Cheer up, sports fans, because while football is coming to an end, college basketball is just getting fired up.
The committee (of one) couldn’t be happier. The days are cold — especially for you, frigid Grand Forks, N.D. — but gyms are toasty hot as Hornets battle Eagles and Lumberjacks chop down Grizzlies.
And now after everybody has played two games versus league opponents, we can start to validate the rankings with head-to-head results. There’s a lot of movement this week, too, as nine of the 11 teams shuffled spots.
Without further ado.
1. Northern Colorado 8-3, 2-0
Last week: No. 1
Northern Colorado walloped helpless Southern Utah 91-55 at home last week.
How’s this for a scheduling quirk? Northern Colorado had five home non-conference games (most teams in the Big Sky had no more than 3-4) in the preseason, and then the Bears start league play with four more games in Greeley, Colo.
So far it’s worked pretty well for the Bears who are 7-0 playing in the Butler–Hancock Sports Pavilion. And with both Weber State and Idaho State traveling to UNC this week, we’ll all have a chance to find out if Northern Colorado with the No. 1 scoring offense and defense in the Big Sky is as good as they’ve looked.
And remember, last year one game separated Montana and Weber State in the final standings, and that meant the Grizzlies hosted the postseason tournament.
2. Weber State 5-5, 2-0
Last week: No. 5
Weber State jumped out to a 2-0 start in the conference by rallying past Eastern Washington 74-67 and blowing out (defense-less) Portland State 79-62 at home.
By the middle of December, the preseason Big Sky favorites had won as many games as Southern Utah, but after the first week of league action, head coach Randy Rahe and the ’Cats are sitting right where they’re supposed to in the conference standings.
A big reason is the play of 6-foot-10 senior center Kyle Tresnak and 6-foot-9 sophomore forward Joel Bolomboy. The two combined to score 38 points and collect 36 rebounds last week. Tresnak’s skill and Bolomboy’s elite athleticism are a difficult duo for the rest of the Big Sky to handle.
3. Montana State 7-6, 2-0
Last week: No. 4
MSU ran away from Sacramento State 70-55, and the Bobcats’ Michael Dison sunk a floater in the lane to down Northern Arizona 68-66.
The ’Cats are eighth in the conference scoring 72.3 points a game. But the difference between the No. 1 offense (Northern Colorado) and No. 8 is 3.2 points. They’re an interesting squad. Only one guy, senior forward Flavien Davis, averages double figures, but nine guys chip in between 5.2 and 9.2 points a night.
And 10 different players have started at least a game. Head coach Brad Huse has constantly changed his starting lineup, but he went with the same starting five against both the Hornets and Lumberjacks.
That tells us (at least for now) that he’s found a rotation he likes, and maybe Montana State has developed quality depth. MSU’s bench outscored Sac State 38-15 and NAU 19-14.
4. Idaho State 5-6, 2-0
Last week: No. 7
The Bengals snapped a four-game losing streak, dispatching Portland State 87-76 and Eastern Washington 83-72.
ISU had two fast-break points against the Vikings and six versus the Eagles. But those numbers fail to encapsulate how much success Idaho State had in the open court.
Every opponent miss, ISU attacked and scored early in the shot clock. Whether it was Andre Hatchett slashing in the lane, Chris Hansen spotting up from 3 or Jeffrey Solarin bounding into the paint for a layup, the Bengals scored early and often.
Idaho State is now 4-1 at home, but the Bengals are 1-5 away from Pocatello and haven’t won a conference road game since Jan. 12 of last season. ISU is looking for respect and they earned some last week. But pick up a win (or two) this week at North Dakota (Thursday) and Northern Colorado (Saturday) and suddenly expectation levels (outside of the Bengal locker room) are going to skyrocket.
5. Northern Arizona 4-9, 1-1
Last week: No. 10
In the upset of the week, Northern Arizona shocked Montana 73-65 and then lost on a last-second shot at Montana State 68-66.
Raise your hand if you picked the Lumberjacks as the team to crack Montana’s 26-game regular season conference winning streak. Anybody out there?
The last time Montana lost in Missoula to a conference foe was way back on Feb. 27, 2010. Since then, the Grizzlies won three conference titles and compiled a 34-2 league record the past two seasons.
NAU beat UM by shooting 59 percent from the floor while winning the rebounding battle 33-24.
The Jacks’ starters averaged 34 minutes and three players — Max Jacobsen (21 points), Aaseem Dixon (23) and Quinton Upshur (18) — poured in 62 of NAU’s 73 points.
By this time next week, with a home date Thursday against Sacramento State and a visit to Southern Utah Monday, Northern Arizona should be 3-1 in the conference.
6. Montana 6-5, 1-1
Last week: No. 2
The Grizzlies lost to Northern Arizona 73-65 and then recovered to beat Sacramento State 82-70.
