2026 Week 1: UC Davis @ Portland State
Didn't know Elliott Smith was a long time Portlander, I know he grew up rough out in Texas and graduated from university in Massachusetts. He must've met up with Gus Van Sant during the My Own Private Idaho and Drugstore Cowboy years.
I honestly miss Portland State playing downtown...but as PA said, the whole economy of Portland changed and downtown just doesn't function like it used to - the Timbers took over that whole stadium because they sell out, they make money, and they paid for the downtown stadium's upgrades.
The biggest problem with the program is much like every program, it needs money to flourish -- and without winning, the money seldom rolls in...and they don't have big daddy Phil Knight to cover the bill (pun intended) like they do down in Duckland. PSU is honestly just a redheaded Viking stepchild of UO and OSU...even UW in some respects.
I will say - Davis has had some routes in Hillsboro, and some extremely tight contests as well - the stakes are high, everybody's fresh, it's Big Sky football in Week 1, so I'll give the new look Vikings some credit and give them 20 points - but Davis scores 41.
Ags 41 - Viks 20