SPOKANE, Wash. — Football season inches closer and closer, and expectations remain high for the two FCS programs in the Treasure State.
The Big Sky Conference preseason coaches and media polls were released on Monday at the Big Sky Kickoff. The Montana Grizzlies were picked to win the league in both polls while Montana State was picked second in the media poll and third in the coaches poll.
The Grizzlies are coming off of a 2021 campaign where they went 10-3 overall and 6-2 in Big Sky play. Montana advanced to the quarterfinal round of the FCS playoffs where they ultimately fell to James Madison.
The Grizzlies last won a Big Sky regular season title in 2009. The Griz received the most first-place votes from the media with 14 and received three first-place votes in the coaches poll.
The Bobcats are coming into 2022 off of a run to the FCS national championship game in 2021. MSU went 12-3 in 2021 and 7-1 in conference play. MSU advanced to the title game in Frisco, Texas where they eventually fell to FCS powerhouse North Dakota State.
The Bobcats last won a share of the Big Sky regular season championship in 2012 and last won the title outright in 2011. The Bobcats received the most first-place votes in the coaches poll with five and was second in the media poll with 13.
In the HERO Sports preseason FCS Top 25 poll, MSU was picked third while UM was picked fourth. In the Athlon Sports preseason poll, the two schools are flipped with UM ranked third and MSU ranked fourth.
Here are the full polls with first-place votes in parenthesis:
Coaches poll
1. Montana (3) — 111
2. Sacramento State (4) — 110
3. Montana State (5) — 109
4. Weber State — 84
5. UC Davis — 82
6. Eastern Washington — 76
7. Northern Arizona — 62
8. Idaho — 45
9. Portland State — 42
10. Cal Poly — 33
T11. Idaho State — 19
T11. Northern Colorado — 19
Media poll
1. Montana (14) — 356
2. Montana State (13) — 352
3. Sacramento State (4) — 335
4. Weber State — 261
5. UC Davis (1) — 255
6. Eastern Washington — 236
7. Northern Arizona — 191
8. Portland State — 146
9. Idaho — 142
10. Cal Poly — 85
11. Northern Colorado — 71
12. Idaho State — 66
