Hunting Down Grizzlies

Matt Dougherty of The Sports Network has picked the Montana Grizzlies to finish atop the Big Sky conference.

1. UM
2. ISU
3. MSU
4. PSU
5. EWU
6. Weber
7. NAU
8. Sac
9. UNC

Offensive player of the year: Lex Hilliard
Defensive player of the year: Pago Togafu

Overall, pretty good analysis.

Griz Blog

If you haven't already, you should head on over to The Grizzoulian. It is a nice, professional blog that deals soley with UM athletics (other sports than football, what?). He does an excellent job, make sure to bookmark it!

Big Sky TV

Some of you may be wondering why I am up at 3:11 AM. Well it is quite simple: I am young and a lot of you are old. Deal with it. But mostly, I saw an advance screening of "Lady in the Water", which even for free wasn't worth the price. On to the news I say!

Officials from the Big Sky announced that all football, men's and women's basketball, and volleyball games will be available via live web-stream, as well as archived viewing, for each of the nine members of the Big Sky Conference starting this next year. According to The Missoulian:

SportsCast Network out of Salt Lake City has developed and produced the project, which is at www.bigskytv.org. Prices are $99.99 for all site content (called the Annual Conference Pass), $59.99 for single-school content or for a month-long all-site pass, $39.99 for a monthly single-school pass, and $6.99 if a fan just wanted to watch a single event

A bit pricey, but if the quality is TV tantamount, then your money may be well spent. It is well that the Bobcats and Griz have nearly all their games broadcast in Montana, but I never have the opportunity to watch other schools in the conference. A happy fan this would make.

And now, bed.

Coaches/Media Poll Place Montana At The Top

Montana was the overwhelming choice in both the media and coaches poll, taken on Monday. Montana received all 8 first place votes from opposing coaches, and assumedly head coach Bobby Hauck put his vote in for Idaho State. Here are the polls:

2006 Coaches Poll

Team (First-place votes) Points
1. Montana (8) 64
2. Eastern Washington 44
3. Montana State 43
4. Portland State 42
5. Idaho State (1) 40
6. Weber State 36
7. Northern Arizona 24
8. Sacramento State 21
9. Northern Colorado 10

2006 MEDIA POLL

Team (First-place votes) Points
1. Montana (28) 283
2. Montana State (2) 206
3. Weber State 188
3. Portland State (1) 185
5. Idaho State 181.5
6. Eastern Washington (1) 180
7. Northern Arizona 105.5
8. Sacramento State 65
9. Northern Colorado 48


I find it interesting that there is such disparity between the two polls. I have been saying all off-season with predictions over at www.anygivensaturday.com, that 2-6 is really a toss up between ISU, Weber, MSU, PSU and EWU. These polls further prove my theory in that the media and coaches share my sentiments. In the coaches poll, EWU received 44 votes, while 6th place Weber State receiver 36 votes, a difference of a mere 8 votes. In fact, spots 2 through 5 are only separated by a total of 4 votes!

The medial poll shapes up the same way, only in different order. MSU takes the #2 spot, but are only ahead 26 votes of the #6 pick, Eastern Washington (who came in at the #2 spot in the coaches poll).

In other words, no one has any idea what will happen in the Sky this year, but a majority of us BSC supporters seem to think Montana will run the table. I certainly cannot argue with that preseason #1 ranking. The question is, who will surprise this year?

Preseason All-Big Sky Team

Montana State and Idaho State each placed 5 on the list, topping all BSC teams.


OFFENSE
QB Matt Gutierrez 6-4 231 Sr. Idaho State
RB Lex Hillard*# 6-0 228 Sr. Montana
FB Ken Cornist 5-11 210 So. Idaho State
TE Tim Calhoun 6-4 250 Sr. Eastern Washington
OG Matt Alfred*# 6-3 300 Jr. Eastern Washington
OG Brennan Carvalho* 6-1 310 Jr. Portland State
C Jeff Marshall 6-5 285 Sr. Montana
OT Joe Hirst# 6-7 292 Sr. Montana State
OT David Hale 6-6 300 Jr. Weber State
WR Eddie Thompson 5-10 185 So. Idaho State
WR Andy Birkel 6-2 180 Sr. Northern Colorado
WR Akilah Lacey 6-3 202 Sr. Idaho State
PK Dan Carpenter 6-2 211 Jr. Montana
Ret. Tuff Harris* 6-0 197 Sr. Montana


