SPOKANE, WASH. — College football inches closer to reality across the country. And on Monday, the Big Sky Conference took one more step with its preseason polls.
The Montana Grizzlies were picked to finish second in the conference by the media and coaches while Montana State was picked to finish fourth at the Big Sky Conference Kickoff in Spokane.
Weber State was picked to win the league by both the coaches and the players. The Wildcats won their eighth league title this past season, after Weber State earned a perfect 5-0 spring mark. The Wildcats have earned at least a share of the conference crown in the past four seasons, with 2021 being their first outright title.
Weber State racked up 14 first-place votes from the media, while seven coaches picked the Wildcats to finish at the top of the league. Montana collected the next highest total of first-place votes, with four from the media and two from the coaches. Montana State, Eastern Washington and Sacramento State were among the other teams to earn a top vote.
Montana is coming off of a two-game spring schedule where the Grizzlies beat Central Washington and Portland State back in April. Montana State has not played a game since December 2019 when the Bobcats advanced to the semifinal round of the FCS playoffs.
The Grizzlies and Bobcats both open their seasons on Sept. 4. MSU will play at Wyoming, the school where new head coach Brent Vigen just came from, while UM will play at Washington in Seattle.
The full polls are below.
COACHES POLL
- Weber State (7)
- Montana (2)
- Eastern Washington (2)
- Montana State (1)
- Sacramento State (1)
- UC Davis
- Northern Arizona
- Idaho
- Idaho State
- Portland State
- Southern Utah
- Cal Poly
- Northern Colorado
MEDIA POLL
- Weber State (14)
- Montana (4)
- Eastern Washington (3)
- Montana State (3)
- Sacramento State
- UC Davis
- Northern Arizona
- Idaho
- Idaho State
- Portland State
- Southern Utah
- Northern Colorado
- Cal Poly
