Northern Colorado football picked last in Big Sky Conference polls, Montana State slotted to defend title

Defending Big Sky Conference football champion Montana State is the favorite to repeat in media and coaches polls while the University of Northern Colorado was picked last in both of the -team polls issued Thursday Montana State - in the Big Sky and - overall received first-place votes from media and seven first-place votes among head coaches The Bobcats advanced to the Football Championship Subdivision championship meeting in January where they lost to North Dakota State of the Missouri Valley Football Conference UNC has won one match in the previous two seasons under third-year head coach Ed Lamb The Bears scored a road upset of then nationally ranked Big Sky opponent Weber State in October University of Northern Colorado head football coach Ed Lamb looks over his club during the first day of Spring football practice on the UNC campus on Tuesday April Jim Rydbom Staff Photographer Among the MSU top returning players is Big Sky freshman of the year running back Adam Jones Jones ran for yards and touchdowns and was named a freshman All-America selection by Football Central He was one of three Montana State players to rush for more than yards last year including quarterback Tommy Mellott winner of the Walter Payton Award the Walter Camp FCS participant of the year and Big Sky Offensive MVP and first-team all conference Mellott is now on the Las Vegas Raiders roster as a wide receiver Jones is among the pre-season selections for Big Sky Offensive MVP MSU defensive lineman Paul Brott is among the selections for Big Sky Defensive MVP Eight other Bobcats players have been nominated for preseason all-conference honors The league is hosting its media days the Big Sky Kickoff Weekend Friday through Monday at the Northern Quest Resort Casino in Spokane Washington The pre-season and the bulk valuable players will be reported Sunday Coverage of the weekend kickoff begins at a m Monday The event will air live on ESPN and select Scripps stations Meghan Robinson with the Big Sky and Scripps Sports Kyle Hansen will co-host from Spokane with interviews with representatives of all teams Big Sky commissioner Tom Wistrcill and special guests UNC will be represented in Spokane by Ed Lamb safety Cam Chapa and offensive lineman Jack Ziebell Chapa and Ziebell were the Bears nominees for preseason all-conference teams Chapa a sophomore from Aurora and Eaglecrest High School was one of UNC s greater part recognized players last year University of Northern Colorado freshman Cam Chapa intercepts the ball during practice on the UNC campus Thursday Sept Chapa is starting for the Bears and last week led the crew with tackles against CSU Jim Rydbom Staff Photographer He was chosen as a FCS freshman All American by FCS Football Central Chapa was also named to the Big Sky honorable mention organization last year after leading UNC in total and solo tackles and interceptions His four interceptions tied for first in the Big Sky Montana and UC Davis were picked second and third in both polls Montana was picked second in the media poll and UC Davis was chosen second by the coaches The results of the polls are below Coaches could not vote for their own squad The numbers in parentheses indicate first-place votes Coaches poll Montana State UC Davis Montana Northern Arizona Idaho Sacramento State Idaho State Weber State Eastern Washington Portland State Cal Poly Northern Colorado Media poll Montana State Montana UC Davis Idaho Northern Arizona Sacramento State Idaho State Eastern Washington Weber State Portland State Cal Poly Northern Colorado