Big Sky Preseason Review

[Diesel]

With the top 25 preseason results out. Review of the top six Big Sky teams seemed appropriate. I doubt very many people put much weight on polls this early, but based on schedules, coaching changes, and player turn over I doubt EWU@5(#2 in Big Sky) or ND@8(#1 in Big Sky) will end season at the top.
Brent has reviewed these teams individually and here is a quick schedule breakdown that may shed some light on final outcome and or playoff picture for the Big Sky.
#1 ND Utah away EWU home
UM away
PSU away
SUU away
8-3 or 7-4 would be a good finish for the Hawks with a reasonable playoff birth

#2 EWU Tex Tech away NDSU home
UM away Weber home
ND away
Fordham away
With Baldwin 9-2 or 8-3 with new staff and no Kupp 7-4 may be generous with 6-5 and missing playoffs as a possibility

#3 NAU AU away Ill St home
CP away
SUU away
UM away
PSU away
8-3 or 7-4 NAU could be playoff bound

#4 CP San Jose St away NAU home
UNI away Weber home
SUU away
8-3 or 7-4 CP could be playoff bound

#5 Weber Cal away SUU home
EWU away CP home
UM away
PSU away
7-4 or 6-5 Weber would still miss playoffs with MT Western on schedule

#6 UM UW away EWU home
Weber away ND home
NAU home
UM has favorable schedule with upper Big Sky teams having to play in Missoula. E-Griz readers can make their own predictions

CP does not play UM this year and has a favorable schedule, ND has some tough road games, EWU also has a brutal away schedule, Weber has a tough road schedule, NAU as well has a rough road schedule.

Who is going to be the wild card team in the Big Sky this year MSU, UC Davis, Sac St., SUU, UNC, PSU. These guys may not be in playoff contention but could negatively effect one or more of the top teams playoff hopes.

ND, CP, and UM are my top three Big Sky teams this year. My bold prediction would be, these three make the playoffs.

 

[Mavman]

I refuse to count out EWU.
UND is loaded with returning talent I predict they win conference.
Cal Poly will make playoffs (hate that offense) :mrgreen:
Can't trust nau to play complete season ( a lot of talent on offense)
not sold on weber st
Montana needs to split Ewu/UND games
I think four teams go UND,UND,Montana,POly

 

[Griz til I die]

With the top 25 preseason results out. Review of the top six Big Sky teams seemed appropriate. I doubt very many people put much weight on polls this early, but based on schedules, coaching changes, and player turn over I doubt EWU@5(#2 in Big Sky) or ND@8(#1 in Big Sky) will end season at the top.
Brent has reviewed these teams individually and here is a quick schedule breakdown that may shed some light on final outcome and or playoff picture for the Big Sky.
#1 ND Utah away EWU home
UM away
PSU away
SUU away
8-3 or 7-4 would be a good finish for the Hawks with a reasonable playoff birth

#2 EWU Tex Tech away NDSU home
UM away Weber home
ND away
Fordham away
With Baldwin 9-2 or 8-3 with new staff and no Kupp 7-4 may be generous with 6-5 and missing playoffs as a possibility

#3 NAU AU away Ill St home
CP away
SUU away
UM away
PSU away
8-3 or 7-4 NAU could be playoff bound

#4 CP San Jose St away NAU home
UNI away Weber home
SUU away
8-3 or 7-4 CP could be playoff bound

#5 Weber Cal away SUU home
EWU away CP home
UM away
PSU away
7-4 or 6-5 Weber would still miss playoffs with MT Western on schedule

#6 UM UW away EWU home
Weber away ND home
NAU home
UM has favorable schedule with upper Big Sky teams having to play in Missoula. E-Griz readers can make their own predictions

CP does not play UM this year and has a favorable schedule, ND has some tough road games, EWU also has a brutal away schedule, Weber has a tough road schedule, NAU as well has a rough road schedule.

Who is going to be the wild card team in the Big Sky this year MSU, UC Davis, Sac St., SUU, UNC, PSU. These guys may not be in playoff contention but could negatively effect one or more of the top teams playoff hopes.

