Football and Basketball Talk

As you can see from the picture to the left, it snowed just a little bit in Bozeman, Mont., last night. That can mean November football has really arrived and basketball season is upon us.

There are two weeks left in the regular season, and we're starting to get a bit nervous about getting at least two teams in the FCS playoffs. Almost every year, the Big Sky gets an at-large team. Right now, some teams need to take care of some business to have a chance at an outright bid. Any losses by Montana State, Northern Arizona, Weber State or Eastern Washington will end their playoff changes. All four I believe, are still in the hunt for an at-large bid, and Montana is set for a top seed if the Grizzlies can win their final two games. Of course if that happens, it would knock Montana State out of playoff contention.

Either Weber State or Northern Arizona could end up 7-4 with two losses to FBS teams. One of them will be eliminated from postseason contention tomorrow as the teams meet in Ogden. I've heard some across the country say that both are out of the playoff picture. Why? The last two years, the Division I Football committee has taken four-loss teams from the strong Colonial Athletic Conference as the FIFTH team from the league, or the fourth at-large bid from the league. If either WSU or NAU finish 7-4, they would be second in the Big Sky. The Big Sky is ranked either second or third among conferences in three major computer rankings (GPI, Massey and Sagarin). The Great West Conference is above the Big Sky in two of the polls, but the Big Sky is 5-2 against the Great West. So for arguments sake, let's say the Big Sky is the No. 2 conference since the Great West does not receive an at-large bid to the playoffs.

An 8-3 Eastern Washington team, or an 8-3 MSU team or a 7-4 WSU or NAU team, I believe is more than worthy to gain an at-large bid to the playoffs. First of all, the Big Sky has a strong track record. In five of the last six years, our No. 2 playoff team has won in the first round. In four of the past six years, a Big Sky team has knocked off either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the playoffs, and done so on the road.

A Big Sky team might be battling a Patriot League team, a MEAC team or Liberty for the final at-large bid in the field. Liberty plays in the Big South, which will have an automatic bid next year. Some felt Liberty was snubbed last year. Well, the Patriot, MEAC and Big South all ranked in the 8-11 range as far as FCS conferences go. In the Massey Schedule Strength index, Northern Arizona's schedule ranks No. 2 among teams in the playoff hunt. EWU's is ninth, WSU's is 10th and MSU's is 20th. For comparison, Liberty is 65th. Lafayette of the Patriot League is 72. Holy Cross is 80, and Florida A&M is 85. There's a lot of talk about the Southland Conference getting two teams in this year. However, if it were to come down to a Southland or Big Sky team, I still believe our team deserves the bid. Texas State is 43rd in SOS. SE Louisiana is 51. McNeese State is 56 and Stephen F. Austin if 58.

The Patriot League teams play a lot of Ivy League teams in the non-conference, as well as teams from the Northeast Conference. The MEAC teams had an awful record against non-conference teams, as did the Big South teams. Meanwhile, the Big Sky is 5-2 against the Great West, and our teams in the playoff hunt have lost to the likes of Cal, Ole Miss, Arizona State, Michigan State, Wyoming and Colorado State.

I could go on and on with data that I've researched to prove our case and submitted it to the committee members. Hopefully they will look long and hard at the depth of the Big Sky and realize we are more than worthy of at least one at-large bid, maybe even two.

Right now, I see three of the at-large bids coming from the CAA. The league should get four teams in the playoffs (Villanova, Richmond, William and Mary and New Hampshire). Delaware is 6-3 but has games against Navy and Villanova left. If Delaware wins those, expect four of the at-large teams to come from the CAA for the third straight season.

I see the Southern Conference getting two teams in: Appalachian State and Elon. The teams meet Saturday in what amounts to a game to determine the automatic bid.

The Missouri Valley looks like a three-team league with Southern Illinois, South Dakota State and Northern Iowa. Northern Iowa is 6-3 and doesn't have a big win on its resume. The Panthers have lost to Southern Illinois, South Dakota State and has a close loss to Iowa.

Based on that, we're up to six at-large bids taken. The Southland Conference will likely get one, but that league is a mess with two weeks to play. McNeese State and Stephen F. Austin look like the two teams that will get in.

That leaves one spot for a Big Sky team, a FIFTH CAA team, a Patriot League team, Liberty or a second MEAC team.

How could the committee take a team from a the Patriot, Big South or MEAC over a Big Sky team?

Bottom line, however, at least one of our teams needs to win out to get serious consideration.

OK, on to basketball. Things get rolling here shortly. Here in Ogden, Weber State is playing host to Utah State, and hopefully we'll get up to the Dee to check it out. It should be an exciting year, as I think we've got some very good players returning, and some very good teams. Weber, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Northern Colorado and Portland State all have a lot of good returning players.

