OPINION: Stanford and Cal Have the Opportunity Of A Lifetime To Restore Sanity To College Athletics
With the stunning collapse of the Pac 12 comes a golden opportunity to reshape collegiate athletics for the better.
Covering All College Sports Since 2012
With the stunning collapse of the Pac 12 comes a golden opportunity to reshape collegiate athletics for the better.
The Big Sky Conference saw its second week of conference competition and teams continue to separate themselves as the Homecoming and spirit based games start arriving on the schedule. A few straggler out of conference games remain, but the most exciting of them happened this past Sunday in Gainesville, Florida. Thankfully, the two teams were.
The majority of the Big Sky’s non-conference slate has been played and we can now form some pretty potent opinions about what the teams may offer in conference play.
Weber State absolutely dominated FBS Utah State and picked up the Wildcats first FBS win since 1993.
Week 2 Schedule – September 10th, 2022 Date Away Home Time Location Links Saturday 9/10/2022 Morehead State Montana State 1:30 p.m. MT Bozeman, Mont. TV: ABC Montana/SWX in Billings (503 on cable, 8.2 over air)/ESPN+ streaming Radio: Bobcat Radio Network Saturday 9/10/2022 South Dakota Montana 1:30 p.m. MT Missoula, Mont. TV: ABC/Fox TV Stats Radio:.
Week 1 Schedule Thursday, September 1, 2022 The Wildcats kickoff their 2022 campaign with a substitute opponent after James Madison opted to play a full FBS slate right off the bat. Weber State found the trustworthy Division II Western Oregon Wolves to fill in for the Dukes for an inevitable shellacking. There might be looming.
The off-season is finally in a normal format, but college football feels anything but normal. The FBS Power Conferences are in an unprecedented arms-race, Name-Image-Likeness (NIL) deals and rules continue to be controversial, and three household names of the FCS are on the rise to the FBS (Sam Houston State, Jacksonville State, and James Madison.
There is no way to sugarcoat just how awful the Mustangs performed in Spring. While every single team in the nation had a weird season there are few sympathies allowed for Beau Baldwin who is a proven program builder. A new coach, new quarterback, and new offense were simply too much for Cal Poly to.
This fall will be a chance to revamp the entire resume of the Big Sky as the craziness of opt-outs and forfeits should be behind us.
In one of the more normal weeks of college football the Big Sky saw a trio of close contests at four, five, and ten point differences. Weber State outlasted a gutsy performance from UC Davis. Southern Utah pulled far enough away from Cal Poly before they started to awaken. And Eastern Washington stormed back from.
The Big Sky plans for a six-game conference-only schedule with two open weeks (March 20th & April 17th). In the time leading up to that, there has been a lot of changes in staff and players, with plenty of time for more chaos.
The Big Sky has been a game of boggle lately as each time you shake it something big changes. Montana and Sacramento State will duke it out for the drivers seat this weekend. Another notable match will be to see if NAU can play spoiler or Weber State will continue to establish their top ten.
The Big Sky is a pendulum of normal games to chaotic endings many would not have suspected. What will we get Saturday? Despite the Northern Colorado betting line being the highest at 12.5 underdog, I think every team this week has a legitimate shot of winning their perspective game.
Marquee: Jacksonville State def. Eastern Washington 49-45 A tidal wave of shock was sent across the FCS landscape as Jacksonville State pulled off a momentous upset. After the first quarter it seemed as if the fate of the game was going to be easily determined with a 28-7 EWU lead. Things would even out much.
The non-conference gauntlet continues in Week 3 with PAC 12 and Mountain West FBS matches, long distance FCS games, and one D-II game. Weber State has the best chance to make a “Fear the FCS” moment, but all of the FBS games this week have the potential to be ugly. Looking ahead at the FCS games is a different story, as Big Sky teams have the talent to win big. NAU versus Western New Mexico will be an obvious win barring a strong Lumberjack performance.
Marquee: Montana State def. SEMO 38-17 The Redhawks gave their best effort, but the Bobcats prevailed dominant. A close halftime score did not define the game as Montana State went on a 28-7 run to win. Casey Bauman performed adequately, while the running game established itself as a deciding factor. Bauman passed for 136 yards.
The Big Sky schedule in general switches from an uphill FBS heavy schedule to a now D2 and interesting FCS matches week. With the schedule almost evenly in thirds of D2 (or lower), FCS, and FBS games will show variety of strengths and weaknesses of the Big Sky teams. Considering the hodgepodge of games available the game of the week is centered on SEMO vs. Montana State. Both are last year playoff teams and have a strong depth of players. This could be hard hitting and high-intensity game that gets decided in the fourth quarter.
A Dalton Sneed-led Montana team went on the offensive and never looked back. It took a Coyote field goal in the second quarter for the Grizzlies to jump back from hibernation. That South Dakota field goal would be the only led Austin Simmons and company would enjoy all game long.
The Big Sky Conference is one of the Power 3 conferences in FCS football and will continue that tradition this year too. In our College Sports Journal Top 25 four Big Sky teams placed in the top ten, including Eastern Washington and UC Davis within the top five. A strong year is in store for.
Big Sky Predicted Order of Finish, Big Conference Games To Watch, And Ten Players to watch.
Five wins in 2018 would be considered notable progress if not the fact it was loaded with patsies, including poor Big Sky opponents (Sacramento and Southern Utah) and Brown, who went 1-9 on the season.