Week #3 of Conference Play:
Observation: There are weeks where the inspirational water flow like the mighty Mississippi and there are others like a Wadi in Saudi Arabia remain dry for what it seems like decades. My inspiration for this week: Bone dry. Nothing in the tank and the forecast is for sunny days and 100 degree heat for the next six years. At least I don’t have anything related to football, but if you want analysis on the scientific culture of Greeks and its influence on Astronomy, I’m your guy.
As such here is your weekly power rankings, late on Friday night, well because I know you all have been waiting pensively for this.
Really, if you were to describe the conference at this point it would be defined by its two standard candles (Montana, Montana State) and how other traditional winners (Sacramento State, Eastern Washington and Weber State) have burnt out.
The first couple of weeks have told us much and little if you know what you are looking for.. Half of the BSC teams had a bye week in either Week #2 or Week #3 so it is hard to evaluate teams completely with only 1 conference game. Really as I tell my high school science students, in the absence of tactile and discernable data, humans are going to fill whatever holes we have for whatever explanation we have for a phenomena with any logic to make things make sense.
Teams we know a lot but not as much as we’d like: Montana State, Montana, UC Davis, Portland State, Cal Poly,
Teams we know something and nothing at the same time: Idaho State, Sacramento State, Northern Arizona, Eastern Washington
We are in the dark ages here, and please give us something to work with: Northern Colorado, Idaho, Weber State
Last Week, we would have figured that the Montana State and Northern Arizona game would have given us the most information. What you are left with is either MSU is so much better than early returns provided or NAU is the early season’s candidate for ‘FOY (fraud of the year). What is clear is that MSU defense is going to overwhelm pedestrian Big Sky Conference offenses through brut like and smothering force. Their offense (Montana States) has been bright enough to suggest at this moment they might be a true national title contender. On the other hand, Montana’s game at Idaho State was if you were a fan of early 90’s BSC football (**some might have said this last week**) you would’ve absolutely loved that game. If we learned anything from the game you could see why Jordan Cooke might get some transfer buzz after his RS Jr year is completed. He has arm talent for days, and it is a nice weapon to have a QB who can back foot a 50 yard ball on a line while rolling out of the pocket and moving away from his target. Montana clearly missed Kyon Loud at corner, but it was that semi-yearly experience of finding something the Montana defensive pressure doesn’t have an answer for that stuck out for a half. The other significant question that came from the ISU-UM game was ‘what in hades was Aaron Best doing with Michael Wortham at Eastern Washington?’ Speaking of our burnt out, out of stellar fuel neutron star, Eastern Washington found ways to escape (at home) Portland State with a victory. Portland State is increasingly looking like, although improved, a place where wins will be difficult to come by at least not by them anyway. U.C. Davis’ start to the year has been as perplexing as Mercury’s orbit to ancient Roman astronomers and the Cal Poly game did little to help anyone get a bead on Davis. Poly is obviously improved and backed up their win on the road against Sacramento State with a solid performance against Davis, but couldn’t get Davis offense off the field in the 4th.
This Week, if you were looking for James Webb clarity into the Big Sky Conference picture you might not get it. The matchups beyond the NAU-Davis game is going to keep the Big Conference more in the realm of trying to find a black hole with your Costco bought telescope. Davis hasn’t put together 4 quarters of football on both sides of the ball in any game, and NAU really needs to put last week's failure to launch against MSU behind them. Montana likely needs to put some concerns about its pass defense to rest, and Cal Poly is likely to oblige and give Montana that opportunity. Poly may be the one team that can go full armageddon asteroid killer of any team in the middle of the pack and they’ll get their opportunity in Missoula. If Sacramento State has any chance of entering the space race, they have to win in Ogden on Saturday night against Weber State. Both teams have had two weeks to get over embarrassing misfires to open their conference seasons. Mentle is likely coaching for his job, and Sacramento is fighting to save face. Desperate teams facing off can result in good theatre.
In Closing, to quote Aristotle “The heavenly bodies are the most perfect realities (or substances), whose motion is ruled by principles or reasons of which we have no grasp,” is the perfect encapsulation for my attempts to discern any sort of trend that makes sense so far early on in the Big Sky Conference season. The way the season is playing out, we might not know anything until the end of the season, that is unless there are self-inflicted harm by Montana, Montana State or UC Davis. Or as Neil Degrasse-Tyson said the Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.
Thanks for reading.
Observation: There are weeks where the inspirational water flow like the mighty Mississippi and there are others like a Wadi in Saudi Arabia remain dry for what it seems like decades. My inspiration for this week: Bone dry. Nothing in the tank and the forecast is for sunny days and 100 degree heat for the next six years. At least I don’t have anything related to football, but if you want analysis on the scientific culture of Greeks and its influence on Astronomy, I’m your guy.
