‘It’s a chip on our shoulder’: Big Sky media, coaches rank Eastern Washington in middle of the pack

Eastern Washington’s standing as seventh in both Big Sky football preseason polls felt predictable, and it represents an improvement over their eighth-place finish in the 12-team conference last season, when the Eagles finished 2-6 in conference play and 3-8 overall.

But the top of the preseason coaches’ poll contained a couple surprises when it was released Monday during the Big Sky media day at Northern Quest Resort and Casino.

Behind heavy favorite Montana State – a national semifinalist last season – the coaches ranked UC Davis second, Sacramento State third, Weber State fourth and Idaho fifth. Davis and SSU received a single first-place vote each, with the other 10 going to Montana State.

The surprise was Idaho at No. 5, three spots lower than where it landed in the media poll. Notable, too, was that Montana slotted in one spot below the Vandals in each poll, at sixth and third, respectively.

Some national preseason polls, including the FCS HERO Sports Top 25, have Idaho ranked fifth nationally – not just among Big Sky teams.

Last year the Big Sky sent five teams to the FCS playoffs: Montana State, Sacramento State, Idaho, Weber State and Montana. Two of those teams – Sacramento State and Weber State – have first-year head coaches this year after their predecessors accepted jobs at FBS programs.

For the Eagles, the preseason ranking is a spot lower than where they were ranked in the 2022 preseason poll. Last season they finished with their fewest Big Sky wins since 2006.

“We knew we were probably going to be in the middle of the poll, but we didn’t take it to heart,” EWU senior cornerback Darrien Sampson said. “It’s a chip on our shoulder, and it’s going to make us better as a team. We get to go out there and prove ourselves this year and get back to what Eastern does.”

Following Idaho in the coaches’ poll was Montana at No. 6, Eastern at No. 7, then Portland State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Cal Poly and Idaho State.

Atop the media poll, with 26 first-place votes, was Montana State, followed by Idaho (eight first-place votes), Montana (two votes) and Sacramento State (three). UC Davis was fifth, Weber State sixth, Eastern seventh, followed by NAU, PSU, UNC, Cal Poly and ISU.

The polls portend another difficult start to the conference schedule for the Eagles, who visit UC Davis on Sept. 23 in their Big Sky opener, followed by a home game against Idaho. The three teams Eastern will not play this year are Sacramento State, Montana and Northern Colorado.

Four Eagles land on preseason watch teams

EWU junior receiver Efton Chism III, senior tight end Blake Gobel, senior cornerback Marlon Jones Jr. and senior punter Nick Kokich all earned preseason all-conference selections on the teams released Monday.

Idaho receiver Hayden Hatten and Weber State defensive lineman Winston Reid were named preseason offensive and defensive MVPs, respectively.

The honor is the second consecutive one for Chism, who made last year’s preseason all-league list.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m honored and blessed,” Chism said, “but I’ve always been told preseason’s just preseason, so it really doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, I actually want to receive the award and have it actually mean something.”

Last year, Chism made 62 catches for 607 yards and six touchdowns, garnering him a third-team All-Big Sky selection.

All but two teams – Portland State and Idaho State – had at least one player named to the preseason all-conference team, which was voted on by coaches and media.

Big Sky pleased with ESPN relationship

With two years left on its current media deal with ESPN, the Big Sky is happy with the relationship, league commissioner Tom Wistrcill said on Monday.

On its streaming platform, ESPN-Plus, the network carries a variety of Big Sky programming, including football, basketball, volleyball, softball and other sports.

“I think our place is actually really solid, and it’s mainly because of geography,” Wistrcill said. “They need programming all day. … What we provide for them is great programming in the western part of the United States.”

Wistrcill touted the league’s ability to draw a national audience and said he likes how the partnership has gone thus far.

“The challenge is, they have financial struggles because their streaming platform on ESPN-Plus and their linear platform are kind of working against each other,” he said, “and so we have to find our sweet spot in there as we look to grow our program. But they’ve been great partners, and they continually show more and more interest in us, so we’re excited about that.”

Wistrcill also said he would like to see the FCS playoff committee seed the bracket’s top 16 teams, not just its top eight as it has for many years. That, he recognized, would be a benefit for the Big Sky, which sent five teams to the playoff last year. But he made the argument that it would simply be the more equitable way to set the bracket.

“Instead of (seeding the) top eight and after that you’re looking at geography and money, it’s a true tournament,” Wistrcill said. “We believe that the ninth-best team and the 10th-best team, as it goes down, should have advantages that the 16th team doesn’t. Right now they don’t.”

“Twenty-four is a perfect number for (the) FCS (playoff field). Just help us be a little more fair to the teams that qualify at a high level.”