BIG SKY MEDIA DAY PRESEASON COACHES POLL:
- Montana
- Portland State
- Northern Colorado
- Idaho
- Eastern Washington (tied 5th)
- Montana State (tied 5th)
- Sacramento State
- Idaho State
- Weber State
- Northern Arizona
BIG SKY MEDIA DAY PRESEASON MEDIA POLL:
- Montana
- Portland State
- Northern Colorado
- Idaho
- Idaho State
- Montana State
- Sacramento State
- Eastern Washington
- Weber State
- Northern Arizona
COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-Montana has been the flagship program in this conference for the last couple of seasons and is again the consensus favorite to win the league. Like seemingly everyone in college basketball, they are tasked with having to rebuild their roster. Just one starter is back from last year’s 25-win team that won the Big Sky and made the NCAA Tournament. Money Williams returns, and while Te’Jon Sawyer was not a regular starter, he provided a lot of quality minutes off the bench and is certainly capable of stepping into a bigger role. They have also added a handful of transfers from bigger programs that are likely seeking out more playing time, so the Grizz have some pieces.
-Portland State returns their two leading scorers from a season ago, and because of that the expectations are high. Jaylin Henderson and Terri Miller Jr. are two proven players who know the system. The question is can the rest of the roster step up? They do have several transfers, but most appear to have seen limited action a season ago.
-Northern Colorado is the team I like. They tied for 1st place last year and won 25 total games before losing to Montana in the Big Sky Championship. They return some key pieces from that rotation and add some talented-looking freshmen that, while young, may be able to contribute right away.
-It has been a while since anyone was all that excited about Idaho (other than their big rivalry game with Washington State, which involves two teams who are just eight miles apart that have never met in the NCAA Tournament!), but they have three starters back, including Kristian Gonzalez and Kolton Mitchell, who were both double-digit scorers a year ago, and Jack Payne was also a solid player. I kind of like the Vandals this year. While they were an unimpressive 8-10 overall in conference play, I like their experience and they have shown signs of getting better (albeit slowly) in recent years.
-Eastern Washington struggled last year in Dan Monson’s first year as head coach, but signs seem to be pointing toward an improved team this year. They have a lot more experience, and added Isaiah Moses from the transfer portal, who was a pretty solid guard for UC Riverside last year. Andrew Cook is also back (update: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmMpPO_R7e8), and Emmett Marquardt will likely be a contributing player after a really solid freshman season last year.
-Montana State is having to completely rebuild with all five starters from last season being gone. They have added a couple of guards who were standout players at the D-2 level, and they should be able to step in and contribute right away, but the question is how will they adjust to D-1?
-Sacramento State has been a disaster in recent years and won just seven total games a year ago. The expectations are still pretty low, but I do think this team will be better. Mike Bibby takes over as head coach, and this may be a much-needed change for the Hornets. He has gone out and gotten some transfers from higher level programs and conferences, so it is likely that win total will improve. They are unlikely to finish at the top of the standings, but I am willing to bet that they are not as close to the bottom as they have been.
-Idaho State was a pretty respectable 10-8 in conference play a year ago, but having to replace Dylan Darling is no small task. Two other starters are back, and I do think they can do a little better than 8th. They have added several standout players from lower divisions to fill out the roster, and while these guys are not proven D-1 players, it looks like they will be able to contribute. I think people may be overlooking this Idaho State team a little bit.
-Weber State has gone from being one of the flagship programs in this conference to being one of the doormats, and being picked 9th in the preseason poll shows that the respect for them just is not there. But, I think there are reasons to be optimistic. Four starters are back, and while this team only won 9 D-1 games last season, they were showing signs of life down the stretch. They won three of their last five before losing in the conference tournament (albeit badly to Northern Colorado), but they almost knocked off that same NoCo team in the last week of the season. I like that they are experienced and I like some of the roster additions. I think this could be a dark horse team this year.
-Expectations are not high for Northern Arizona, but with two key starters returning from a team that was at least decent last year (8-10 in Big Sky play), I am a little surprised they are being picked dead last. The program has actually shown signs of improving with the overall win total going up in each of the last four seasons. Having said that, they do not have too many guys who have proven themselves at the D-1 level, so it may be a struggle this year.
