As of earlier this week, seven Big Sky Conference teams were ranked in a Football Championship Subdivision coaches’ poll.
One of those teams was Weber State, which of course is Northern Colorado’s opponent Saturday afternoon at Nottingham Field.
Weber State was No. 14 in the Sept. 24 poll and the Wildcats were the highest ranked team with a .500 record. Weber (0-1 Big Sky, 2-2 overall) earned the ranking after losing 40-0 a day before to No. 3 Montana State, which is also in the Big Sky Conference and the highest-ranked conference team in the poll.
Other Big Sky teams in the poll were No. 6 Idaho, No. 9 Sacramento State, No. 16 Montana, No. 20 UC Davis and No. 25 Eastern Washington. UC Davis and Eastern Washington are also 2-2.
So what makes the conference so tough in football?
“It’s the SEC of FCS football,” UNC offensive coordinator Blair Peterson said. “Missouri Valley is a great conference, so you can put that up there. Those are the premier conferences in FCS.”
The now 12-team Missouri Valley Conference was started in 1985 and has an FCS-best 12 national championships with nine from North Dakota State. Last season, the conference extended its record of 12-straight title game appearances with North Dakota State and South Dakota State playing for a title.
Longtime Weber State Director of Athletic Communications Paul Grua said seven teams in the top 25 is a lot for the Big Sky.
First-year Weber State coach Mickey Mental said the conference’s strength lies in the member schools.
“All the programs in the Big Sky have outstanding coaching and run great programs that are supported by their institutions,” Mental said in an email. “From top to bottom everyone plays hard and there is a lot of talent.”
First-year UNC coach Ed Lamb coached Southern Utah for four years when the Thunderbirds were members of the Big Sky.
While football recruiting has a national component, and guys go all over the country to play, the majority of realistic opportunities and offers for players remain regional, Lamb said. The Big Sky is the third-highest league in the West behind the Pac-12 and Mountain West conferences, he added, so if athletes don’t go to those leagues, the BSC is the next level for quality players.
“There’s been great continuity in the Big Sky,” Lamb said. “I think there’s outstanding resources. At Northern Colorado, we’re one of the schools trying to keep up on the resource front.”
Lamb said there are football programs in the Big Sky that have resources “scratching the surface” of resources and facilities of Football Bowl Subdivision schools. FBS is the top level of Division I football.
“All those things put together, I think, it’s really a quality brand of football,” Lamb said. “We also have some flagship state institutions that have large fan bases and great game-day environments, and that sure helps with recruiting as well.”
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