Other than the quality of opponent, the biggest difference between Montana’s eight-point loss and 12-point win last week is how well players around star Kareem Jamar played.
Against NAU, Jamar played 39 minutes, scored 21 points, dished out seven assists and nabbed eight rebounds. Saddled with foul trouble versus the Hornets, Jamar was limited to 29 minutes where he scored 14 points, handed out six assists and gathered one rebound.
In the Sac State win, three other Grizzlies scored in double figures and 6-foot-7 forward Chris Kemp entered off the bench to snag seven boards.
7. Eastern Washington 5-8, 0-2
Last week: No. 3
Eastern Washington dropped to 0-7 on the road with a 74-67 defeat to Weber State and a 83-72 loss at Idaho State.
The Eagles have lost six in a row and haven’t played at home since Dec. 15. EWU head coach Jim Hayford tweeted Sunday, “Home! 17 of last 20 nights away from the house!”
We recognize that’s tough. After playing Seton Hall and Connecticut on the East Coast, they started at preseason favorite Weber State and then got a hot-shooting Bengal squad in Pocatello.
But from what the committee (of one) observed last Saturday, being on the road for three weeks only starts to explain some of Eastern’s issues. The Eagle roster is thin, they’re overly reliant on sophomore guard Tyler Harvey to score and Martin Seiferth, their 6-10 shot-blocking center, was pushed around by Idaho State’s frontcourt.
The Eagles will be better at home and an improved squad if they can heal up, but they’re not tough enough right now to compete in the upper half of the Big Sky.
8. North Dakota 4-8, 1-1
Last week: No. 9
Mascot-less North Dakota is off to an inauspicious start after recovering from a 84-66 loss to Northern Colorado Dec. 29 to knock off Southern Utah 65-61 at home.
If Northern Colorado and Weber State are the early front-runners to win the Big Sky, North Dakota outpaces the pack to claim the “most disappointing” team mantle.
After finishing third in the conference in its inaugural season in the conference, it was expected that UND had the talent to take another step in the standings this year.
Star guard Troy Huff — from a production standpoint — has done his part. He leads the Big Sky in scoring (22.1), is sixth in rebounds (7.1) and slides in at first in steals per game (2.67).
But there’s something amiss in frigid Grand Forks. While losing to Northern Colorado on the road doesn’t raise alarms, getting beat down by 18 does (particularly when looking lifeless in the process). And then it took a late comeback last Saturday to hold down the Thunderbirds.
9. Portland State 5-6, 0-2
Last week: No. 6
Portland State extended its road losing streak in the Big Sky to 20 games by falling 87-76 to Idaho State and 79-62 to Weber State.
The Vikings have struggled defensively the past couple years, and that’s like saying the Cowboys have slightly disappointed their fans in December.
PSU head coach Tyler Geving lamented on the squad’s defense results before the season began.
“We’re just giving up way too high of a field goal percentage,” he said. “That’s a number we look at. Teams are shooting 48, 49 percent against you, your offense has to be really, really good every night. It’s more determination, more attitude; it’s playing harder. It’s having a little bit more depth.
“It’s just really getting your guys to play harder on the defensive end and focus in and trust each other on that side. Trust me, we’re working on it; we recognize it.”
The committee (of one) has no doubt Geving and his staff are aware of their defensive shortcomings. The Vikings showed promise in the preseason but then Idaho State and Weber State shot a combined 50 for 93 (54 percent), and that includes 18 for 34 (53 percent) from downtown.
On another note, forward Aaron Moore — the guy who flipped off Idaho State’s crowd from the bench late in Thursday’s game — is no longer with the team, as reported Monday by the Portland Tribune.
10. Sacramento State 4-7, 0-2
Last week: No. 8
The Hornets opened the conference season on the road and lost to Montana State 70-55 and Montana 82-70.
Sacramento State can’t score — Ken Pomeroy of kenpom.com ranks the Hornets as the second-least efficient offensive team in the Big Sky at 94.9 points per 100 possessions — and the Hornets haven’t been great defensively where they allow 109.8 points per 100 possessions (only two teams in the league have been worse).
11. Southern Utah 1-10, 0-2
Last week: No. 11
The Thunderbirds extended their losing streak to 10 with losses at North Dakota (65-61) and Northern Colorado (91-55).
Reason No. 3 why the Thunderbird is the worst mascot in the Big Sky Conference (and possibly the entire country): What does thunder have to do with a bird? Do these birds bring the thunder? And what’s so bad about thunder? What’s scary about thunder? Lightning is scary, sure, but thunder is kinda cool, right? Maybe they should be the Lightningbirds.
Wait, you think Lightningbird sounds ridiculous? Then why doesn’t Thunderbird?
