The Big Sky conference is much, much more than just having the best conference name. FBS schools hate losing to their “little brothers” in the FCS. The Big Sky had 2 nail-biting triumphs over the FBS on debut Thursday.
UC Davis took advantage of a suspension-ridden Tulsa squad (the Hurricanes got into a post-game brawl in their bowl game against Mississippi State) to eke out a 19-17 upset over a Tulsa squad that went in as a 22-point favorite. Tulsa QB, Davis Brin, made a couple costly errors to aid the Aggies.
Eastern Washington actually went off as a small favorite at woeful UNLV, a rarity for an FCS school. A shocking halftime score of 6-3 morphed into the thriller of the night where UNLV’s 2-point conversion failed in the second overtime to preserve a 35-33 victory for Eastern.
Conference favorite, Weber State, put up a respectable showing in a 40-17 loss to Utah before a record Rice-Eccles crowd.
The Odyssey predicts that at least one of two conference heavyweights put up a heck of a fight tomorrow against quality FBS teams. Montana travels to Washington while Montana State travels to 7,220 feet in Wyoming. Not only are the two Montana schools both targeting big things in 2021 but they clearly have the best-named rivalry game: “Brawl of the Wild”.
The Big Sky cellar dweller is predicted to be Northern Colorado. The Greeley guys have a new coach in Ed McCaffrey and a quality QB in his son, Michigan transfer Dylan McCaffrey. UNC is getting 38.5 points against a Colorado team with QB uncertainties. You could do worse than take the points. Just another game where the Big Sky is not getting respect earned over the years.