Connecting the Big Sky Via Rail

Over the last couple of weeks I have noticed a couple exciting Facebook groups pop up on my news feed. Both groups are dedicated to restoring old Amtrak lines here in the western states. The first I heard of this was in early fall, when Senator Jon Tester was traveling through Montana gauging sentiment on the endeavor restoring the North Coast Hiawatha route.

Being a Montana native I though of all the great possibilities of a rail line that ran through the southern part of the state! My first thought was all the possibilities for college sporting events. How cool would it be to have a group of alumni or students traveling to Missoula or Bozeman for the “Brawl of the Wild”? The second idea involved traveling for fellow Big Sky teams that travel to Montana for basketball and volleyball. They usually fly in and then charter a bus and take I-90 to get the next night's game. With a rail that connects the cities those teams could just use the train to get back and forth rather then driving on Montana’s harsh roads in the winter. The line would also make it easier for people in Bozeman and Missoula to travel to games in Cheney, Wash. (via Spokane), Portland, Ore., or even Sacramento, Calif.

The second group is dedicated to restoring the Amtrak Pioneer line that ran from Ogden, Utah through Pocatello, Idaho and on out to Portland, Ore. As it stands today Amtrak services Big Sky schools in Portland, Sacramento, Ogden, and Flagstaff. Also, it makes stops in Spokane and Denver, making travel to Greeley, Colo. and Cheney relatively easy. With the Pioneer line restored, along with the Hiawatha line in Montana, all the Big Sky schools would be connected via Amtrak. With some forethought and planning Big Sky fans could find some great ways to travel to sporting events.

I think out here in the west we forget about Amtrak and tend to think that flying is the only way to go, but honestly riding the rail is definitely cheaper. It might take you a little longer than flying, but remember that the journey is the reward not the destination. :)

There are no other north-south routes on Amtrak aside from the Coast Starlight line that runs from Los Angeles, Calif. to Seattle, Wash. So if you wanted to get from Spokane to Flagstaff you would have to go over to Portland and then down to L.A. then over to Flagstaff. Yes, that is some what of an out of the way route, so not every road trip would be feasible. That should not stop you from taking the Coast Starlight from Sacramento to Portland. Heck even take the California Zephyr from Denver through Ogden to Sacramento... there are still plenty of possibilities!!!

Below are the links to the Facebook groups, also a link to a map of all the current Amtrak lines.

Enjoy and feel free to let me know if you agree about my ideas on traveling to Big Sky events via rail.

Restore the North Coast Hiawatha (MT)
Restore the Pioneer (ID)

Amtrak Western Routes

Tanner Gooch
Big Sky Conference
Marketing/Media Relations

Good Things Across The Sky

Maybe some of you haven't noticed, but there have been some very positive things happening across the Big Sky Conference in recent weeks, and it's not just at one school. There tends to be so much negative news in the world of athletics, so it's good to highlight the positives.

I'm just going to go through school-by-school and point out some of the great things that have happened. Obviously, I'm bound to miss a few things here or there, so don't hold it against me.



Eastern Washington

The Eagle football team received an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs. This after the Eagles spent much of the season not knowing if it would be eligible because of NCAA probation.

EWU QB Matt Nichols was named the league MVP, finished fourth in Walter Payton Award voting, and became the Big Sky's all-time leader in total offense and passing yards.

EWU DE Jacob Kragt was named to the Academic All-America team.

Eastern Washington did a tremendous job hosting the Big Sky Volleyball Championship.

EWU's soccer team finished second in the soccer standings, enjoying one of their best seasons ever.



Idaho State

The Bengals received a $200,000 donation from NFL All-Pro Jared Allen to renovate the weight room.

ISU avoided a winless season by closing the football season with a win over Portland State.

ISU's soccer team advanced to the Big Sky Championship match, and senior defender
Annamarie Hofstetter was named to the Academic All-America First Team.


