Happy Memorial Day everyone, and thank you to all those who proudly serve our country. After doing the Griz last week we move on with the rest of the conference previews with Cal Poly today and Eastern next week.
Cal Poly (god willing) should be improved from their 1-10 season last year. Beau Baldwin will get these guys back on track, but I do believe that by next season Cal Poly will be back to being a formidable conference foe. With that let’s dive in:
September 1 @ Fresno State - L. In what has pretty much become an annual contest, Cal Poly will be the first conference foe of 2022 to start the season as this will be a Thursday game on FS1. FSU was one of the better teams in the MWC last season, and they got one of the better QB’s in the country in Jake Haener who could end up being a day 3 draft pick. Former longtime FSU head coach Jeff Tedford is back in the saddle this year after previous head coach Kalen Deboer was hired at UW. That said, I think FSU has the potential to win the MWC this year, and they roll Poly.
September 10 vs. San Diego - W. another game that’s pretty much become an annual contest. Despite how bad Cal Poly was last year, they still beat the shit out of USD, and I expect them to do the same thing again this year. This will also be the first home game on the new turf as Cal Poly finally replaced the grass. Every Big Sky team now has turf in their stadium.
September 17 @ South Dakota - L. Cal Poly will travel to take on the Coyotes one week after UM hosts them. Right now I have this game as a loss, but I wanna see what kind of team USD brings to Missoula. I may end up feeling differently about this game later down the road, but right now I got the Coyotes.
September 24 BYE. Early bye weeks are the worst, and Poly has a very difficult conference schedule. Good luck to them.
October 1 vs. Sacramento State - L. Cal Poly I just don’t think is yet capable of competing with SAC. Hornets roll in this one.
October 8 @ Northern Arizona - L. I actually think NAU is gonna be pretty good this year. I think they’re a sneaky team to watch for to make the playoffs. No chance for the stangs in this one.
October 15 @ Idaho State - W. ISU is gonna be re-building the program with the coaching change. Bengals aren’t really gonna be focused on winning games next year. No problem for Poly in this one.
October 22 vs. Eastern Washington - W. I’m calling it, Cal Poly wins this game. They’re at home against a re-building Eastern team with a crappy defense. I think Cal Poly puts up enough points in this game to win.
October 29 @ UC Davis - L. Here’s where things get just brutal. This 4 game stretch that starts with Eastern the week before is all against the Big Sky teams that went to the playoffs last year. Like I said, I like Cal Poly to pull the upset against Eastern, but not against David on the road.
November 5 @ Montana - L. Could Cal Poly be out of gas by the time they get to UM? They very well could be. Their road schedule is brutal, couple that with an early bye week, and a not so good record that should have them eliminated from the playoffs by the time they get to Missoula.
November 12 vs. Montana State - L. Similar to UM, they may just be out of gas when msu comes to town. This feels like a trap game for msu with it being the week before the brawl, and the cats have struggled in San Luis Obispo, but I think the cats know what will be on the line this late in the season. Cats win a close one.
November 19 vs. Portland State - W. A good game to close with to feel better about yourself. Viks are gonna be the worst team in the Big Sky. Stangs win by 10+.
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I got Cal Poly going 4-7, which is an improvement from 2021. I could see them going anywhere from 2-9 to 5-6. Watch out for these guys in 2023. They’ll be competitive this year, but won’t quite be able to put it together. Thoughts???
Cal Poly (god willing) should be improved from their 1-10 season last year. Beau Baldwin will get these guys back on track, but I do believe that by next season Cal Poly will be back to being a formidable conference foe. With that let’s dive in:
September 1 @ Fresno State - L. In what has pretty much become an annual contest, Cal Poly will be the first conference foe of 2022 to start the season as this will be a Thursday game on FS1. FSU was one of the better teams in the MWC last season, and they got one of the better QB’s in the country in Jake Haener who could end up being a day 3 draft pick. Former longtime FSU head coach Jeff Tedford is back in the saddle this year after previous head coach Kalen Deboer was hired at UW. That said, I think FSU has the potential to win the MWC this year, and they roll Poly.
September 10 vs. San Diego - W. another game that’s pretty much become an annual contest. Despite how bad Cal Poly was last year, they still beat the shit out of USD, and I expect them to do the same thing again this year. This will also be the first home game on the new turf as Cal Poly finally replaced the grass. Every Big Sky team now has turf in their stadium.
September 17 @ South Dakota - L. Cal Poly will travel to take on the Coyotes one week after UM hosts them. Right now I have this game as a loss, but I wanna see what kind of team USD brings to Missoula. I may end up feeling differently about this game later down the road, but right now I got the Coyotes.
September 24 BYE. Early bye weeks are the worst, and Poly has a very difficult conference schedule. Good luck to them.
October 1 vs. Sacramento State - L. Cal Poly I just don’t think is yet capable of competing with SAC. Hornets roll in this one.
October 8 @ Northern Arizona - L. I actually think NAU is gonna be pretty good this year. I think they’re a sneaky team to watch for to make the playoffs. No chance for the stangs in this one.
October 15 @ Idaho State - W. ISU is gonna be re-building the program with the coaching change. Bengals aren’t really gonna be focused on winning games next year. No problem for Poly in this one.
October 22 vs. Eastern Washington - W. I’m calling it, Cal Poly wins this game. They’re at home against a re-building Eastern team with a crappy defense. I think Cal Poly puts up enough points in this game to win.
October 29 @ UC Davis - L. Here’s where things get just brutal. This 4 game stretch that starts with Eastern the week before is all against the Big Sky teams that went to the playoffs last year. Like I said, I like Cal Poly to pull the upset against Eastern, but not against David on the road.
November 5 @ Montana - L. Could Cal Poly be out of gas by the time they get to UM? They very well could be. Their road schedule is brutal, couple that with an early bye week, and a not so good record that should have them eliminated from the playoffs by the time they get to Missoula.
November 12 vs. Montana State - L. Similar to UM, they may just be out of gas when msu comes to town. This feels like a trap game for msu with it being the week before the brawl, and the cats have struggled in San Luis Obispo, but I think the cats know what will be on the line this late in the season. Cats win a close one.
November 19 vs. Portland State - W. A good game to close with to feel better about yourself. Viks are gonna be the worst team in the Big Sky. Stangs win by 10+.
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I got Cal Poly going 4-7, which is an improvement from 2021. I could see them going anywhere from 2-9 to 5-6. Watch out for these guys in 2023. They’ll be competitive this year, but won’t quite be able to put it together. Thoughts???
