Aggies picked to finish 4th in both Big Sky Conference football polls
UC Davis running back Lan Larison is named conference's preseason Offensive Player of the Year
When it comes to college football, I've never been big on preseason prognostications and the selection of "all-conference" teams before a single down has been played.
Despite my concerns and given that UC Davis will kick off its 2024 season in little more than a month, the Big Sky Conference held its annual gridiron get together in scintillating Spokane over the weekend and gave us all a bone or two to chew on in the dog days of summer.
As is the custom at such gatherings, each head coach brings along a couple of his star players, while media members - in person or not - cast votes on which one of the league's 12 teams will emerge with the championship trophy when all is said and done on Nov. 23.
The coaches also have their own vote, cleverly named "The Coaches Poll," with the strict requirement that no coach may vote for his own team to win the championship.
The reason for this is simple. When the Coaches Poll is released, the number of first place votes a team received is also revealed.
And just imagine the reaction of players at the Colorado School of Brewmaking when they realize their own head coach did not select them to win the whole shebang.
"Hey, coach, you've been telling us all summer that we have the talent and the drive and the determination to win the championship, and now you voted for someone else."
So, instead of putting these 12 head coaches in an awkward, no-win, position, the league has wisely banned them from picking their own team at the top of the standings.
Media members, however, have no such restriction. While most of us in that category, me included, cover just one team (UC Davis for me), we do get to see eight other league teams in action during the season.
Defending champion Montana was the runaway winner in the Media Poll with 26 first place votes, followed by Montana State and the Aggies with one first place vote apiece.
Yes, I was the one renegade who listed UC Davis at the top of the heap, but that was based on an honest assessment from years of keen observation, not on the fear that loyal Aggie fans would pelt the press box with rotten eggs as soon as they saw my face on the inside looking out if I didn't pick their local heroes.
Since every vote is weighted, the Media Poll listed Montana first, followed by Montana State, Idaho, UCD, Sacramento State, Eastern Washington, Weber State, Idaho State, Northern Arizona, Portland State, Cal Poly and Northern Colorado.
Now here's the truly odd part of the UC Davis schedule.