Bear Claw Media would like to present our first annual pre-season Big Sky Football Media Poll. While both of us have been watching Big Sky football for over a decade we see some differences between the teams. Down below is our poll and some thoughts on the teams going into the season.

Bear Claw Media Football Composite Poll

1. Montana State (24)
2. Idaho (20)
3. Weber State (20)
4. Montana (20)
5. Sacramento State (16)
6. UC Davis (14)
7. Northern Arizona (12)
8. Eastern Washington (9)
9. Portland State (8)
10. Northern Colorado (7)
11. Cal Poly (4)
12. Idaho State (2)

Montana State was our unanimous top pick as the program has shown a strong commitment to high caliber talent and motivated back ups fill in well for injured starters. The Bobcats continued to find a way to move the ball down the field at will most times.

Idaho, Weber State and Montana all have all conference level talent, but each have worries that keep us from betting on them to surpass the Bobcats just yet. Idaho had a flaming hot year offensively with young talent like Gevani McCoy showing potential of competing for top offensive player in the conference. The worry is young talent who become hot have to stay hot to etch themselves into glory. There’s top ten expectations for the Vandals and they will have to prove they are crisp potatoes, not fall apart hash browns.

Weber State displays big time playmakers on all sides of the ball, but head coach Jay Hill moves onto the FBS. While Weber State earned all of their recent conference titles we think the composition and quality of those teams was in large part to Coach Hill and the new staff has a lot to prove in a little time. Mickey Mental better be able to jump on the treadmill at 20 and keep up with the rest of the conference.

The Montana Grizzlies have a fearsome stadium, rich tradition and a disappointing last few years of performance, especially in the Brawl of the Wild against the “Bozeman” State Bob-kitties. Coach Hauck has a successful reputation at Montana during his two stints, but the last few years have seen more complaints that Montana has lost its edge and is not feared by as many opponents. Hauck needs to find a way to install championship mentality in the players and fear in opponents before his seat gets hot.

Sacramento State has an impressive home record over the last few years along with the pro-worthy talent it has produced. Although, no team in the conference will be more negatively affected than the Hornets losing Troy Taylor to Stanford. Sacramento State will be able to see their coach again on the opposite side of the field at Stanford on September 16th. While the Hornets should have a better season than the Cardinal they may not strike playoff gold without Taylor.

UC Davis and Northern Arizona are roller coaster teams that specialize in inconsistency. Davis strikes it hot more than the Lumberjacks, but their ability to be playoff teams of significance is lacking. Davis finds the majority of pieces, but lacks true offensive leaders to close games, despite Coach Hawkins seasoned experience. Northern Arizona has stood behind Coach Chris Ball longer than most teams would give a big name coach and it’s starting to bite them on the ass. NAU is a hot-bed for recruiting extremely athletic players, but often they are let down by game plan and coaching decisions.

Eastern Washington and Portland State do not share much in common, but both teams are thoroughly stuck in transition phases. EWU has been used to elite quarterbacks guiding the way and Portland State has relied on scrappy, pro-worthy defensemen.

Cal Poly has a competent coach, athletic players, and it just hasn’t come together, yet. While they keep reloading there hasn’t been a winning combination. There’s room for improvement, but it may take a few more recruiting classes to fully represent something other than the triple option.

Northern Colorado and Idaho State have both gone through similar traumas, but weathered them differently. UNC hired a proven winner in Ed Lamb who took Southern Utah from worst to first, including a conference title. Idaho State hired Cody Hawkins, son of Dan Hawkins at UC Davis, who looks to compete against his dad as an opposing coach. Family ball in the Big Sky hasn’t worked out well for hardly anyone besides the Hauck’s lately. This will be Cody Hawkins first time as a head coach, another thing his peers have struggled with recently.

How we view the Big Sky is that it should be thought of as two tiers. One through six have playoff potential, a reason to be in the conference title conversation, or a team that will perform well and just miss the playoffs by a win or two. Teams seven through twelve are in the middle of a transition or rebuilding stage that limits their ability to compete.