As a league, we need to pick up some quality victories on the road during the non-conference part of the year.

Remember you can catch all of the men's and women's games held in Big Sky venues for free on Big Sky TV.

Have a good and safe weekend,

Jon Kasper - Big Sky Conference

Recap of the Week

It was another busy week here at the league office. On Tuesday, we issued a statement regarding the officiating of the Montana-Eastern Washington football game. It created a lot of buzz from the media and fans. Commenting on officiating is not something we do often, but Commissioner Doug Fullerton and Doug Toole, our head of football officials, felt something needed to be said about it.
We weren't the only conference dealing with officiating issues. The SEC suspended a crew. Major League Baseball announced changes to the umpires who will work the World Series.
Folks, it happens on all levels from Little League to the pros.
Officials are human and make mistakes. Coaches make mistakes and student-athletes make mistakes. It's not an issue just in the Big Sky Conference. It's just a lot easier to take out frustration on the officials. Fans all across the nation think their conference has the worst officials in the nation. Believe me, I've talked to my conference colleagues, and they all get the same kinds of e-mails.
Our officials will get back to work on Saturday and try to get every call right.

OK, enough about that, because we are all ready to move on.

On Wednesday, the presidents of the Big Sky schools met in Salt Lake for their annual fall meeting. We were very fortunate enough to get NCAA Interim President Jim Isch to speak to our presidents. For those of you who don't know, Mr. Isch worked at Montana State many years ago. He was actually on his way to Bozeman for a wedding. Isch has served as the senior VP for administration and CFO at the NCAA since 1998. He gave a great presentation on financial matters to our presidents.

We released the men's and women's basketball preseason polls this week. Hard to believe that basketball season is almost here. Real games start on Nov. 13. Certainly a bit strange to see Montana not picked to win the women's basketball title. Picking these is always difficult, especially on the men's side. You just never know how big of an impact junior college transfers will have. I for one am excited to see the likes of Melvin Jones at Portland State, Franklin Session at Weber State, Alden Gibbs at Eastern Washington and the host of other new faces across the league.

Don't forget you can catch all of the football and volleyball action for free on Big Sky TV.

Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone at Sacramento State following the tragic events on Wednesday.

OK, time to head home, walk the dog, head to the gym for a workout, eat, and head back to the office to continue to work on the men's basketball media guide. It's getting close, and we're hoping to have the men's and women's guides on-line by the end of the next week.

Jon Kasper - Big Sky Conference

Monday Update

Just thought I'd do a quick update this afternoon. Football Players of the Week were difficult to pick this week - at least two of the three. Special teams was pretty easy with Zach Brown of Portland State taking the honors. He made field goals of 50, 40 and 33 yards in the Vikings' 23-18 win in Greeley. He made those kicks in less than ideal conditions. There was snow covering the field the entire game.
Offense we went co. Both Montana's Marc Mariani and Northern Arizona's Michael Herrick had big games in leading their teams to victories over ranked opponents.
Mariani had six catches for 200 yards, scoring on TD catches of 84 and 68 yards. The 84 yarder sparked Montana, which to that point trailed 10-0 midway through the second quarter against No. 15 Cal Poly. The Grizzlies ended up winning 35-23.
Herrick had another outstanding effort in Northern Arizona's 23-10 upset of No. 24 Montana State in Bozeman. Herrick completed 75 percent of his passes for 388 yards and a touchdown. Herrick has been outstanding this season for the Lumberjacks and might soon find himself on the Buck Buchanan Award Watch list.
Defense was very, very difficult. Eastern Washington's J.C. Sherritt had another monster game, but his team gave up 31 points and more than 400 yards of offense. Sherritt was in on 24 tackles - 7 solo and 17 assisted - and intercepted a pass and returned in 36 yards for a score.
We opted to go with Weber State defensive tackle Ryan Eastman, who made a huge impact in the Wildcats' win over EWU. Eastman, who had missed three games with an injury, returned to record six tackles, three sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss. WSU, which allowed 210 rushing yards to Montana State last week, held the Eagles to just 35 rushing yards on 27 carries.
We always try to put a lot of weight in what a player's performance meant for his team's success on the field.
Northern Arizona's Stevon Thomas also had an outstanding game for the Lumberjacks, as did Northern Colorado's John Eddy in a loss. Four defensive players also returned interceptions for touchdowns on Saturday.

