Way too early Big Sky power rankings

[EverettGriz]

No way can anyone justify putting UM above MSU after last years ass kicking. It goes MSU, UM, Weber imo

Be careful with this shit. You are entering “bad fan” range.

Best to keep your head buried in the sand. It’s more popular.....

Not only that, but the game results are so weather dependent that it's really difficult to make projections this far out.

 

[bgbigdog]

No way can anyone justify putting UM above MSU after last years ass kicking. It goes MSU, UM, Weber imo

Be careful with this shit. You are entering “bad fan” range.

Best to keep your head buried in the sand. It’s more popular.....

Not only that, but the game results are so weather dependent that it's really difficult to make projections this far out.

This.

 

[buckeyehornetfan]

5. Sac - Losing Obinna and Choates is gonna hurt them a lot.

Surely will.

However, the Hornets just landed a commit today from DE/LB Ariel Ngata via the transfer portal. Ngata was at UW the past 3 seasons and would enroll at SAC as a redshirt Junior. Ngata was a 4* recruit coming out of Folsom HS in 2017.

Then they also landed 3* (former 4*) DL DeShawn Lynch, also from Folsom HS, during the Feb signing period.

So while losing Obinna and Choates hurts, they are gaining some highly talented replacements with Ngata already having a couple seasons experience under his belt. We’ll see how it plays out.

 

[buckeyehornetfan]

The do return 7th year Senior QB (ya let that sink in for a minute) Kevin Thompson

I get your point, but, for the sake of accuracy, Thomson will be participating in his 6th season — not 7th.

2 seasons at UNLV, one of which as a redshirt, and 3 at Sac State. He sat out an entire year (2016) in between recovering from Tommy John surgery.

2020 will be his 4th season for the Hornets, 2 of which were cut short by injuries.

 

[BadlandsGrizFan]

Weber should be #1. They return too many guys and until someone knocks them off, they are the class of the Big Sky

Well it’s like I said in the rankings, Weber was 1 until all the losses on offense they suffered last month. And this is just looking at this moment in time right now, hence why next to the Griz, I have the words in all caps FOR NOW. And if you want my honest opinion, I thought Weber last season was overrated. I thought they looked terrible in that quarterfinal game and we would’ve won if we didn’t turn the ball over 5 times. Just my opinion.

This...I still cant believe we lost that game. We should have beat them by 21 the way our defense was playing.

 

[uofmman1122]

5. Sac - Losing Obinna and Choates is gonna hurt them a lot.

Surely will.

However, the Hornets just landed a commit today from DE/LB Ariel Ngata via the transfer portal. Ngata was at UW the past 3 seasons and would enroll at SAC as a redshirt Junior. Ngata was a 4* recruit coming out of Folsom HS in 2017.

Then they also landed 3* (former 4*) DL DeShawn Lynch, also from Folsom HS, during the Feb signing period.

So while losing Obinna and Choates hurts, they are gaining some highly talented replacements with Ngata already having a couple seasons experience under his belt. We’ll see how it plays out.

We're familiar with Ngata, but I don't know if a Linebacker and a Freshman are going to just come in and easily replace two 1st team All Big Sky Defensive Linemen that absolutely wrecked the conference last year.

 

[Great Day To Be An Eagle]

As an EWU fan I am always scared of every game against other Big Sky opponents....


except MSU.

EWU doesn't lose to MSU, ever. So whoever suggested that as a possibility is an insane person.

Weber
UM
EWU
Sac
Poly

 

[HookedonGriz]

As an EWU fan I am always scared of every game against other Big Sky opponents....


except MSU.

EWU doesn't lose to MSU, ever. So whoever suggested that as a possibility is an insane person.

Weber
UM
EWU
Sac
Poly

You guys do seem to dominate them. Some of me always likes that then some of me tries to figure out how to root for both of you to lose

 

[ilovethecats]

As an EWU fan I am always scared of every game against other Big Sky opponents....


except MSU.

EWU doesn't lose to MSU, ever. So whoever suggested that as a possibility is an insane person.