As such here is your weekly power rankings, late on Friday night, well because I know you all have been waiting pensively for this.
| Rank | Team | Record | LW | Last Week: | This Week | Astronomical Phenomena: |
1 | Montana State | 4-2 (2-0) | 2 | W @. #4 Northern Arizona 34-10 | v. #7 ISU | Quasar |
2 | Montana | 5-0 (2-0) | 1 | W @ #7 ISU 42-38 | v. #6 CP | North Star/Polaris |
3 | UC Davis | 5-1 (2-0) | 4 | W @ #6 CP 34-27 | v. #8 NAU | Black Hole |
4 | Northern Arizona | 3-2 (1-1) | 3 | L v. #1 MSU 34-10 | @ #3 UCD | Planetoid |
5 | Idaho | 2-3 (0-1) | 5 | BYE | v. #8 NC | Red Giant |
6 | Cal Poly | 3-3 (1-1) | 6 | L v. #3 UCD 34-27 | @ #2 UM | Asteroid Belt |
7 | Idaho State | 2-4 (1-1) | 7 | L v. #2 UM 42-38 | @ #1 MSU | Proto-Star |
8 | Northern Colorado | 2-3 (0-1) | 8 | BYE | @ #5 Idaho | Nebula |
9 | Sacramento State | 2-3 (0-1) | 9 | BYE | @ #11 WSU | Dark Matter |
10 | Eastern Washington | 2-4 (1-1) | 12 | W v. #12 PSU 35-27 | BYE | Neutron Star |
11 | Weber State | 2-3 (0-1) | 10 | BYE | v. #9 SS | White Dwarf |
12 | Portland State | 0-6 (0-2) | 11 | L @ #10 EWU 35-27 | BYE | Interstellar Void |
Really, if you were to describe the conference at this point it would be defined by its two standard candles (Montana, Montana State) and how other traditional winners (Sacramento State, Eastern Washington and Weber State) have burnt out.
The first couple of weeks have told us much and little if you know what you are looking for.. Half of the BSC teams had a bye week in either Week #2 or Week #3 so it is hard to evaluate teams completely with only 1 conference game. Really as I tell my high school science students, in the absence of tactile and discernable data, humans are going to fill whatever holes we have for whatever explanation we have for a phenomena with any logic to make things make sense.
Teams we know a lot but not as much as we’d like: Montana State, Montana, UC Davis, Portland State, Cal Poly,
Teams we know something and nothing at the same time: Idaho State, Sacramento State, Northern Arizona, Eastern Washington
We are in the dark ages here, and please give us something to work with: Northern Colorado, Idaho, Weber State
Last Week, we would have figured that the Montana State and Northern Arizona game would have given us the most information. What you are left with is either MSU is so much better than early returns provided or NAU is the early season’s candidate for ‘FOY (fraud of the year). What is clear is that MSU defense is going to overwhelm pedestrian Big Sky Conference offenses through brut like and smothering force. Their offense (Montana States) has been bright enough to suggest at this moment they might be a true national title contender. On the other hand, Montana’s game at Idaho State was if you were a fan of early 90’s BSC football (**some might have said this last week**) you would’ve absolutely loved that game. If we learned anything from the game you could see why Jordan Cooke might get some transfer buzz after his RS Jr year is completed. He has arm talent for days, and it is a nice weapon to have a QB who can back foot a 50 yard ball on a line while rolling out of the pocket and moving away from his target. Montana clearly missed Kyon Loud at corner, but it was that semi-yearly experience of finding something the Montana defensive pressure doesn’t have an answer for that stuck out for a half. The other significant question that came from the ISU-UM game was ‘what in hades was Aaron Best doing with Michael Wortham at Eastern Washington?’ Speaking of our burnt out, out of stellar fuel neutron star, Eastern Washington found ways to escape (at home) Portland State with a victory. Portland State is increasingly looking like, although improved, a place where wins will be difficult to come by at least not by them anyway. U.C. Davis’ start to the year has been as perplexing as Mercury’s orbit to ancient Roman astronomers and the Cal Poly game did little to help anyone get a bead on Davis. Poly is obviously improved and backed up their win on the road against Sacramento State with a solid performance against Davis, but couldn’t get Davis offense off the field in the 4th.
This Week, if you were looking for James Webb clarity into the Big Sky Conference picture you might not get it. The matchups beyond the NAU-Davis game is going to keep the Big Conference more in the realm of trying to find a black hole with your Costco bought telescope. Davis hasn’t put together 4 quarters of football on both sides of the ball in any game, and NAU really needs to put last week's failure to launch against MSU behind them. Montana likely needs to put some concerns about its pass defense to rest, and Cal Poly is likely to oblige and give Montana that opportunity. Poly may be the one team that can go full armageddon asteroid killer of any team in the middle of the pack and they’ll get their opportunity in Missoula. If Sacramento State has any chance of entering the space race, they have to win in Ogden on Saturday night against Weber State. Both teams have had two weeks to get over embarrassing misfires to open their conference seasons. Mentle is likely coaching for his job, and Sacramento is fighting to save face. Desperate teams facing off can result in good theatre.
In Closing, to quote Aristotle “The heavenly bodies are the most perfect realities (or substances), whose motion is ruled by principles or reasons of which we have no grasp,” is the perfect encapsulation for my attempts to discern any sort of trend that makes sense so far early on in the Big Sky Conference season. The way the season is playing out, we might not know anything until the end of the season, that is unless there are self-inflicted harm by Montana, Montana State or UC Davis. Or as Neil Degrasse-Tyson said the Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.
Thanks for reading.
