NCAA Basketball Preview 2014-15: Big Sky
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The Big Sky saw the Weber State represent the conference admirably in the big dance last year, losing as a 16-seed to Arizona by just single-digits. With the rebirth of a Weber State program that has a history of high quality basketball, and the loss of coach Wayne Tinkle at Montana the Big Sky should look a little different than it has in recent years.
Weber State was the best team in the conference all year last season, going 14-6 in the conference and 19-12 overall. The team will be without last year's leading scorer Davion Berry, but saw freshman Jeremy Senglin average 10.9 points per game last season. They also have the conference's defensive player of the year Joel Bolomboy returning for his junior year. He averaged 8.7 points per game to go with 11 rebounds per game, which was the third-best mark in the nation. He also shot 72.9 percent from the free throw line, a very high mark for a center. With a solid 6-8 recruit Zach Braxton coming in, nobody in the Big Sky will be able to match Weber State's combination of size and quickness as they should be the heavy favorites to win the conference.
Montana has reigned supreme in the conference recently, going to the NCAA Tournament three of the last five years. It will be tough for the program to reach that success again as former head coach Wayne Tinkle bolted for Oregon State. New head coach Travis DeCuire did all he could, but was unable to bring in a good recruiting class. The good news for Montana is they only lose only one senior and will have the services of Washington transfer Martin Bruenig to match Weber State's size. Their guard play won't be quite enough to knock off Weber State, but they should once again be the second-best team in the conference and could win 20 games.
Portland State has been consistently one of the best teams in the Big Sky and should be second or third in the conference this year. They were 11-9 in conference last season, and have their key scorers returning while many of last year's role players graduated. They landed a good recruit in shooting guard Iziahiah Sweeney to go with a that can stroke it with the best of them. Their lack of low post scoring will catch up to them against Montana and Weber State, but they should still have a chance at winning 20 games if they perform well out of conference.
If your looking for a team that could surprise, it's Eastern Washington. After going 10-10 in conference last season, they return all four of their players that averaged at least 10 points per game. They will be led once again by Tyler Harvey, who should be the front runner for conference player of the year. Harvey averaged 21.2 points per game and meshed well with point guard Drew Brandon. If all goes right for Eastern Washington, they could find themselves in the field of 68 thanks to the addition of the conference's best incoming freshman class.
The three Northern schools were in the middle of the pack last year and will likely stay put this year. Northern Arizona, North Colorado, and North Dakota all went either 12-8 or 119 in conference last year. All three were pretty stagnant in recruiting, but neither of the schools are losing much so they will be in sort of that no-man's land position again this year.
Sacramento State won't compete for the Big Sky title, but should be improved from last season. They were .500 in conference last year and should be better this year with a roster loaded with juniors. They also had a solid recruiting class and saw Mikh McKinney average 16.6 points and 4.6 assists per game last season as a sophomore. Other than Weber State being towards the top, this whole conference is wide open and Sacramento State is a team that needs to take advantage of that this year.
Montana State, Idaho State, and Southern Utah were the only teams out of the 11 in the conference that had a losing record. Montana State was 9-11 while Idaho State was 8-12 in conference last season. Both teams should be around the range, possibly a win or two worse in conference. Southern Utah was a complete train wreck at 2-27 overall last season and should be the worst team in the conference by a wide margin once again this year.
While Weber State should repeat as the conference champion, this conference is as open as any in the nation and will likely see its conference tournament champion be a 15 or 16-seed with everyone beating up on each other.
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