As much as I'd like to dispute this, it's sad facts. And annoying. Over the last 15 years we are 2-12 against the eagles. Just terrible. We lost 5 straight, won two straight, and since have lost 7 straight.

At least the Griz play in a cool college town, have great fan support, amazing facilities, proud tradition, and it's a rivalry game. Streak aside, I can understand losing to them.

Eastern doesn't have any of these things. Literally none. It's just not acceptable to lose as often and in the manner that we have lost to them.

I hope this year is different but it's going to be a tough month of November for the Cats

 

[mtgriz]

As an EWU fan I am always scared of every game against other Big Sky opponents....


except MSU.

EWU doesn't lose to MSU, ever. So whoever suggested that as a possibility is an insane person.

Weber
UM
EWU
Sac
Poly

Just when I think I'm over you, you say something like this and I'm drawn right back in.

 

[buckeyehornetfan]

5. Sac - Losing Obinna and Choates is gonna hurt them a lot.

Surely will.

However, the Hornets just landed a commit today from DE/LB Ariel Ngata via the transfer portal. Ngata was at UW the past 3 seasons and would enroll at SAC as a redshirt Junior. Ngata was a 4* recruit coming out of Folsom HS in 2017.

Then they also landed 3* (former 4*) DL DeShawn Lynch, also from Folsom HS, during the Feb signing period.

So while losing Obinna and Choates hurts, they are gaining some highly talented replacements with Ngata already having a couple seasons experience under his belt. We’ll see how it plays out.

We're familiar with Ngata, but I don't know if a Linebacker and a Freshman are going to just come in and easily replace two 1st team All Big Sky Defensive Linemen that absolutely wrecked the conference last year.

Not predicting that they will. Only that they’ve added very good talent at both positions that theoretically could lessen the blow, if not exceed them at some point.

Ngata will likely play all over the field, specifically as a pass rusher. Lynch is going play both sides of the ball, and is a bigger, faster version of Choates. Whether he’ll develop to become as good or better remains to be seen.

But the size and talent at those positions is there. That’s the only point I was bringing up.

 

[buckeyehornetfan]

And if you want my honest opinion, I thought Weber last season was overrated. I thought they looked terrible in that quarterfinal game and we would’ve won if we didn’t turn the ball over 5 times. Just my opinion.

Totally agree with this. Coming from the POV of my Hornets beating Montana while losing to Weber, I was far more impressed with the Griz and felt they were a better team than WSU. I even stated so right after Sac State lost to WSU and predicted that UM would beat them — which they did several weeks later.

WSU’s defense was pretty solid, but not elite and their offense was less than spectacular IMO. Thought Constantine was a pedestrian QB incapable of leading an offense when the defense knows he has to sling it.

Of course WSU returned the favor and upset the Griz in the playoffs, but I still think UM was the better team on the whole. Thought MSU was also better, as well as the Hornets when completely healthy. Just not that impressed by them.

 

[buckeyehornetfan]

5. Eastern Washington. Eastern took another huge hit from graduation losing 21 Seniors, but it sounds like they will be receiving some medical hardships for Jack Sendelbach and possibly a couple others. They take a hit at RB losing Antoine Custer and Tamarack Pierce as well as losing TE Jayce Gilder. They get UM, MSU, and Weber all at home this year and have a soft road schedule in conference play this year. I think Eastern will be in the mix for a playoff spot but I think they lose at least 2 of the Weber, UM, MSU games.

In Contention
4. Weber State. When I initially analyzed this back in December, I had them #1 but with the loss of Constantine and Smith in the transfer portal and their OC, I downgraded Weber to 4. They lost hardly anything to graduation and will be stacked defensively this year. Tough non-conference games at Wyoming and Northern Iowa, but will avoid SAC and UM this year. They get MSU at home and are @ Eastern again. Their schedule sets them up well to win the conference and I would not be surprised at all if they got the 4-peat.