The Polls
The polls were released on Monday, and we were a bit disappointed not to see Northern Arizona among the top 25. The Lumberjacks are 3-2 with losses to Pac-10 Arizona and an overtime loss to then No. 4 Montana, who is now ranked third. Northern Arizona has victories over a much-improved Southern Utah squad, Northern Colorado, and a huge road win over a ranked Montana State team.
Northern Arizona was close to cracking the coaches poll, earning 42 points. The No. 25 team amassed 49. NAU was 29th in the Sports Network poll.
I find it a bit odd that UMass, a 43-27 loser to unranked Delaware, dropped just six spots from No. 12 to No. 18, and Delaware went from unranked to 23rd. The CAA now has seven teams ranked in the top 25, including four of the top seven. I honestly believe Northern Arizona and Montana State, who are both 3-2, could easily be ranked instead of UMass (3-2) and Delaware (4-2).
Holy Cross also remained in the top 25 despite a loss to unranked Brown. Eastern Kentucky (3-2) also stayed in the top 26, tumbling from 16 to 24 with a loss to unranked Tennessee Martin.
We just aren't getting enough respect out here, and part of it is there isn't enough games between Big Sky/Great West teams against the CAA conference.
Of the five top Big Sky teams in terms of overall record: UM, EWU, WSU, MSU and NAU, combined they have nine losses. Five of those losses have come to FBS teams (Cal, Wyoming, Colorado State, Michigan State and Arizona). Of the other four losses, two have come to ranked teams. NAU lost in overtime to Montana, Eastern Washington lost to ranked Weber State. Montana State has a win over a ranked Weber State squad, and NAU beat a ranked MSU team.

Jon Kasper - Big Sky Conference

Friday Update

Just a quick update before leaving the office for the day.
This is a pretty big weekend in football. Eastern Washington has a chance to start conference play 4-0 for the first time ever, but Weber State stands in the Eagles' way. Weber State is in dire need of a victory to keep its playoff hopes alive. It will be interesting to see how the Wildcats respond after last week's 26-21 home loss to Montana State. The game is on Altitude Sports & Entertainment. The forecast calls for highs in the mid-40s and sun.

Up in Bozeman, Montana State plays host to Northern Arizona in the Bobcats' homecoming game. MSU has cracked the top 25 and is 2-0 in conference. NAU will pose a stiff challenge. The Lumberjacks are playing very well on offense led in large part by junior QB Michael Herrick, who is third in the nation in pass efficiency. MSU gave up 337 passing yards to Weber State last week. Weber State hurt itself with turnovers in the red zone. The weather might play a factor in this one, as winter has set in early in Bozeman. Temperatures are kickoff are expected to between 19-22.

Weather might also play a factor over in Missoula where the fourth-ranked Grizzlies take on Cal Poly and the Big Sky's old friend Tim Walsh. No doubt the cool air in Missoula will feel even colder to the Cal Poly squad. The overnight temperature in Missoula is supposed to reach 10 degrees. Saturday's high is expected in the low 30s. It was close to 70 in San Luis Obispo on Friday when the Mustangs left for Missoula. Walsh, if you don't remember, coached Portland State for 14 seasons. He never won in Washington-Grizzly Stadium with the Vikings.
The big question in this game: Can Cal Poly, who averages more than 200 rushing yards per game, have success against a Grizzly defense which ranks second in the nation against the run, allowing 49.5 rushing yards per game.

Snow is expected in Greeley, Colo., when Portland State takes on Northern Colorado on Saturday. Both squads are gunning for their first conference victories. Weather will not be an issue in Sacramento when the Hornets play Idaho State. Idaho State's lone victory last season came over the Hornets. The Bengals haven't won since. Highs are expected to reach the low 80s in Sacramento on Saturday.

Remember, all of the games can be seen for free through www.bigskytv.org.

Around the league
Portland State and Eastern Washington meet in an important volleyball match tonight at 7 p.m. Pacific. EWU is 5-0 in league. PSU is 4-1. If you haven't watched an EWU volleyball match on Big Sky TV, check it out. EWU does an amazing job with its Big Sky TV coverage...Conference season has hit in soccer. EWU and ISU picked up victories on Thursday. EWU upset defending regular-season champion Weber State in Ogden, 1-0. EWU keeper Lisa Dimak saved a penalty kick with about 14 minutes to play. It was an amazing save...EWU announced this week that it will play Washington in football in 2011....Don't ask me why, but I tuned in for about 10 minutes of the first ever United Football League game on Thursday between California and Las Vegas. I scanned the rosters of the four teams and found three Big Sky alums. Former Montana safety Trey Young, former EWU cornerback Isaiah Trufant and former Portland State running back Joe Rubin are listed on rosters...Speaking of former alums in the pros, how good was Jared Allen for the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night against the Packers?

Enjoy the weekend. Keep warm and stay safe.

Jon Kasper - Big Sky Conference