The Big Sky Conference stretches from North Dakota to the Pacific Northwest and all the way down to northern Arizona.

It’s a league with a gigantic footprint and an unwieldy 13 teams in football. With 13 programs playing eight conference games each, the rotating schedule has the potential to make a major impact on the race for the Big Sky title.

There is no guarantee the conference’s top teams will ever play one another. And with Vernon Adams' decision to transfer from Eastern Washington to Oregon for his senior season, the race for the league title feels wide open.

The Bengals are the talented newcomer who unexpectedly contended a year ago, but don’t bank on Idaho State sneaking up on anyone in 2015. Montana State might have the Big Sky’s best returning quarterback, but Cal Poly senior Chris Brown could vie for that title.

Montana is a perennial power and Northern Arizona is the darkhorse. Here’s a look at the upcoming conference schedules for the Big Sky’s 13 teams in the order of how they finished 2014. See for yourself how not all schedules are created equal. Somebody could benefit in a big way.

1. Eastern Washington (11-3, 7-1 in 2014)

Home: Cal Poly, Weber State, Northern Arizona, Portland State

Away: Sacramento State, Idaho State, Northern Colorado, Montana

Observations: The Big Sky’s three-time defending champions have a favorable home schedule, but can they escape road dates at Idaho State and Montana unscathed?

2. Idaho State (8-4, 6-2)

Home: Portland State, Eastern Washington, Montana, Montana State

Away: Cal Poly, North Dakota, Sacramento State, Weber State

Observations: If the Bengals win their first Big Sky championship since 2002, they’ll have earned it. Idaho State will be favored to beat Portland State, but the rest of its games are a toss up. If ISU can push through and finish with seven or eight wins, though, it’s difficult to imagine the playoff committee will shun them again.

2. Montana (9-5, 6-2)

Home: Northern Arizona, Weber State, North Dakota, Eastern Washington

Away: UC Davis, Portland State, Idaho State, Montana State

Observations: Nothing easy about Montana’s league schedule. The Grizzlies don’t play Cal Poly in conference play, but they take on all the other heavy hitters.

2. Montana State (8-5, 6-2)

Home: Cal Poly, Sacramento State, Southern Utah, Montana

Away: Northern Arizona, Portland State, North Dakota, Idaho State

Observations: Just like 2014, Montana State’s season could come down to the final two games when the Bobcats play Idaho State and Montana. Unlike last year, however, MSU has to travel south to Pocatello to play the Bengals.

5. Cal Poly (7-5, 5-3)

Home: Idaho State, Portland State, Sacramento State, North Dakota

Away: Montana State, Eastern Washington, Southern Utah, UC Davis

Observations: The Mustangs might have the talent to make a run at the playoffs, but only if they can survive their opening six games. Cal Poly hosts Idaho State on Oct. 3, and it might be the easiest game of the season for the Mustangs up to that point after opening at Montana, at Arizona State, versus Northern Iowa and at Montana State.

5. Northern Arizona (7-5, 5-3)

Home: Montana State, Weber State, Northern Colorado, Sacramento State

Away: Montana, UC Davis, Eastern Washington, Southern Utah

Observations: Northern Arizona lucked out last season by avoiding Idaho State and the Montanas. This year, the Lumberjacks have to visit Montana and Eastern Washington but sidestep ISU and Cal Poly.

7. Sacramento State (7-5, 4-4)

Home: Eastern Washington, Northern Colorado, Idaho State, UC Davis

Away: Montana State, Southern Utah, Cal Poly, Northern Arizona

Observations: Sac State returns eight offensive starters and landed two FBS drop-down quarterbacks to replace the graduated Garrett Safron. They’ll need a QB to play well if the Hornets are going to battle through a schedule that includes EWU, ISU, MSU, Cal Poly and NAU, teams that went a combined 29-11 in the Big Sky last season.

8. North Dakota (5-7, 3-5)

Home: UC Davis, Idaho State, Montana State, Northern Colorado

Away: Portland State, Weber State, Montana, Cal Poly

Observations: Apart from a 54-3 disaster at Eastern Washington last year, North Dakota was a secretly competitive 3-5 team, taking Montana State and Montana to the wire and finishing the season with back-to-back wins over Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado.

9. Southern Utah (3-9, 3-5)

Home: Northern Colorado, Sacramento State, Cal Poly, Northern Arizona

Away: Weber State, UC Davis, Montana State, Portland State

Observations: Southern Utah is just one season removed from making the FCS playoffs, but it’s hard to remember that after the Thunderbirds won five fewer games in 2014 than 2013, giving up 35.6 points a game defensively.

10. Northern Colorado (3-8, 2-6)

Home: Weber State, UC Davis, Eastern Washington, Portland State

Away: Southern Utah, Sacramento State, Northern Arizona, North Dakota

Observations: Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the best Big Sky schedule for 2015 is Northern Colorado. The Bears have to contend with Eastern Washington and Northern Arizona but dodge both Montana schools, Idaho State and Cal Poly.

10. Portland State (3-9, 2-6)

Home: North Dakota, Montana State, Montana, Southern Utah

Away: Idaho State, Cal Poly, Northern Colorado, Eastern Washington

Observations: Best of luck to Portland State interim head coach Bruce Barnum. The Vikings play the top five teams (EWU, ISU, UM, MSU and Cal Poly) from the 2014 season, including an early test against the Bengals in Holt Arena during the second week of the season.

10. Weber State (2-10, 2-6)

Home: Southern Utah, North Dakota, UC Davis, Idaho State

Away: Northern Colorado, Montana, Northern Arizona, Eastern Washington

Observations: Weber State is an improving program under second-year coach Jay Hill. The Wildcats have a shot to add on to their two-win total with home games against SUU, UND and UC Davis, but the schedule makers didn’t do them any favors with road games at UM, NAU and EWU.

13. UC Davis (2-9, 1-7)

Home: Montana, Northern Arizona, Southern Utah, Cal Poly

Away: North Dakota, Northern Colorado, Weber State, Sacramento State

Observations: After suffering through a two-win campaign in 2014, the Aggies have a rough six-game stretch to begin the season with games against Nevada, South Dakota and Hawaii in the nonconference and then a road trip to North Dakota before hosting Montana and Northern Arizona.