3. Sacramento State. Sac State did take a hit on the Dline losing George Obinna and Dariyn Choates. The do return 7th year Senior QB (ya let that sink in for a minute) Kevin Thompson and RB Elijah Dotson. They'll be loaded on offense again this year and tough to stop. They go to San Diego State and Washington in non-conference and I would not be surprised if they win that SDSU game. Their only tough conference game will be at UM where they have always struggled, but outside of that the best conference schedule draw of anyone. I expect them to win at least a share of the conference title.

2. Montana State. The Cats took a hit defensively losing 3 starting dline men and a 4th who contributed. They also took a massive hit in the secondary, but brought in a couple of transfers there. They also lose WR's Travis Jonsen and Kevin Kassis who also played wildcat QB. The biggest wild card? NC State QB transfer Matt McKay. They also have a new RB's coach and OC so a little bit of attrition there. Cats have a tougher conference draw this year going to Weber, Eastern, and UM. The biggest will question marks will be defensively. Can they Figure it out?

1. Montana, FOR NOW! I'm going with the Griz for now but could easily put 2-4 here as well. Griz will be loaded offensively, but have open competition at QB, but if Cam Humphrey can give us what we saw against Eastern and PSU last year, I see no drop off offensively. Replacing Dante Olson will be difficult, and once again we're thin in the secondary but have a couple of transfers and are supposedly looking at a couple more. We get SAC and MSU at home this year and go to Eastern for the first time in 4 years. Not to mention a super soft non-conference schedule this year.
----------------
That's what I got. Thoughts??? How do you rank them?

I actually think your top 5 is reasonable at this point in time. Of course an argument can be made to move a couple teams up or down, like always, but based upon how last season ended and how it has started with player movement and recruiting, I think your list is fair.

As a Hornets fan, I’m leery of overrating them. It’ll be difficult to duplicate 2019 when the rest of the conference will be better prepared for them this time around and they suffered some key losses on defense.


We’ll find out soon enough how good their coaching staff and recruiting classes really are.

 

[cclarkblues]

As an EWU fan I am always scared of every game against other Big Sky opponents....


except MSU.

EWU doesn't lose to MSU, ever. So whoever suggested that as a possibility is an insane person.

Weber
UM
EWU
Sac
Poly

Just when I think I'm over you, you say something like this and I'm drawn right back in.

That's a love song if I ever heard one.

 

[Hawkeyebowhunter]

I love the optimism, hope it ends up that way.

I'm hoping Bobby lights a fire for the game vs the kitties. That game last year was just an embarrassing debacle.

We should be better up front on offense, not so sure about defensively. Hoping Cam or whomever ends up taking the reins at QB has some time behind a hopefully stud O-line.

I'm still not sold on the 3-3-5 front, time to prove me wrong. we've got athletes all over the place, got a good taste of the playoffs next year- just need to prove that they are hungry.

 

[Htowngriz]

I love the optimism, hope it ends up that way.

I'm hoping Bobby lights a fire for the game vs the kitties. That game last year was just an embarrassing debacle.

We should be better up front on offense, not so sure about defensively. Hoping Cam or whomever ends up taking the reins at QB has some time behind a hopefully stud O-line.

I'm still not sold on the 3-3-5 front, time to prove me wrong. we've got athletes all over the place, got a good taste of the playoffs next year- just need to prove that they are hungry.

I think they proved that in spades last year with the way they bounced back from the cat debacle and nearly made the semis.

 

[SWeberCat02]

Weber RB Kevin Smith has withdrawn from the transfer portal and will return for his senior season.

 

[retiredpopo]

Weber RB Kevin Smith has withdrawn from the transfer portal and will return for his senior season.

Wow must not have gotten the interest he was hopping for. Where did Constantine end up? or has he been picked up?

 

[BozAngelesGriz]

EWU doesn't lose to MSU, ever. So whoever suggested that as a possibility is an insane person.

*sigh* we used to say that, too...

 

[SWeberCat02]

Weber RB Kevin Smith has withdrawn from the transfer portal and will return for his senior season.

Wow must not have gotten the interest he was hopping for. Where did Constantine end up? or has he been picked up?

No news on Constantine. But he's definitely not returning to Weber.