PARK CITY, Utah- The Big Sky Conference announced its preseason football rankings as voted upon by the coaches and media. The conference coaches picked the Bengals to finish 11th out of the 13 teams while the media picked ISU 12th. The announcement came on Tuesday of the Big Sky Conference Summer Kickoff that is being held in Park City, Utah.
This year marks a year of change for the conference as Southern Utah, North Dakota, Cal Poly and UC Davis are joining the conference for football. SUU and North Dakota will compete in the Big Sky Conference in all sports.
Both the media and coaches agreed on the top five teams as Montana State was picked to win the league while Eastern Washington was picked second, Montana third, Portland State fourth and Cal Poly fifth.
In the media poll North Dakota was picked sixth and Weber State seventh while the coaches picked Weber State sixth and Northern Arizona seventh. In the media poll, Southern Utah was picked eighth, Northern Arizona ninth and Sacramento State 10th. The coaches picked SUU eighth, Sacramento State ninth and North Dakota 10th.
The final three spots in the media poll were taken by UC Davis (11th), Idaho State (12th) and Northern Colorado State (13th). In the coaches poll, Idaho State (11th), UC Davis (12th) and Northern Colorado (13th) round on the preseason rankings.
Idaho State officially begins preparation for the 2012 season on August 7. Season, single-game and select road games are on sale now at the Idaho State Ticket Office at Holt Arena. Fans can also log onto isubengals.com or call 208-282-FANS.
First-place Votes in Parenthesis
Media Poll
1. Montana State (30) 502|
2. Eastern Washington (3) 453
3. Montana (5) 442
4. Portland State 334
5. Cal Poly (1) 323
6. North Dakota 295
7. Weber State (1) 284
8. Southern Utah 258
9. Northern Arizona 242
10. Sacramento State 191
11. UC Davis 135
12. Idaho State 115
13. Northern Colorado 63
Coaches' Poll
1. Montana State (7) 136
2. Eastern Washington (4) 131
3. Montana (1) 126
4. Portland State 90
5. Cal Poly 86
6. Weber State 81
7. Northern Arizona 75
8. Southern Utah (1) 74
9. Sacramento State 71
10. North Dakota 68
11. Idaho State 31
12. UC Davis 30
13. Northern Colorado 14
