Weber State (10-2) at Southern Utah (9-2)
Weber State had to feel a little bit disrespected in the First Round. Many pundits, myself included, actually picked Western Illinois to come into Ogden and leave the Wildcats at home with a loss. This team has been pretty good all year and they may have been the prisoner to the masses wanting to pick the trendy upset. Now, they get a chance to do the same thing in the Second Round. At the same time, they get a chance to exact some revenge on their in-state rival, Southern Utah. On October 14, the Thunderbirds drove up north and did put the ‘Cats down, 32-16. That was the second, and last, time they tasted defeat this year. This had to be a match-up they’ve been salivating for.
Southern Utah should be nice and rested. The potent combination of offense and defense will be ready to go. SUU had one of the more lopsided losses of any of the seeded teams this year, losing at Sacramento State, 54-27? The question mark was intentional, because the result was called into question itself from everyone not watching that game. As it turned out, Sacramento State, wasn’t as bad as year’s past. Still, SUU followed that game up with a 20-14 nail biter with a 1-10 Cal Poly. But, the Weber State game came after those and the Thunderbirds were back on track, not having another close game the rest of the season. You have to figure they are going to use their gigantic offensive line to wear down Weber State and keep the ball, just like they have all year, ranking #12 in time of possession.
With all rivalry games, many times you can throw the prior results out the window. Sometimes the rulebook goes with it too. Sometimes it takes years to recognize change and the Big Sky is no exception. For over a decade, Montana and Eastern Washington have been the big dogs. But it became apparent this year, some new dogs are claiming the yard - at least in 2017. These were probably the two best teams in the Big Sky all along. Now one of them is going to earn a trip to the quarterfinals. Hard to not take chalk here.
Projection: Southern Utah 34, Weber State 24