ND, CP, and UM are my top three Big Sky teams this year. My bold prediction would be, these three make the playoffs.

So you pretty much just made a summary of my 13 week poll that I just got done with a couple weeks ago?

 

[get'em_griz]

I refuse to count out EWU.
UND is loaded with returning talent I predict they win conference.
Cal Poly will make playoffs (hate that offense) :mrgreen:
Can't trust nau to play complete season ( a lot of talent on offense)
not sold on weber st
Montana needs to split Ewu/UND games
I think four teams go UND,UND,Montana,POly

Damn UND is so good they're sending two teams to the playoffs!

 

[horribilisfan8184]

I refuse to count out EWU.
UND is loaded with returning talent I predict they win conference.
Cal Poly will make playoffs (hate that offense) :mrgreen:
Can't trust nau to play complete season ( a lot of talent on offense)
not sold on weber st
Montana needs to split Ewu/UND games
I think four teams go UND,UND,Montana,POly

Damn UND is so good they're sending two teams to the playoffs!

Now that is truly, scary good.

 

[Inland NW Griz]

I refuse to count out EWU.
UND is loaded with returning talent I predict they win conference.
Cal Poly will make playoffs (hate that offense) :mrgreen:
Can't trust nau to play complete season ( a lot of talent on offense)
not sold on weber st
Montana needs to split Ewu/UND games
I think four teams go UND,UND,Montana,POly

I don't think UND can win the conference, can they? With moving on to a new conference, I thought they were ineligible for championships.

 

[Mavman]

I refuse to count out EWU.
UND is loaded with returning talent I predict they win conference.
Cal Poly will make playoffs (hate that offense) :mrgreen:
Can't trust nau to play complete season ( a lot of talent on offense)
not sold on weber st
Montana needs to split Ewu/UND games
I think four teams go UND,UND,Montana,POly

Damn UND is so good they're sending two teams to the playoffs!

They have been in the weightroom again! :lol:
Should say EWU

 

[WILDCATFAN]

With the top 25 preseason results out. Review of the top six Big Sky teams seemed appropriate. I doubt very many people put much weight on polls this early, but based on schedules, coaching changes, and player turn over I doubt EWU@5(#2 in Big Sky) or ND@8(#1 in Big Sky) will end season at the top.
Brent has reviewed these teams individually and here is a quick schedule breakdown that may shed some light on final outcome and or playoff picture for the Big Sky.
#1 ND Utah away EWU home
UM away
PSU away
SUU away
8-3 or 7-4 would be a good finish for the Hawks with a reasonable playoff birth

#2 EWU Tex Tech away NDSU home
UM away Weber home
ND away
Fordham away
With Baldwin 9-2 or 8-3 with new staff and no Kupp 7-4 may be generous with 6-5 and missing playoffs as a possibility

#3 NAU AU away Ill St home
CP away
SUU away
UM away
PSU away
8-3 or 7-4 NAU could be playoff bound

#4 CP San Jose St away NAU home
UNI away Weber home
SUU away
8-3 or 7-4 CP could be playoff bound

#5 Weber Cal away SUU home
EWU away CP home
UM away
PSU away
7-4 or 6-5 Weber would still miss playoffs with MT Western on schedule

#6 UM UW away EWU home
Weber away ND home
NAU home
UM has favorable schedule with upper Big Sky teams having to play in Missoula. E-Griz readers can make their own predictions

CP does not play UM this year and has a favorable schedule, ND has some tough road games, EWU also has a brutal away schedule, Weber has a tough road schedule, NAU as well has a rough road schedule.

Who is going to be the wild card team in the Big Sky this year MSU, UC Davis, Sac St., SUU, UNC, PSU. These guys may not be in playoff contention but could negatively effect one or more of the top teams playoff hopes.

ND, CP, and UM are my top three Big Sky teams this year. My bold prediction would be, these three make the playoffs.

