Big Sky Rankings — NAU is 3-1 and UM is 1-3, just like we expected

    I’m sick as my coworker, Josh Friesen, when his Kansas City Chiefs blew a 28-point lead in the playoffs a couple weeks back.
    But instead of my heart feeling like it’s been split in two and sent through a grinder, my eyes burn, my back hurts and I just want to slink back into bed. Is this how Southern Utah men’s basketball fans feel all the time?
    Without further ado.

1. Northern Colorado 10-3, 4-0
Last week: No. 1
    Northern Colorado’s home prowess continued in wins against Weber State, 70-51, and Idaho State, 82-75.
    The Bears are 9-0 in Greeley, Colo., and that includes all four of their conference wins. The committee (of one) criticized UNC’s strength of schedule in the preseason, but after such a hot start to league play, they’ve almost dispelled any questions regarding their sterling 10-3 record.
    But here’s the last test: Can they take the show on the road? Through the first two weeks, teams in the Big Sky are 5-17 away from home.
    Northern Colorado visits Montana State Thursday and Montana Saturday.

2. Weber State 6-6, 3-1
Last week: No. 2
    The Wildcats and its vaunted frontline — well, a frontline vaunted by the committee (of one) — struggled to contain the Bears’ Derrick Barden in a 70-51 loss before rebounding to down North Dakota 72-60.
    Barden poured in a game-high 21 points while collecting 13 boards against Weber State, a game the Bears led by nine at half.
    Freshman guards Richaud Gittens and Jeremy Senglin, both in their first starts in the Big Sky, finished a combined 1 of 9 from the field for six points, one assist and four turnovers.

3. Montana State 8-7, 3-1
Last week: No. 3
    After losing a nine-point, second-half lead, Montana State fell to Eastern Washington 77-72 on the road, but the Bobcats had already nabbed a win away from home, outlasting Portland State 79-76.
    In the league, only Eastern Washington attempts more 3s than MSU. In the ’Cats win at PSU, they made 8 of 15 3-pointers. In Cheney, Wash., two days later, Montana State finished 5 for 20.
    The game of the week is Thursday when the Bobcats host Northern Colorado in snowy Bozeman.

4. Northern Arizona 6-9, 3-1
Last week: No. 5
    At home, Northern Arizona beat Sacramento State 75-65 and then the Lumberjacks whipped Southern Utah in Cedar City 70-36.
    For Jack fans, here’s the optimistic point of view on NAU: Beating Montana by eight the first week of league action was the surprise of the season. And after averaging a shade under 65 points a game during nonconference play, NAU is putting up 71 a clip in four Big Sky games.
    The not-so-optimistic take: There is none, absolutely none. The Lumberjacks have played three conference games on the road, winning two and it took a last-second running floater for Montana State to hold off NAU Jan. 4 after the ’Jacks started 3-8 in the preseason. Now if Northern Arizona could just get more than 905 fans in the seats (the attendance for the matchup with Sac State) for home games, life would really be good.

5. Idaho State 5-8, 2-2
Last week: No. 4
    In a loss that stung, ISU dropped a 66-62 decision to North Dakota and then came up short at Northern Colorado, 82-75.
    After torching Eastern Washington and Portland State for 87 and 83 points, respectively, at home, the Bengals turned the ball over 23 times at North Dakota and recorded their third-fewest point total of the year.
    The offense was good last Saturday in Greeley. The Bears’ was even better as UNC shot 50 percent from the floor and made 10 more free throws than the Bengals.
    And an important three-game stretch starts Thursday when Southern Utah visits Holt Arena. ISU is off Saturday but plays at Weber State Monday before hosting Montana (Jan. 23) and Montana State (Jan. 25).

6. Eastern Washington 7-8, 2-2
Last week: No. 7
    Eastern Washington knocked off Montana 69-62 and Montana State 77-72 in Cheney.
    Want proof that home is the place to reside in the Big Sky? In two road losses, the Eagles shot 41 percent from the field. At home, that mark jumps to 46 percent. And their opponents’ shooting percentage dropped from 48 to 41 percent.

7. North Dakota 5-9, 2-2
Last week: No. 9
    Mascot-less North Dakota staved off a 1-3 start in the league by topping Idaho State 66-62 and then falling to Weber State 72-60.
    North Dakota forced 23 Bengal turnovers that it flipped into 26 points. Weber State, however, limited UND’s damage in the open court, actually outscoring the mascot-less 19-14 in points off turnovers.
   
8. Portland State 6-7, 1-3
Last week: No. 9
    The Vikings lost 79-76 to Montana State and beat Montana 81-78 in triple overtime.
    That’s a gut check win against the Grizzlies. Montana had two-point leads with a minute remaining in regulation and the first overtime. It took a 3-pointer from Gary Winston with four seconds left to finally subdue the Griz.
    For a program that dropped what might have been its best player (forward Aaron Moore) after its road trip through Ogden and Pocatello, finding a way to dig out a victory against Montana shows the committee (of one) that the Vikings have some fight.
   
9. Montana 6-7, 1-3
Last week: No. 6
    What the heck is going on at Montana? The Grizzlies plunged to the bottom of the Big Sky standings with a 69-62 loss at Eastern Washington and a triple overtime 81-78 defeat to Portland State.
    Good (for the most part) offensively, Montana has been mediocre to bad both defensively and rebounding the basketball. And after hosting North Dakota and Northern Colorado this week, the Grizzlies have four straight road games that include stops at Weber State, Idaho State and Montana State. A 3-7 start in the Big Sky is a real possibility.
   
10. Sacramento State 5-8, 1-3
Last week: No. 10
    Sacramento State ended its four-game swing away from home with a 10-point loss (75-65) at Northern Arizona and a 77-49 win at Southern Utah.
    So the not-so-good news for the Hornets is that they’re 1-3 in the Big Sky. The good news: In Sac State’s next 16 games, 10 of them are in Sacramento.

11. Southern Utah 1-12, 0-4
Last week: No. 11
    Losers of 12 straight, Southern Utah lost two home games to Sacramento State by 28 (77-49) and Northern Arizona by 34 (70-36).       
    Reason No. 4 why the Thunderbird is the worst mascot in the Big Sky Conference (and possibly the entire country): When the committee (of one) hears Thunderbird, thoughts immediately turn to the car manufactured by Ford from 1955-1997 and 2002-2005. According to Wikipedia (and when is Wikipedia ever wrong?), Ford has produced over 4.4 million T-Birds.
    Why did Ford stop? Probably because the “11th generation” that debuted over a decade ago was uglier than Philip Rivers’ behavior during a football game. And anytime you can connect Philip Rivers’ gameday antics to a mascot, it’s a lose-lose situation.