Montana

Montana finished the football regular season 11-0, gained the top seed in the FCS playoffs, rallied from a 27-point deficit to beat South Dakota State in the first-round of the playoffs, beat Stephen F. Austin 51-0 in the quarterfinals, and will host Appalachian State on Saturday in teh semis. The game will be televised live on ESPN.

UM's men's basketball team is off to a 5-3 start. The Grizzlies have wins over Oregon, Loyola-Marymount and Boise State.

Montana's volleyball team advanced to the conference tournament.



Montana State

MSU DE Dane Fletcher was named the Defensive MVP of the Big Sky, and is a candidate for the Buck Buchanan award.

The Bobcats finished 7-4 in football.

Trish Binford has the Bobcat women's basketball team off to a 6-2 start.

The Bobcats' men's basketball team handed Northern Colorado its first loss.



Northern Arizona

The Lumberjacks' men's cross country team finished fourth at the NCAA Championship, led by a second-place finish from David McNeill and a fifth-place finish from Jordan Chipangama.

NAU's soccer team won its second straight Big Sky Championship, and played very well against Stanford in the NCAA College Cup. Defender Kristi Andreassen was named to the Academic All-America Second Team.

NAU QB Michael Herrick threw for 574 yards against Eastern Washington, and was named the National Player of the Week by the Sports Network.

Northern Colorado

The Bears' volleyball team won the Big Sky Championship, the school's first team championship since joining the league. Northern Colorado lost to Washington 3-1 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Fort Collins.

Tad Boyle's basketball team is off to an 8-1 start. NC won a tournament at Hawai'i, beating the Warriors in a nationally-televised game on ESPN. The next week, Northern Colorado won the Air Force tournament, drilling the Falcons on their home court. Boyle's club then beat Colorado State in front of a standing-room only crowd at the Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion. NC's seven-game winning streak

Northern Colorado is ranked 23rd in this week's College Insider.com Mid-Major Poll.

Northern Colorado hosted the Big Sky Cross Country Championship, its first chance at hosting a league championship.



Portland State

Portland State hired Nigel Burton as its new football coach. Burton is the first African American head football coach in the history of the Big Sky.

PSU's men's basketball team upset No. 25 Portland, marking the second straight season the Vikings have upset a ranked opponent.

Portland State's volleyball team won the regular-season conference title, and finished second at the conference tournament.

Sacramento State

The Hornet football team closed out its season with a win over rival UC Davis in the Causeway Classic in front of more than 17,000 fans at Hornet Stadium. It marks the first time since 1990-91 that the Hornets have beaten the Aggies in back-to-back years.

Sacramento State's men's basketball team ended the nation's longest road losing streak with a victory over Oregon State of the Pac-10. Sacramento State followed with a road win over rival UC Davis.

In early November, the soccer team upset No. 10 Cal 1-0.

Weber State

Ron McBride's Weber State Wildcats finished the regular season 7-4 and earned an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs. It marked the first time in school history the football team has advanced to the postseason in back-to-back years.

For the second straight season, safety Beau Hadley was named to the Academic All-America First Team.

The men's basketball team snapped an eight-game losing streak to Utah, upsetting the Utes at the Dee Events Center.

More than 9,000 fans packed the Dee Events Center to watch Weber State open its 2009 season against Utah State.

All of our schools, student-athletes, fans, alumni, coaches and administrators should be proud! Keep up the excellent work on and off the field!