Weber has the Griz in Ogden this year FYI

 

[oGriz]

From Craig Haley's article (STATS)

STATS
Rank Team
1. North Dakota*
2. Eastern Washington*
3. Cal Poly
4. Montana
5. Weber State*
6. Northern Arizona*
7. Southern Utah
8. Montana State*
9. Northern Colorado*
10. Portland State*
11. Sacramento State
12. Idaho State*
13. UC Davis
* Griz opponent in 2017

STATS
Rank Team ...................... Returning Starters
4. Montana .............. ......17 (8 offense | 9 defense)
11. Sacramento State ....... 17 (8 offense | 9 defense)
5. Weber State* .............. 15 (6 offense | 9 defense)
8. Montana State* ........... 15 (7 offense | 8 defense)
1. North Dakota* ............. 14 (9 offense | 5 defense)
2. Eastern Wash* ............ 14 (7 offense | 7 defense)
7. Southern Utah .............. 14 (6 offense | 8 defense)
12. Idaho State* .............. 14 (7 offense | 7 defense)
3. Cal Poly ............. ...... .13 (5 offense | 8 defense)
10. Portland State* .......... 13 (6 offense | 7 defense)
13. UC Davis .............. ..... 13 (7 offense | 6 defense)
9. Northern Colorado* ...... 12 (7 offense | 5 defense)
6. Northern Arizona* ......... 10 (7 offense | 3 defense)

 

[AZDoc]

I refuse to count out EWU.
UND is loaded with returning talent I predict they win conference.
Cal Poly will make playoffs (hate that offense) :mrgreen:
Can't trust nau to play complete season ( a lot of talent on offense)
not sold on weber st
Montana needs to split Ewu/UND games
I think four teams go UND,UND,Montana,POly

I like this...but the wild card will be NAU. They have the chance to be real good, or crap down the leg again. Weber has a chance as well. I think EWU and UND will be top 2. UM 3rd tied with Poly. The moral this year is that it's one of the most wide open races in quite a while. UND will be good, but how good? Defensively they lost a stud. Offense will be interesting to see with the transfer RB along with returning talent. 23 days til game day!

 

[Diesel]

WILDCATFAN I'm not discounting the difficulty facing Weber at home, I just like having three out of four top tier conference games at home.
EWU could start 1-2 with their tough schedule to begin season. Then would have to beat UM in Missoula to get to 2-2. Baldwin was good for at least two extra wins, plus Kupp. With departure of Kupp and Baldwin and their schedule EWU could miss playoffs this year. Their away games also include Fordham and ND. Even if they stay clean and win all home games the tough road schedule could keep them out of the playoffs.
I agree with AZDOC NAU is the wildcard. Nice to be playing them in Missoula this year. However they have a tough road schedule also.

 

[get'em_griz]

EWU is where Montana once was, where even with the loss of a head coach and good players, you can't count them out. I fully expect them to compete for the conference title this year, but it will be a little more challenging. They still have great players (Gage Gubrud, solid WR group, improving defense), but a new coach may run into some bumps.

I believe the Griz have everything they need to win conference this year. We have all of our toughest games at home. I think the biggest hurdle this team needs to get over is becoming a road team. We need to play as well on the road as we do at home. I know this coaching staff understands that, and I hope they are able to prepare the Griz to play without fear anywhere.

 

[WILDCATFAN]

WILDCATFAN I'm not discounting the difficulty facing Weber at home, I just like having three out of four top tier conference games at home.
EWU could start 1-2 with their tough schedule to begin season. Then would have to beat UM in Missoula to get to 2-2. Baldwin was good for at least two extra wins, plus Kupp. With departure of Kupp and Baldwin and their schedule EWU could miss playoffs this year. Their away games also include Fordham and ND. Even if they stay clean and win all home games the tough road schedule could keep them out of the playoffs.
I agree with AZDOC NAU is the wildcard. Nice to be playing them in Missoula this year. However they have a tough road schedule also.

I was merely "correcting" your post, under the Weber tab you have us playing @ UM. that is what I was really saying. :thumb: