The Hornets are the #4 seed. The Big Sky has 4 teams in the playoffs: #3 Weber State, #4 Sac, #5 Montana State and #6 Montana. Also in are 3 other teams we played this year: #1 NDSU, San Diego and North Dakota. Sac has a favorable draw and, realistically, could make it to the semis.
Big Sky has the strongest teams as a collective. Illinois State of MVFC started tanking the last third of their season and lost to a declining Youngstown State team and scored only 3 points. They will be dispatched early. SDSU down from last year and lost to South Dakota last game. Their fate will depend on return (or not) of their QB Jabore Gibbs.
Southern and NEC weak sister conference out of the picture after week 1. Both Southern conference teams lost. Still believe big sky is strongest league overall.