Griz picked fourth, seventh, in preseason polls

Montana head coach Bobby Hauck will begin his return season at the helm of the Grizzly football team picked to finish in a place he'd never been during his first seven-year tenure: the middle of the Big Sky Conference pack.

The Grizzlies have been picked to finish fourth by the media and seventh by the coaches in the 2018 preseason conference polls, the league announced Monday.

During his first stint as head coach, Hauck and the Griz finished at the top of the conference standings each year from 2003-2009, winning seven Big Sky championships in seven seasons.

"The disparity between the coaches and media poll is interesting. It will be fun to see who is right at the end of the season," said Hauck.

"Considering where we finished in the standings the last few years, I think where we're picked in both polls is appropriate and not surprising."

Despite coming in fourth in the media poll, the Grizzlies picked up two first-place votes and a total of 496 points. Northern Arizona finished just ahead of the Grizzlies in third with 535 points but only secured one first-place vote. UM picked up a total of 82 points in the coaches' poll to come in seventh.

At 7-4, Montana missed the playoffs for a second-straight season following a disappointing loss to Montana State at the end of the 2017 year.

The Griz return 11 starters from 2017 (five on offense, six on defense) with six All-Big Sky performers returning to lead a young team that carries just 12 seniors on the roster.

Montana's defense will be led by senior linebacker Josh Buss, who was named the Preseason Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year on Monday.

Led by All-America quarterback Gage Gubrud, Eastern Washington was picked by both the league's media and coaches to win the conference race with 27 and six first-place votes, respectively.

Idaho was picked behind the Griz in fifth by the media with 483 votes in its first season back in the league. The Vandals picked up 101 points in the coaches' poll to come in fourth.

In other preseason prognostications, Montana has been picked No. 23 in the nation by Lindy's Sports Magazine in its annual FCS preseason poll.

Lindy's picked five Big Sky teams in its preseason top-25, Weber State (8), Eastern Washington (9), Idaho (12), Montana (23), Northern Arizona (25).

Athlon College Football also picked the Griz to finish in the top-25, coming in at No. 18 on their annual FCS preseason poll.

The Grizzlies begin their quest to return to the playoffs with one of the most highly anticipated games in FCS nonconference play when Northern Iowa (picked No. 14 in the country by Lindy's) visits Missoula on Sept. 1, under the lights at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

2018 Big Sky Conference Preseason Polls

Media Poll
School Points (First place votes)
1) Eastern Washington         651 (27)
2) Weber State 636 (19)
3) Northern Arizona 535 (1)
4) Montana 496 (2)
5) Idaho 483 (3)
6) Southern Utah                  449 (1)
7) Sacramento State 415
8) Montana State 391 (1)
9) UC Davis 331 (1)
10) Idaho State 170
11) Cal Poly 169
12) Northern Colorado 166
13) Portland State 103

Coaches' Poll
School Total Points (First-place votes)
1) Eastern Washington         134 (6)
2) Weber State 124 (3)
3) Northern Arizona              121 (3)
4) Idaho 101 (1)
5) Sacramento State             94
6) Southern Utah 91
7) Montana                           82
8) Montana State                  76
9) UC Davis 64
10) Cal Poly 40
11) Northern Colorado 30
12) Idaho State 29
13) Portland State 21

University of Montana Athletics

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Josh Buss

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