MY PRESEASON BIG SKY CONFERENCE FOOTBALL RANKINGS

okay I broke down the media and coaches poll of the Big Sky preseason rankings a couple of weeks ago following attending the Big Sky media day now I am going to talk about my preseason Big Sky rankings my preseason Big Sky rankings these are my rankings so if you want to get mad at anybody for where these rankings stand get mad at me come at me on Twitter come at me on Facebook let me know what your thoughts are about it I love when you guys give me comments back I love when you guys have push back I do not get mad about any of that that's what this is about we are not going to agree America was not made on agreement not everybody is supposed to agree all the time and we aren't going to agree all the time so number one obviously the Montana Grizzlies they return a lot of talent and they are the FCS National Champion runner up so um I think it's just right that they are the number one team in the Big Sky preseason rankings coming into this season at number two Montana State you got Brody griby you got Tommy mot you got Marcus Weir all upper classman all seniors for that Montana State Squad obviously like I said same with sack State and Jackson Slater Marcus we does not make up that offensive line but that Montana State offensive line does have a ton of players who have played a ton of minutes a ton of starting minutes for Montana State I think experience is one of the biggest things for offensive linemen cohesion and experience are one of the biggest things that can help or hurt an offensive line I think they have a lot of experience I think they're going to have a lot of cohesion I think they're going to be able to keep Tommy Mala upright that is the number two team on my rankings at number three we have Idaho now some of you guys might be surprised by this because I just mentioned a couple of like two topics ago how Idaho lost a lot of talent especially offensively Hayden Haden Anthony Woods Germaine Jackson and javanni McCoy all all conference level players all allc conference players for Idaho they're all gone coach e is a great coach I think coach EK is one of the best coaches in the Big Sky Conference I would probably put him at top three I got Bobby Hal Brent vegan and then I'd probably put um coach e at number three um yeah I I I don't think I don't know you guys can come at me if you if you guys want to those are my top three coaches in the Big Sky coach EK one of those coaches came over from South Dakota state has a history of being in the Big Sky Conference he understands the conference and I think he's a good coach and I think he knows how to get the best out of his players Jack Lane played great last year Young guy um I think he is going to have a good season I think Jack Lane is going to have a good year obviously that is the difference that is the Difference Maker for Idaho is Jack Lane going to be a good player is he going to be an average player if he's a good quarterback I think Idaho is going to have a really good year if he doesn't have the best season I think Idaho is going to struggle this year I think good QB play and good coaching is something that helps teams stand out in the Big Sky and I think Idaho has both I think they have a good quarterback and I think they have a good coach you think about some of the teams who stand out every year in the the Big Sky Conference Montana State they had Brent vegan they've been good since Brent vegan has been there they were good when choke was there not as good on the record books they were good against the Rival they weren't as good on the record books Brent vegan really good coach Bobby Hal really good coach one of the best teams in the Big Sky Conference year in and year out Idaho since coach e has been there has been one of the better teams in the Big Sky Conference since also you look at coach Andy Thompson at sax State sax state has you know kind of had a down year last year but they just got off winning back to backto back Big Sky championships 22 being the last year of that um I think Andy Thompson um you know I think he's a really good coach I wouldn't put him necessarily in that top three coach e Brent vegan Bobby Hal but I think Andy Thompson is up there as well um you guys let me know what you guys think about that and I will move on to number four on my list which is Eastern Washington Eastern Washington now I know I know crazy that I put them above UC Davis and Sack state I know I'm going to get push back for this and I expect to but I think Easter Washington can be a really good team in 2024 I really do I really do heavy offensive unit will the defense hold up I don't want to say too much more other than that because I've mentioned them all the time kakoa visperas I think he could be one of the top top three four quarterbacks in the conference I really do I think he could be top three top four quarterback in the conference most definitely fon ISM Nolan m i mean those are the pieces those are the pieces that stand out to me what does their defense look like Eastern Washington needs defense but number four they're number four on my preseason rankings you see Davis at number five above sack State because I do think UC Davis is going to be a better team than Zack State I mentioned that when talking about the stats perform top 25 and I'm mentioning it now UC Davis Lan larrison is all that matters if he's healthy they have a chance this guy can do it all obviously offensive line is a piece obviously receivers obviously you need a quarterback I mean he's a running back though so you don't necessarily need a quarterback throw him the ball you just need to hand it off and get out the freaking way defensively I think UC Davis is usually middle of the pack not usually one of the best defenses but never one of the worst defenses kind of middle of the pack that's you know as long as they have that I think L larrison and um their offensive unit can kind of carry them along the way UC Davis at number five sack State at number six I I only put explanations for the top five Montana returning Talent Montana State greby mot Weir at Idaho coach eek and Jack Lane at number four offense for Eastern Washington number five Lan larrison at number six we have sack State we know what they bring to the table at number seven I got Northern Arizona at number eight I have Weber State at number nine I have Idaho State at number 10 I have calp at number 11 I have Portland State I honestly think Portland State State and talking to some of the coaches at the Big Sky media today they would Echo this I think Portland State has a pretty decent Squad they got a really good quarterback one of the best quarterbacks in the Big Sky and Dante sasher um they they were a really good unit on the ground last year they were one of the better rushing teams in the on the ground last year honestly I think they were second behind Montana State rushing the ball last year um but they have a gauntlet of a schedule if you haven't seen Portland State schedule please go look at it Portland State might not be a bad outfit in 2024 but their schedule does not bold they're playing like seven or eight FCS 2023 FCS playoff teams in 2024 they have Boise State and Washington State they start the season with Washington State they got South Dakota like week two they have Weber State pretty early that's going to be a big test for them I I think that Weber State game could kind of give us a lot of answers in terms of what Weber State and what Portland State are going to be in the Big Sky but just go look at that Portland State schedule it's not very friendly for any FCS team any Big Sky Team nobody would want to have that schedule but that's why they're at 11 and then at number 12 Northern Colorado um I don't expect much from Northern Colorado they they haven't been good in the Big Sky um I didn't even know this stat about Northern Colorado um CTO Nanz um of Nanz now ESPN or Skyline Sports I'm working with Skyline Sports this year C Nanz told me that Northern Colorado has been in the sub has been in the FCS has been in the Big Sky since 2006 and they have never had a winning season somebody I mean not one not one and if you've ever never been to Grey in North Carolina or Northern Colorado they don't have the best facilities doesn't look like they put a lot of money or time into their football program doesn't look like too many people care about being good at football it just seems like they're happy with being a Big Sky Team happy to be in the FCS I mean it's just kind of sad I'm not trying to poo poo on Northern Colorado but it would be nice if they were a little bit more competitive in the Big Sky something that cot Nanz talks about it is not good for a conference if one team is a forh sure win for every team in the conference like if you hope that you have Northern Colorado on your schedule cuz you know that's at least one win that is terrible for the conference absolutely terrible so um Northern Colorado rightfully at 12 they have to show us that they're different before they start getting ranked higher in the preseason top 20 uh in the preseason rankings but those are my preseason rankings at one Montana two Montana state three Idaho four Eastern Washington five UC Davis six sack State seven Northern Arizona eight we State 9 Idaho State 10 Cali 11 Portland State and 12 Northern Colorado you guys let me know what you guys think about my rankings down below and I will move on