The Big Sky Conference announced their 2017-18 Coaches’ Poll and Media Poll on Friday. The Southern Utah Thunderbirds found themselves in 12th place in both polls.
“We’re not surprised, judging by the fact that we have so many new faces,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. “A large percentage of our team has turned over and we have a lot of guys no one in the league has seen before, which is to our advantage. But this group has a chip on their shoulder and will have to prove the doubters wrong, and that’s why they play the games.”
This season the Thunderbirds have added eight new players to their roster, along with bringing in Jadon Cohee off a redshirt year.
The Vandals of Idaho were picked in both polls to be the top team in the Big Sky, followed by Weber State and Montana respectively.
The Thunderbirds will host their only exhibition of the season on November 3 when Concordia University will come to Cedar City for an 8 p.m. matchup. After a road trip to Oregon State and Boise State the T-Birds will have their regular season home opener on November 16 against San Jose State at 6:30 p.m.
The Thunderbirds will open Big Sky play at home on December 28 in Cedar City when they host the Bobcats of Montana State.
Follow the Thunderbirds all season by following them on Twitter and Instagram and by liking their page on Facebook.
Coaches’ Poll
Place |
Team |
Votes (First Place Votes) |
1 |
Idaho |
117 (10) |
2 |
Weber State |
103 (1) |
3 |
Montana |
101 |
T4 |
Northern Colorado |
83 (1) |
T4 |
Montana State |
83 |
6 |
North Dakota |
71 |
7 |
Eastern Washington |
65 |
8 |
Portland State |
55 |
9 |
Sacramento State |
48 |
10 |
Idaho State |
25 |
11 |
Northern Arizona |
23 |
12 |
Southern Utah |
19 |
Media Poll
Place |
Team |
Votes (First Place Votes) |
1 |
Idaho |
211 (12) |
2 |
Weber State |
195 (3) |
3 |
Montana |
188 (3) |
4 |
Montana State |
180 |
5 |
North Dakota |
146 (1) |
6 |
Eastern Washington |
144 |
7 |
Northern Colorado |
106 |
8 |
Sacramento State |
87 |
9 |
Portland State |
76 |
10 |
Northern Arizona |
59 |
11 |
Idaho State |
52 |
12 |
Southern Utah |
38 |

SUU Athletic Strategic Communications