Welcome back, college football fans, as the countdown to the most challenged conference continues. We’ve reached a critical milestone in this episode as we are finishing up the FCS. In fact, we are now in the top 12 with the 12-team Big Sky Conference. Five teams won at least 8 games (Montana St went 15-1 losing only the championship game, UC Davis was 11-3, Idaho finished 10-4, Montana tallied an 9-5 record, and N Arizona racked up 8 wins in 13 tries).
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While Sacramento St (3-9) have applied for FBS status (will they join the Mountain West or the Pac-some number?), I’d love to see the Montanas take the leap to the Pac-x to help rebuild that conference. So far, the Big Sky has had a tough time beating North (and South) Dakota St for the title, but they are getting stronger every year. In fact, Montana St was so good last year, the ended up ranked 99th out of 263 which was better than over 30 FBS teams! If there is a team outside of the Missouri Valley Conference that can knock their dynasty down a peg, it’s in the Big Sky. Yes, I know the CAA and SoCon have great teams. I wrote that the UAC is on the rise. Incarnate Word has been the real deal lately, although the rest of the Southland is not as strong. Of the five teams listed above, only N Arizona was atypical and all five won at least one playoff game. This is a really strong conference. The non-conference FCS game of the year has to be South Dakota St and Montana St.
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In the table below, (F) indicates a non-conference game against other FCS schools, (4) indicates a challenge against a Core 4 squad, (G) indicates a tryst with a Group of 5 team, (D) indicates a step down to a non-division I opponent, and (N) indicates a neutral site game. With pleasure, JoJo and I are proud to present the most challenging FCS conference and 12th overall, Big Sky 2025.
| Team | Home | 2024 Record (Rank) | 2025 PS SOS (Rank) | Home Games | Away/Neutral Games |
| Idaho St Bengals (1) | Pocatello, ID | 5-7 (224) | 5.66 (137) | Lincoln CA (D), Montana, N Arizona, Cal Poly, Weber St | S Utah (F), New Mexico (G), UNLV (G), N Colorado, Montana St, UC Davis, Idaho |
| Weber St Wildcats (2) | Ogden, UT | 4-8 (259) | 5.63 (138) | Butler (F), Sacramento St, E Washington, Montana, N Arizona | James Madison (G), Arizona (4), McNeese (F), UC Davis, Portland St, Montana St, Idaho St |
| Idaho Vandals (3) | Moscow, ID | 10-4 (150) | 5.17 (143) | St Thomas (F), Utah Tech (F), N Colorado, Portland St, UC Davis, Idaho St | Washington St (G), San Jose St (G), Montana, E Washington, N Arizona, Sacramento St |
| N Colorado Bears (4) | Greeley, CO | 1-11 (214) | 5.13 (144) | Chadron St (D), Idaho St, UC Davis, Montana St, Portland St | Colorado St (G), South Dakota (F), Houston Chr (F), Idaho, Sacramento St, N Arizona, E Washington |
| E Washington Eagles (5) | Cheney, WA | 4-8 (242) | 5.11 (146) | W Illinois (F), Portland St, Idaho, Sacramento St, N Colorado | Incarnate Word (F), Boise St (G), N Iowa (F), Montana St, Weber St, Montana, Cal Poly |
| Montana St Bobcats (6) | Bozeman, MT | 15-1 (99) | 5.06 (147) | South Dakota St (F), San Diego (F), Mercyhurst (F), E Washington, Idaho St, Weber St, UC Davis | Oregon (4), N Arizona, Cal Poly, N Colorado, Montana |
| Portland St Vikings (7) | Hillsboro, OR | 3-8 (200) | 5.01 (150) | Tarleton (F), N Arizona, Weber St, Sacramento St, Montana | BYU (4), North Dakota (F), Hawaii (G), E Washington, Idaho, Cal Poly, N Colorado |
| N Arizona Lumberjacks (8) | Flagstaff, AZ | 8-5 (184) | 4.96 (152) | Utah Tech (F), Incarnate Word (F), Montana St, Idaho, N Colorado, Cal Poly | Arizona St (4), S Utah (F), Portland St, UC Davis, Idaho St, Weber St |
| Cal Poly Mustangs (9) | San Luis Obispo, CA | 3-8 (258) | 4.65 (164) | W Oregon (D), UC Davis, Montana St, Portland St, E Washington | San Diego (F), Utah (4), Steph F Austin (F), Sacramento St, Montana, Idaho St, N Arizona |
| UC Davis Aggies (10) | Davis, CA | 11-3 (144) | 4.27 (185) | S Utah (F), Weber St, N Arizona, Idaho St, Sacramento St | Mercer (FN), Utah Tech (F), Washington (4), Cal Poly, N Colorado, Idaho, Montana St |
| Sacramento St Hornets (11) | Sacramento, CA | 3-9 (249) | 4.04 (196) | Mercyhurst (F), C Arkansas (F), Cal Poly, N Colorado, Montana, Idaho | South Dakota St (F), Nevada (G), Weber St, E Washington, Portland St, UC Davis |
| Montana Grizzlies (12) | Missoula, MT | 9-5 (165) | 3.01 (254) | C Washington (D), North Dakota (F), Indiana St (F), Idaho, Cal Poly, Sacred Heart (F), E Washington, Montana St | Idaho St, Sacramento St, Weber St, Portland St |
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That’s it for this episode. JoJo and I thank you for reading and providing wonderful feedback to make the blog better. You can find us on Facebook (Gettys Computer Ranking – College Football), LinkedIn (G Robert Gettys), or online at http://bit.ly/2019GCR – and, of course, all are free and ad-free. All we ask is more feedback and sharing with others to help us grow. See you next episode as the countdown continues, JoJo and G.