Jon Kasper - Big Sky Conference

Big Sky Blog: We Deserve Three

No doubt the 10-member Division I Football Committee is working hard right now in Indianapolis after a crazy final day of the regular season.
One thing is clear to us out here in the Big Sky: Our conference deserves three playoff teams this year. Montana is the automatic qualifier. Weber State and Eastern Washington both deserve at-large bids.
Northern Iowa suffered an upset loss to Illinois State on Saturday. Heading into Saturday, the Panthers were a lock to receive an at-large bid. But, the Panthers are 7-4 now with three conference losses, and no quality victories. Sure, they have a one-point loss to Iowa, but Weber State has a one-point loss to an FBS team as well. Bubble teams Lafayette and Liberty also lost. I believe this has opened the door for both WSU and EWU to earn at-large bids, and they both deserve it.
Weber State closed out its season with an impressive 47-14 win over Cal Poly. The Wildcats won five of their final six games. The Wildcats played a very difficult schedule, opening at Wyoming and Colorado State, and losing both by close scores (29-22 and 24-23). Weber State also lost a 26-21 decision to Montana State in a game the Wildcats fell 1-yard short. Ron McBride's club rallied, picking up big wins over Eastern Washington (31-13) on the road, and Northern Arizona at home before today's drilling of Cal Poly.
Weber State finished 7-2 against Division I FCS competition and 6-2 in the Big Sky. The Wildcats also finished strong, and have a head-to-head win over Eastern Washington, who was also 6-2 in Big Sky play and 7-2 against Division I FCS teams.
The committee seems to cringe at putting four-loss teams in the playoffs, but have done so the last two years. Weber State at 7-4 and playing a strong schedule deserves to be in.
Eastern Washington won a wild 49-45 game at Northern Arizona on Saturday. The Eagles closed the season by winning four straight games, and senior QB Matt Nichols is on a tear.
EWU has wins over top 25 Gridiron Power Index teams Northern Arizona and Montana State. The Eagles also beat a Southern Utah team in Cedar City last week. The Thunderbirds has been undefeated at home, including a beating of Texas State, a playoff team a year ago.
The Big Sky has been ranked as the second or third toughest conference in FCS this season. Heading into Saturday's play, the Sky was second in the GPI behind the CAA. The Great West Conference was ahead of us at some points, and is third this week in most polls. The Big Sky went 8-2 against the Great West this season.
Weber State's and Eastern Washington's schedules were much tougher than those of Liberty, Lafayette, and Northern Iowa. Colgate is 9-2 and could get a look, as could Florida A&M. However, both of these teams were so low in the GPI this week, that I failed to even include them in the information I sent to the playoff committee and to our schools.
Our sports information office spent hours this week pouring over the schedules of the teams in the running for at-large bids, trying to make a case for our teams to receive at-large bids. We also pointed out the Big Sky's success in the playoffs, and how one of our teams has knocked off either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the playoffs on the road four of the last six years. Our No. 2 playoff team has also advanced to the quarterfinals five of the past six years. The Patriot League, MEAC, Big South and Ohio Valley Conferences are a combined 0-20 the last five years in the playoffs.
We felt going into the weekend that we were deserving of two at-large bids, but might have to settle for one. Based on Saturday's action, however, we should get two. Colgate, Lafayette and Liberty, and Florida A&M all play in conferences not near as strong as the Big Sky - at least according to the computer rankings.
We'll see what the committee thinks.
The selection show is at 1 p.m. Mountain on ESPNews. We'll have brackets up soon after at www.bigskyconf.com.

Jon Kasper - Big Sky Conference

Football and Basketball Talk

As you can see from the picture to the left, it snowed just a little bit in Bozeman, Mont., last night. That can mean November football has really arrived and basketball season is upon us.

There are two weeks left in the regular season, and we're starting to get a bit nervous about getting at least two teams in the FCS playoffs. Almost every year, the Big Sky gets an at-large team. Right now, some teams need to take care of some business to have a chance at an outright bid. Any losses by Montana State, Northern Arizona, Weber State or Eastern Washington will end their playoff changes. All four I believe, are still in the hunt for an at-large bid, and Montana is set for a top seed if the Grizzlies can win their final two games. Of course if that happens, it would knock Montana State out of playoff contention.

