The Big Sky released their preseason rankings of both the coaches and media, and no surprise as Weber State was ranked 1 in both polls.
The media and coaches both selected the Wildcats as an overwhelming favorite in the preseason polls, released on Wednesday. This is the fourth straight season Weber State has been selected by the coaches and media as the preseason favorite.Four straight years of being the top, but Randy Rahe has not had a lot of postseason success during that time. The onus will be on him to deliver, because on paper they have the most talented team in the Big Sky. Here are the full rankings:
Media Preseason Poll
1. Weber State (19) 210
2. Montana (4) 193
3. Northern Colorado (1) 141
4. Northern Arizona 125
5. Portland State 112
6. Eastern Washington 109
7. Montana State 101
8. Sacramento State 45
9. Idaho State 41
Coaches’ Preseason Poll
1. Weber State (8) 64
2. Montana (1) 56
3. Eastern Washington 42
4. Northern Colorado 41
5. Portland State 38
6. Northern Arizona 35
7. Montana State 24
8. Sacramento State 16
9. Idaho State 9
A few notes from it:
- It is no surprise that Weber State and Montana are the clear 1 and 2. I have been saying all along that these two are the premier teams in the Conference and the two I have at the top.
- Northern Colorado at three, and getting a vote for #1 in the media poll is a head-scratcher, to be honest. Not to put them down, because they have talent, but I don't see how there is any objective way that they should get a vote for #1. I would love to hear a rationale for that from whoever made that vote.
- Likewise, seeing Eastern Washington down at 6 in the media poll seems low to me. I think the coaches have them pegged a bit more correctly.
- I would be curious if Northern Arizona's spot would change at all based on the injury to Gabe Rogers. I am guessing that would knock them down a bit in the media poll.
- Interesting to me that Montana State is ranked as 7 in both polls. That could be right, but I think they have some solid upside.
In the interest of full disclosure, I submitted my picks for the media poll, and here is the order I went with (and my projected standings):
1. Weber State (13-3)
2. Montana (11-5)
3. Portland State (10-6)
4. Eastern Washington (9-7)
5. Northern Arizona (8-8)
6. Montana State (7-9)
7. Northern Colorado (7-9)
8. Sacramento State (4-12)
9. Idaho State (3-13)
Would love to hear feedback on what everyone thinks of the polls.
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You picked the defending conference champs 7th? That's insulting.
ReplyDeleteMontana State has upside with what seems like a pretty good recruiting year, but they did lose like 11 of their last 13 games to close last season. I'd say 6 or 7 sounds about right.
ReplyDeleteI think the top 3 picks are pretty solid. The last two places are pretty safe bets. #4, #5, #6, and #7 are pretty hard to pick. I think they could be pretty interchangeable.
No offense to UNC, but didn't they lose their top 3 scorers, including MVP stud Beitzel? Most of their roster is comprised of freshmen and sophomores. I think putting them at 6 or 7 is pretty logical - it has nothing to do with the respect from last year. If they are right there in the mix, then watch out, because they'll be the team to beat the next two seasons as well.
I think there's a pretty clear top tier (WSU & UM), middle tier (UNC, NAU, PSU, MSU & EWU) and bottom tier (Sac. St & ISU) at this point. We should see a lot of parody out of those middle 5 teams and, hopefully, a lot of close, exciting games between them. It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out.
ReplyDeleteNCU, should be somewhere around 6. The thing insulting is picking Weber State to lose 3 games.
ReplyDeletenone of this is insulting.
ReplyDeleteunc with a first place vote now that is crazy. unc has lost too much.
how many teams have won back to back titles? 10.
6 are weber state.