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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Grizzlies, Bobcats Rank Near Top of Big Sky Preseason Football Polls

The Grizzlies hosted New Jersey foe Monmouth and, after a scoreless first quarter, cruised to a 47-27 victory. Click here to read more about how Montana bested Monmouth to go 3-1 on the season before conference play.  (Keith Demolder / SWX)
Mohammad Ahmad SWX
The Big Sky Conference released its football preseason media and coaches’ polls on Thursday, giving the Montana State Bobcats and Montana Grizzlies something to smile about. Montana was voted to finish second in the Big Sky in both polls, while Montana State was voted to finish the season third in both polls. In the head coaches’ poll, Montana received 128 total points and three first-place votes. Montana State received 121 points and a single first-place votes. Meanwhile in the media poll, the Grizzlies received 496 points and eight first-place votes while the Bobcats received eight-first place votes. These numbers shouldn’t be surprising as both teams are entering 2020 coming off of successful seasons last year. Bobby Hauck’s Montana Grizzlies rolled to a 10-win season last year while making a quarterfinals appearance in last years FCS playoffs. Jeff Choate’s Montana State Bobcats amassed 11 wins last seasons for back-to-back appearances in the postseason. Weber State was tabbed as the favorite in both polls to win the Big Sky. The Jay Hill-led Wildcats have won a share of the Big Sky regular season crown each of the last three seasons, earning 28 first-place votes from the media and seven from head coaches. Six teams, including the Grizzlies and Bobcats, each received at least one first-place vote. The conference is expected to announce preseason all-conference, offensive and defensive most valuable players sometime on Friday.