Either Weber State or Northern Arizona could end up 7-4 with two losses to FBS teams. One of them will be eliminated from postseason contention tomorrow as the teams meet in Ogden. I've heard some across the country say that both are out of the playoff picture. Why? The last two years, the Division I Football committee has taken four-loss teams from the strong Colonial Athletic Conference as the FIFTH team from the league, or the fourth at-large bid from the league. If either WSU or NAU finish 7-4, they would be second in the Big Sky. The Big Sky is ranked either second or third among conferences in three major computer rankings (GPI, Massey and Sagarin). The Great West Conference is above the Big Sky in two of the polls, but the Big Sky is 5-2 against the Great West. So for arguments sake, let's say the Big Sky is the No. 2 conference since the Great West does not receive an at-large bid to the playoffs.

An 8-3 Eastern Washington team, or an 8-3 MSU team or a 7-4 WSU or NAU team, I believe is more than worthy to gain an at-large bid to the playoffs. First of all, the Big Sky has a strong track record. In five of the last six years, our No. 2 playoff team has won in the first round. In four of the past six years, a Big Sky team has knocked off either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the playoffs, and done so on the road.

A Big Sky team might be battling a Patriot League team, a MEAC team or Liberty for the final at-large bid in the field. Liberty plays in the Big South, which will have an automatic bid next year. Some felt Liberty was snubbed last year. Well, the Patriot, MEAC and Big South all ranked in the 8-11 range as far as FCS conferences go. In the Massey Schedule Strength index, Northern Arizona's schedule ranks No. 2 among teams in the playoff hunt. EWU's is ninth, WSU's is 10th and MSU's is 20th. For comparison, Liberty is 65th. Lafayette of the Patriot League is 72. Holy Cross is 80, and Florida A&M is 85. There's a lot of talk about the Southland Conference getting two teams in this year. However, if it were to come down to a Southland or Big Sky team, I still believe our team deserves the bid. Texas State is 43rd in SOS. SE Louisiana is 51. McNeese State is 56 and Stephen F. Austin if 58.

The Patriot League teams play a lot of Ivy League teams in the non-conference, as well as teams from the Northeast Conference. The MEAC teams had an awful record against non-conference teams, as did the Big South teams. Meanwhile, the Big Sky is 5-2 against the Great West, and our teams in the playoff hunt have lost to the likes of Cal, Ole Miss, Arizona State, Michigan State, Wyoming and Colorado State.

I could go on and on with data that I've researched to prove our case and submitted it to the committee members. Hopefully they will look long and hard at the depth of the Big Sky and realize we are more than worthy of at least one at-large bid, maybe even two.

Right now, I see three of the at-large bids coming from the CAA. The league should get four teams in the playoffs (Villanova, Richmond, William and Mary and New Hampshire). Delaware is 6-3 but has games against Navy and Villanova left. If Delaware wins those, expect four of the at-large teams to come from the CAA for the third straight season.

I see the Southern Conference getting two teams in: Appalachian State and Elon. The teams meet Saturday in what amounts to a game to determine the automatic bid.

The Missouri Valley looks like a three-team league with Southern Illinois, South Dakota State and Northern Iowa. Northern Iowa is 6-3 and doesn't have a big win on its resume. The Panthers have lost to Southern Illinois, South Dakota State and has a close loss to Iowa.

Based on that, we're up to six at-large bids taken. The Southland Conference will likely get one, but that league is a mess with two weeks to play. McNeese State and Stephen F. Austin look like the two teams that will get in.

That leaves one spot for a Big Sky team, a FIFTH CAA team, a Patriot League team, Liberty or a second MEAC team.

How could the committee take a team from a the Patriot, Big South or MEAC over a Big Sky team?

Bottom line, however, at least one of our teams needs to win out to get serious consideration.

OK, on to basketball. Things get rolling here shortly. Here in Ogden, Weber State is playing host to Utah State, and hopefully we'll get up to the Dee to check it out. It should be an exciting year, as I think we've got some very good players returning, and some very good teams. Weber, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Northern Colorado and Portland State all have a lot of good returning players.

As a league, we need to pick up some quality victories on the road during the non-conference part of the year.

Remember you can catch all of the men's and women's games held in Big Sky venues for free on Big Sky TV.

Have a good and safe weekend,

Jon Kasper - Big Sky Conference