The committee (of one) realizes Christmas was last week (and we hope all of our readers had a memorable holiday surrounded by loved ones), but we spent Christmas day slaving away at the office. The Christmas spirit was lacking.
But it’s OK because we know Christmas has arrived, just a week late. Big Sky Conference action is here folks. Gone are the days of nonconference matchups between Weber State and St. Katherine, Idaho State and Washington, North Dakota and Wisconsin, Montana State and Walla Walla.
The race for the Big Sky postseason tournament starts now. There are 11 teams and seven spots available.
Without further ado.
1. Northern Colorado 7-3, 1-0
Last week: No. 1
Just like Santa on Christmas Eve, the Big Sky’s opening conference game of the season came and went in the middle of the night.
OK, not really, but the Bears made a loud statement by pounding visiting North Dakota Sunday afternoon in Greeley, Colo., 84-66.
North Dakota, with its uber-athletic senior guard Troy Huff, was a trendy pick to win the league in the preseason. But Huff had 13 against the Bears on 3-of-12 shooting and Northern Colorado led from the 14 minute, 17-second mark of the first half — including a 46-32 halftime lead — and rolled to an easy double-digit, you-had-better-respect-us-now type of victory.
2. Montana 5-4, 0-0
Last week: No. 2
In what might have been the best game of the week, Montana fought back from a double-digit deficit to knock off Idaho 72-71 in Moscow.
Big Sky co-player of the week Kareem Jamar drained two free throws with less than five seconds left to lift the Grizzlies to their fourth straight win.
Jamar finished with 26 points and eight rebounds in 39 minutes. The reigning conference player of the year is so stinking good, the committee (of one) is ready to hand the 6-foot-5 senior his 2013-14 MVP trophy before Montana plays a league game.
3. Eastern Washington 5-6, 0-0
Last week: No. 3
After playing Seton Hall Dec. 22, Eastern Washington stayed back east for the holidays and took on Connecticut last Saturday, falling to the 17th-ranked Huskies 82-65.
For the second game in a row, the Eagles had a great first half before the favorite slowly pulled away as the game progressed. EWU was outscored by Seton Hall and UConn in the second half by a combined 106-76.
And in the New Year, Eastern’s road travels continue when they play at Weber State Thursday and in Pocatello Saturday. Without a senior on the roster, how the young squad handles the beginning of conference play could go a long way in determining if EWU is a true contender for a league championship.
4. Montana State 5-6, 0-0
Last week: No. 6
The committee (of one) is flummoxed. Montana State hasn’t played since Dec. 23 and that was a 15-point loss at UTEP. Since then, the Bobcats have rested in snowy Bozeman, Mont., preparing for their Big Sky opener at home against Sacramento State.
So without doing a thing, Montana State has moved up two spots in the most important rankings in Pocatello (or at least in this paper ... or this sports section). How is that possible? Does the committee (of one) really think the Bobcats are the fourth best team in the conference?
But who does deserve this spot? The No. 4 squad last week (North Dakota) was a mess in its only game last weekend and the No. 5 team (Idaho State) has lost its last four.
Consider Montana State sitting in the four hole as more of a war with attrition than anything else. We’re hopeful that after a week of conference games somebody, anybody shows some life and claims this spot with authority.
5. Weber State 3-5, 0-0
Last week: No. 8
After a sluggish opening 20 minutes, the Wildcats blew out NAIA-foe Northern New Mexico 75-49 last week in Ogden, Utah.
Joel Bolomboy, Weber’s 6-foot-9 sophomore forward, had one field goal in the game, a thunderous dunk. But he pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds and his running mate in the frontcourt, 6-10 Kyle Tresnak, scored 22 points on 8-of-9 shooting. Those two big guys are as good of a reason as any to stick with Weber to live up to preseason projections that heavily favored the Wildcats to run away with the conference this season.
From big picture perspective, Weber’s game with Eastern Thursday night in the Dee Events Center is the matchup of the week. Northern Colorado announced its intentions by beating down North Dakota last Sunday, and we expect Wildcat head coach Randy Rahe to demand the same from his team against Eastern.
