It's the half-way point of the conference season. It is now a three team race, but two others have the chance to crawl back into things if they can string together some wins.
1. Northern Colorado. 17-4 (6-2) Not much of a test this week. Won a home game against Sacramento State. It will not be easy sailing for the bears the rest of the way, but have both Montanas as well as both Northwestern schools at home in the second half. Still have to travel to Ogden, so mark February 13th on your calendar.
2. Weber State. 13-7 (7-1) Yes, the Wildcats are in first place right now, but they have a much tougher second half schedule. That begins next week in Montana. They also have to travel to the Northwest. Damien Lillard and company have their work cut out for them.
3. Montana State. 11-8 (6-2) The Bobcats are also in control of their own destiny, but meet that destiny this Saturday in Greeley. Yea, they could be in first place by the end of next week, but could also be much farther behind.
4. Montana. 13-7 (4-4) The Grizzlies lost a couple of games the past two weeks that they should have won, and are thee games behind the conference leader with eight to play. They can close the gap in the next two weeks, or they could be all but out of it.
5. Northern Arizona. 10-9 (4-4) The Lumberjacks have crawled back into the race by winning four of their last five, but are still 3 games out of first place with 8 left to play. They will need to keep it up to get the post-season tourney into Flagstaff. But even winning four of the next five may not be enough.
6. Portland State. 8-12 (3-5) The Vikings are painfully realizing right now that close only counts in horseshoes. They dropped a couple of close games on the road this last week. They are four games back with eight to play. They will need help to get the conference tournament in Portland.
7. Eastern Washington 6-15 (2-6) They did not help their cause by dropping both games this last weekend. Three more losses or Weber State wins will ensure that the post season tournament will not be in Cheney this year. That could happen this weekend.
8. Idaho State 6-14 (3-5) The Bengals finally have won two in a row. But their elimination number is 4 from the regular season championship. But they could at least qualify for the tournament if it were held today. Last week's success is too little to late, but they are talented enough to trip up someone who has a real dream.
9. Sacramento State 7-14 (1-7) The Hornets are back to being the Hornets that we all know an love. Back to being a team that the rest of the Big Sky looks forward to playing. Elimination number is 2 from the regular season championship and 6 from the post-season tournament.
Games this week:
Thursday:
Montana State at Northern Arizona
Montana at Northern Colorado
Friday:
Sacramento State at Weber State
Saturday:
Montana at Northern Arizona
Sacramento State at Idaho State
Portland State at Eastern Washington
Sunday:
Montana State at Northern Colorado (GOTW)
Monday:
Eastern Washington at Seattle
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