DEFENSE
DE Mike Murphy# 6-3 240 Sr. Montana
DE Clive Lowe 6-3 232 Sr. Montana State
DT Aaron Papich 6-2 263 Jr. Montana State
DT Matthis Gehring 6-1 300 Sr. Portland State
LB Pago Togafau*# 5-10 210 Sr. Idaho State
LB Epikopo King 6-0 215 Jr. Montana State
LB Tyson Bulter 6-0 240 Sr. Sacramento State
LB Tyler DeBry 5-11 235 Sr. Weber State CB
KJ Gerard 6-1 170 Jr. Northern Arizona
CB Dominic Dixon*# 5-10 195 Sr. Portland State
S Ryan Force 6-2 207 Sr. Montana State
S Bryan Jarrett* 5-11 210 Jr. Eastern Washington
P Rhian Madrid* 5-11 208 Sr. Northern Arizona
ST Brady Green* 5-9 195 Sr. Montana

Sports Network Rankings

Matt Dougherty has come up with a ranking list for every I-AA squad in the country. While a few schools are a bit low in my opinion, overall I agree with most of his rankings (although I think UNI is a bit low at #7 and Poly is a bit high at #3). Anywho...

2. Montana (8-4) - The Grizzly defense is as deep as any in the country, and the addition of transfer talent at quarterback and wide receiver should inject more life in the Lex Hilliard-led offense and help vault the Grizzlies to a record that would keep them at home throughout the postseason.

18. Montana State (7-4) - Travis Lulay will be dearly missed after a spectacular career under center, but the running game led by Evin Groves and a strong and deep defense give the Bobcats hope to be as good or better in the first season without Lulay.

23. Idaho State (5-6) - The Bengals figure to put points on the board with a strong running tandem and Michigan transfer Matt Gutierrez to revive the passing game, and they have a chance at a postseason run if new starters on the defensive line can play well.

42. Weber State (6-5) - With Brady Fosmark, Shane Barkdull, Paul McQuistan and Pat McQuistan all moving on, both Wildcat lines suffer major losses and the team will be hard-pressed to improve again in Ron McBride’s second season.

47. Eastern Washington (7-5) - The Eagles return a strong offensive line and emerging running back Ryan Cole, but any team that plays average defense and loses the Walter Payton Award winner and one of the best receivers in I-AA history is due for a fall.

50. Portland State (6-5) - With three I-A games and key starters to replace on both sides of the ball, the Vikings will need quick contributions from a host of transfers if they are going to make a run at a winning record.

57. Sacramento State (2-9) - With major personnel losses for many of their conference foes, a Hornet team with Ryan Mole at running back and a few strong players on defense has a chance to at least climb out of the basement and inch closer to .500.

70. Northern Arizona (3-8) - After a promising freshman season, Jason Murrietta will need to display more consistency and a defense that gave up 30 ppg has to improve just to be competitive again in the Big Sky.

71. Northern Colorado (4-7) - Running back Andre Wilson gives Northern Colorado some explosiveness on offense, but the loss of first-team All-American Reed Doughty depletes a defense that surrendered 380 yards per game last year.

I wouldn't rank Sac above NAU, but the rest is tolerable. I still believe that PSU will finish pretty good, even with their three I-A games.

Bears Land A Couple Of Late Transfers

Scott Downing is bringing in a couple if I-A transfers to help his team try to make some waves in their first year as a member of the Big Sky.

* DAVID DYCHES: Senior place-kicker, (6-foot-1, 180) transfer from the University of Nebraska. Kicked 14 field goals as a freshman (2003), scoring a team-high 74 points. Was good on field goals from 23, 20, 29 and 26 yards against Utah State, then hit 4-of-5 a week later against Penn State. A career-long 46 yard field goal against Texas Tech highlighted his sophomore year. Was named as an honorable mention All-American by rivals.com after his freshman season. He was one of two place-kickers the Cornhuskers used his sophomore season. Last season, Dyches had a sporadic season, but was primarily used on kickoffs while the Cornhuskers used Jordan Congdon handled most of the place-kicking duties and was a freshman All-American.

* BRIAN BARMANN: Sophomore tight end, (6-3, 225) transfer from the University of Missouri. Played in 10 games for the Tigers last season as redshirt freshman. Had a prolific high-school career at West Platte High School (Mo.), setting state records in career receiving yards (3,754); and career receptions (226). Caught 42 touchdowns in high school and recorded 25 interceptions as a safety. As a senior, he caught 60 passes for 987 yards and 14 touchdowns. Was named as a high school All-American by Student Sports Magazine.

A solid kicking game is an underrated part of football, and Dyches looks to bring just that, being an All-American honorable mention as a freshman, before being beaten out by an All-American freshman, Jordan Congdon.

Barmann looks to be the biggest pickup here. At 6'3, 225, he might have to add a couple more pounds, depending on what kind of TE they want him to be. But starting 10 games as a RSFR for a I-A program is no small potatoes, and he will have three years of eligibility left at UNC. Also, he was named most-improved TE of the spring, but is buried at 3rd on the depth chart.