6. Portland State 5-4, 0-0
Last week: No. 7
If we’ve learned anything from this past offseason, it’s that Portland State knows how to schedule. The Vikings, off last week, have played seven home games and two away from the friendly confines of the Stott Center.
Idaho State will not have played its seventh game in Pocatello until Jan. 23.
Despite being one of three teams in the league with a winning record, Portland State has the second-lowest RPI in the Big Sky at No. 285, four spots ahead of 1-8 Southern Utah.
But we bring this up only as a conversation topic. The Vikings have experienced (winning) success five times this season. Other programs — perhaps those not in position to schedule near as many nonconference home games — have labored through schedules packed with the BYUs, Utahs and UCLAs of the world.
7. Idaho State 3-6, 0-0
Last week: No. 5
Last week, Idaho State lost to Cal State Bakersfield 61-57 at Holt Arena.
An optimist’s point of view on the Bengals to this point of the season: They’re scoring more while leading the league in forced turnovers and in spite of a four-game losing streak, Idaho State has loads of potential to get better. Tomas Sanchez, Andre Hatchett, Chris Hansen and Jeffrey Solarin (averaging a combined 55.3 points a night) are a deadly foursome who will lead ISU’s charge back to the postseason tournament.
A pessimist’s point of view on the Bengals to this point of the season: Doesn’t matter how good Sanchez, Hatchett, Hansen and Solarin are if the Bengals don’t find a way to climb out of the cellar of the Big Sky in field-goal percentage defense. Bakersfield shot 46 percent from the floor last Saturday night and that’s the lowest mark the Bengals have held anybody to since Carroll College hit 43 percent of its attempts back in early December.
8. Sacramento State 4-5, 0-0
Last week: No. 9
The Hornets lost a 10-point halftime lead but recovered late to hold off UC Riverside 69-67 last weekend in Sacramento, Calif.
It must have been quite the game to watch with 49 fouls and 63 free throws between the two teams, but shooting 33 times from the line (making 25 of them) certainly helped the Bees climb to the 69-point mark, the highest total they’ve reached against Division I competition this season since putting up 73 against UC Davis Nov. 26.
9. North Dakota 3-8, 0-1
Last week: No. 4
The projected high in Grand Forks, N.D., today is 7 degrees below zero, and the men’s basketball team is a mess, even with one of the most talented rosters in the Big Sky.
They’ve been terrible defensively, allowing opponents to shoot 58 percent on 2-point attempts during nonconference play. Then in UND’s league opener, Northern Colorado burned them by nailing 29 of 48 field-goal attempts (60 percent).
There’s plenty of time for head coach Brian Jones and the mascot-less to figure it, but, hey, in frigid Grand Forks hockey is a big deal. UND’s men’s basketball team receives great support but the North Dakota hockey squad takes priority.
And the hockey team is sitting in third place of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference standings with a competitive 9-7-2 record. Whether they figure it out or not, at least there’s hockey.
10. Northern Arizona 3-8, 0-0
Last week: No. 10
Northern Arizona has been off since its 33-point loss to the No. 1 team in the country, Arizona, Dec. 23.
And if the committee (of one) is being honest, we don’t have much to say about the Lumberjacks. They’ve beaten two Division I teams (UTSA and Grand Canyon) who have a combined 10-16 record, but they’ve also played USC, Fresno State and Hawaii tough.
While there’s nothing that sparks our interest in the basketball team, we can confirm that the Beaver Street Brewery & Whistle Stop Cafe is a great stop in Flagstaff for a tasty micro brew and solid food staples like pretzels the size of your face and entrees spilling over dinner plates.
11. Southern Utah 1-8, 0-0
Last week: No. 11
Thankfully for T-bird men’s basketball fans everywhere, Southern Utah took all of last week off, thereby avoiding another double-digit loss to a nonconference opponent.
Last week, the committee (of one) gracefully handed out Christmas gifts to all 11 of the Big Sky’s teams. That meant we took a break from listing reasons why the Thunderbird is the worst mascot in the Big Sky Conference (and possibly the entire country).
Reason No. 2: Thunderbird is three syllables. Mascot-ologoy 101 dictates the best mascots are two syllables and no more. Think Ben-gals, Bob-cats, Vik-ings.
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