Colter, thanks for the reply. Great information.Colter_Nuanez wrote: ↑Wed Jul 10, 2024 7:41 pmReasons I think Idaho will be pretty good:CodyCat wrote: ↑Wed Jul 10, 2024 3:12 pmWhy do you think Idaho is going to be good? For all the players you just listed is why I don't see them as much of a threat. My only reason for thinking they could be decent is Eck. He is a heck of a ball coach and has been recruiting pretty well from what I've seen, which I will admit isnt much.Colter_Nuanez wrote: ↑Wed Jul 10, 2024 2:20 pmIdahoBleedingBLue wrote: ↑Wed Jul 10, 2024 10:51 amI would absolutely take the over on Idaho, Sac State and Idaho State. Idaho has, in my opinion, one of the easiest conference schedules this year. I think 9-3 is very realistic for that team, even with all the guys they lost.
At Oregon - L
At Wyoming - L
UAlbany - huge coin flip, although it's in Moscow and Great Danes lost more than UI - W
At Abilene Christian - W
At UC Davis - coin flip, but Davis will be favored by 10+ - L
at Montana State - L
Cal Poly - W
Eastern Washington - W
At Portland State - W unless PSU jumps up and gets one, as previously discussed
Weber State - W
At Idaho State W
To get to 9-3 and smash the over, they'll have to for sure sweep their home schedule, including beating Final 4 UAlbany in a rematch of the quarterfinals, plus win at Davis or at Montana State. They win both, they are probably a 10-win team. Split, sweep home schedule, 9-3. Drop both FBS, lose to UAlbany, lose Davis & Montana State - 7-5. That's why I set it at 7.5. They have six pretty certain wins, two almost certain losses and four coin flip games. A betting book would give them 1.5 wins in the four coin flips. You're bullish? Take the over.
I think Idaho is good. But replacing a first-team All-Big Sky quarterback in Gevani McCoy, one of the greatest offensive players in recent memory in Hayden Hatten and a first-team All-Big Sky running back in Anthony Woods along with a receiver who's probably going to make the New Orleans Saints in Jermaine Jackson is a tall task.
- last year, UI started nothing but freshmen and sophomores on the offensive line and did well. Eck knows how to recut and develop offensive linemen. He got Mason McCormick and Garrett Greenfield to SDSU.
- Idaho’s new defensive coordinator Dan Jackson has a great reputation in the coaching world and goes way back with Eck. He’s an upgrade over Rob Aurich, who was good last year.
- Jack Layne is really talented and Eck knows how to find QBs.
- Eck is one of the best in game coaches in the country. And he’s one of the best coaches when it comes to getting back on track if his team gets knocked off. This is something many Big Sky coaches - namely Barnum, Best, formerly Petrino at UI, Kramer and even Bobby Hauck - struggle with
- with the departure of Jay Hill at Weber State, Jerome Souers at Northern Arizona, Beau Baldwin at Eastern Washington and Cal Poly, Tim Walsh at Cal Poly and Troy Taylor at Sac State, the only programs who have made definitive head coaching upgrades the last handful of years in the Big Sky are Idaho State with Cody Hawkins, Ed Lamb at UNC and Eck. Montana State is TBD. Sac State probably still is too. The rest have downgraded. That’s a huge reason why the league has dipped outside of the Montana-Idaho corridor.
Any chance you will put together something similar for the Top 10 FCS Teams?
That's as brutal as any stretch in the country. If Eastern doesn't win first two at home against Monmouth & Drake, they are going to have a hard time gaining momentum within the year.