(last week's ranking in parentheses)

1. Montana (1) - With Cole Bergquist nursing a sore shoulder, it looks like sophomore Andrew Selle may start for the Grizzlies at quarterback. But with the way Montana restocked its defense, there's no reason to doubt the team's youth.

2. Northern Arizona (3) - If Southern Utah, NAU's opponent Saturday, is campaigning for entry into the Big Sky on the platform that it will promise to lose for at least five years, it's making a solid case.

3. Eastern Washington (2) - Raise your hand, Division II Western Washington, if you're happy to be facing the 0-2 Eagles in Cheney this week. Raise them nice and high, gentlemen.

4. Montana State (4) - If the Bobcats really are planning to use Demetrius Crawford as a kick returner, ISU's JD Ponciano and Weber State's Bryant Eteuati are going to have some stiff competition for all-conference honors.

5. Weber State (5) - Come to think of it, why does anyone kick to Eteuati? On nine punt returns this season, he's averaged 14.4 yards - and that's with a long of only 32.

6. Sacramento State (6) - Watch out: The Hornets are much improved. Their game against an also much-improved Weber State team will say plenty about coach Marshall Sperbeck's progress.

7. Idaho State (7) - This week, every Bengals coach has said something along the lines of "North Dakota is really good and people don't realize it." Consider that their plea for a full house tonight.

8. Northern Colorado (9) - Two years ago, Northern Colorado earned what it thought was a marquee victory at Texas State. Guess that didn't exactly go as planned. They play again Saturday.

9. Portland State (8) - It's safe to say that, after the Pac-10's awful day last weekend, the entire West Coast will be Cougars fans on Saturday when they host Portland State. Imagine how bad a loss to the Big Sky's worst team would make the Pac-10 look?