Member of the Big Sky Conference are in Park City, Utah for the pre-season football media days. It's a time when coaches really don't have anything to say but they'll be asked questions anyway.

The most interesting thing to come out of the meetings are the pre-season polls as voted on by media members and the coaches.

Those polls are out and the coaches and media are in agreement that North Dakota is the team beat in 2017. The Bison topped both polls with 15 first places votes from the media and 6 top picks from the coaches.

Eastern Washington was 2nd followed by Northern Arizona.

As for the Idaho State Bengals they were picked dead last in both polls. The irony is the fact Idaho State has a talented roster and they really aren't that far from being a middle tier team or better talent wise it's just a culture that trips them up every time.

Montana, who for years dominated Big Sky football and one of the top fan bases in the league was picked to finish 6th but to give you an idea of the culture issue, the Grizzlies received 1 first place vote from both the media and the coaches. Apparently there remains a belief Montana football will once again rise to playoff status.... that belief extinct, at least very much endangered in Pocatello. Here are the two polls:

Big Sky Preseason Media Poll

1. North Dakota, 298 votes (15)

2. Eastern Washington, 271 (5)

3. Northern Arizona, 236 (3)

4. Cal Poly, 224

5. Weber State, 209

6. Montana, 204 (1)

8. Montana State, 156

9. Northern Colorado, 135

10. Portland State, 104

11. UC Davis, 62

12. Sacramento State, 61

13. Idaho State, 44

Big Sky preseason coaches' poll

(first-place votes in parentheses)

1. North Dakota, 130 votes (6)

2. Eastern Washington, 124 (2)

3. Northern Arizona, 119 (2)

5. Weber State, 103 (1)

6. Montana, 83 (1)

7. Southern Utah, 80

8. Montana State, 69

9. Portland State, 62

10. Northern Colorado, 60

11. UC Davis, 35

12. Sacramento State, 26

13. Idaho State, 15