike Ferriter had 9 catches for 133 yards against the team he is now the Offensive Coordinator of (Central Washington).
- Inane thing: Interestingly enough the last time Montana started its season this late, was in 2008 which they traveled to the land of wine and Sommeliers (San Luis Obispo) to defeat CP 30-28 that included the much heralded and GFP/Skyline sports pontificator backup RB Andrew Schmidt TD to give Montana a 30-21 lead. That game also included two TD catches from the aforementioned…Mike Ferriter. The same year that UM defeated the Mike Reilly led Central Washington on a last second Brody McKnight field goal (38-35).
Enjoy. Or not Enjoy.
Grizfan-24
