Ags remain at No. 6 as they look ahead to Saturday battle at Eastern Washington
Sac State drops from rankings, now last in Big Sky standings
After thumping Cal Poly, 56-10, last Saturday in their most impressive outing of the season, the UC Davis Aggies remained at No. 6 in this week's FCS Coaches Poll.
Although the Aggies, 6-1, have made a steady weekly progression up the rankings during their current six-game win streak after starting the season at No. 17, the ascent stalled because none of the five teams ranked above them lost last weekend.
No. 1 South Dakota State routed Youngstown State, 63-13, while No. 2 North Dakota State dropped Southern Illinois, 24-3.
No. 3 Montana State drilled No. 14 Idaho, 38-7, and No. 4 South Dakota was a 42-17 victor over Northern Iowa.
No. 5 Villanova was idle.
South Dakota State and North Dakota State have been the class of the FCS over the last 13 years, with NDSU winning nine national titles during that stretch and SDSU claiming the last two championships.
The two will meet Saturday on ESPN2 in the Fargodome in the annual Dakota Marker game that establishes bragging rights throughout the Dakota Territory. South Dakota State has won the last six meetings between the two schools that are separated by 192 miles of wide open prairie.
The Aggies, who will face a difficult test at Eastern Washington, 1-1, Saturday afternoon, share the Big Sky lead with Montana State, both at 3-0. The two will meet Nov. 16 in Davis in what is shaping up as perhaps the biggest game for UCD since it moved up to the FCS from Division II in 2007. Then again, there's a lot of football to be played between now and Nov. 16.
Upsets are so common in the Big Sky that sportswriters covering the league may have to come up with a word other than "upset" to describe some of the unpredictable outcomes.
For instance, two weeks ago Weber State shocked No. 11 Montana, which opened the season at No. 3, with a 55-48 win in overtime, then turned around and dropped a 21-17 decision to previously winless Northern Colorado.
And Eastern Washington, which has struggled in Big Sky play the last two seasons, stunned Sacramento State, 35-28, last Saturday to drop the Hornets to 0-2 as the only winless conference team this season. Sac State opened the season ranked No. 10, but is now unranked.
Reach Bob Dunning at bobdunning@thewaryone.com
Go AGS