There is a lot of football to be played before Oct. 13, but the Eastern Washington and Weber State football teams are predicted to be on collision course toward a Big Sky Conference title showdown that day in Ogden, Utah.
The Eagles are seventh and the Wildcats are eighth in the American Football Coaches Association preseason Top 25 Poll released on Monday (Aug. 13). A mere eight votes separate the two league rivals, a week after WSU was one slot better than EWU in the STATS preseason poll.
Eastern is picked to win the Big Sky Conference title by the league’s head coaches and media, and Weber State is EWU’s only 2018 opponent ranked in the top 25 in the AFCA poll. Montana is No. 25, but the Eagles and Grizzlies don’t play this season for the first time since 1982. Three other league teams EWU does play received enough votes by the coaches to rank in the top 31 – Idaho (26th with 41), Northern Arizona (27th with 36) and Southern Utah (31st with 11).
Defending FCS champion North Dakota State is ranked No. 1, receiving 23 of 26 first-place votes. The Bison are followed by James Madison, South Dakota State, Sam Houston State, Kennesaw State and Jacksonville State.
In the STATS poll, Weber State was No. 8 with 2,815 points, while EWU was ninth with 2,541. Three other league teams received enough votes to rank in the top 31 – Southern Utah (#28), Northern Arizona (#29) and Idaho (#31). Montana just made it into the top 25 at No. 24.
Eastern and Weber State meet on Oct. 13 in Ogden, Utah, and that game has been picked by STATS as the most important Big Sky game of the season on its list of Pivotal FCS Conference Games in 2018. Eastern plays at NAU on Sept. 9 in a non-conference game, one week after the team’s opener at home versus Central Washington on Sept. 1.
Three weeks after the team plays at Washington State of the Pacific 12 Conference on Sept. 15, the Eagles will host Southern Utah on Oct. 6. Three weeks after that, Idaho visits Roos Field for the first time since 1994 on Oct. 27. Both the SUU and Idaho games will be televised by ROOT Sports.
Previously, Eastern ranked as high as fourth nationally in rankings released by a trio of preseason publications. Hero Sports pegged the Eagles as the No. 4 team in FCS, ranking behind defending champion NDSU, JMU and Kennesaw State. Eastern is sixth in the Athlon Sports rankings, and is the top-ranked Big Sky team in both polls. Weber State is rated No. 9, Montana is No. 18 and Sacramento State is No. 23 by Athlon, and Hero Sports has Weber State 18th, UC Davis 22nd and Big Sky newcomer Idaho at 23rd.
The Wildcats, who advanced to the quarterfinals of last year’s FCS Playoffs, are the highest-ranked BSC team on Street & Smith’s top 25. Weber State is seventh, followed by EWU at 14th, Northern Arizona at 16th and Sacramento State at 19th.
