George Ferguson Column: Here's my own Frontier Preseason Football Poll

By the end of this week, every Frontier Conference football team will have opened their fall camps. It’s an exciting time, as college football returns, and the Frontier certainly never lacks for excitement.

Tuesday will be an exciting day, as well, as the league holds its annual Frontier Conference Football Media Day in Great Falls. All of the Frontier coaches will be on hand to speak about their programs. And to top it all off, the Frontier will release its 2018 Preseason Coaches Poll.

Of course, the Havre Daily News will have full coverage of the media day, but before we get to Tuesday, I have to take care of a little Frontier business of my own.

For years now, and I mean a lot of years, because I’ve been covering the league for a long, long time, I’ve been putting out my own Frontier Conference Power Poll during the season. I’ve also spent each summer putting together my own Frontier Preseason Poll, and, it’s always fun to see by season’s end, just where my picks fell.

So, with the Frontier Coaches Poll about to be released, here’s my version of the preseason poll, with a quick look at why I made each pick.

1. Rocky Mountain College: I’m starting my poll off with a bang. I’m not sure where the Battlin’ Bears will fall in the preseason coaches poll, but I have them at No. 1 in mine to start the season because, Rocky has been really good for stretches of each of the last five seasons now, and I’ve always felt it was just a matter of time until they climb over the final hurdle. And, in looking at the Bears, it’s hard to find a weakness on head coach Jason Petrino’s team. The Bears have great players at the skill positions, and a star defender at every level. Of course, playing on the road will dictate how far the Bears go this season, but if they stay healthy, there’s no reason why they can’t win the league title.

2. Southern Oregon: It was hard to pick against the Raiders with the wealth of talent they have and the fact that they’ve been one of the NAIA’s elite offensive teams for years now. But head coach Charlie Hall does have a question mark at quarterback, at least going into fall camp, so that gave me a little bit of a pause. Still, SOU is loaded with the rest of its offense, and the Raiders may have the most talented defense they’ve had since they joined the Frontier. So even with a new QB1 this season, SOU will no doubt be in the thick of the Frontier title hunt.

3. Carroll College: The Fighting Saints have suffered through several straight losing seasons. During that time, injuries on defense and a struggling offense have been the culprit. But Carroll could very well have the offensive part figured out this season with the emergence of Major Ali as one of the best RB’s in the country and the addition of an Idaho State transfer at quarterback. We know, when healthy, Carroll will be great defensively, but if all of the pieces fall into place offensively, watch out because the Saints will indeed be back.

4. College of Idaho: The Yotes finished last season on a tear, winning their last three games. And while they did lose some key pieces to graduation, they have an established offensive line and one of the most dangerous running attacks in the country, led by QB Darius-James Peterson. The question marks for C of I will be on the defensive side of the ball, but if they can get some new faces to step up, we know what they’re going to be offensively, and that should mean their strong finish in 2017 was no accident.

5. Montana Tech: The Orediggers lost three straight games to finish 2017, and that was with a squad that started the year as a sexy pick to compete for a national championship. Then graduation also hit the Diggers hard. I have no doubt head coach Chuck Morrell will have the Diggers ready to go this season, and they do have star running back Jed Fike back. And they’ve had some stellar recruiting classes the last five years. But Tech has a lot of new faces in key positions, so to start the fall at least, the Diggers may be looking up at some of the top teams in the league.

6. Eastern Oregon: The Mounties are always hard to predict. When you think they’re down, they explode, and when they’re loaded, they’ve fallen short at times. And while I don’t think EOU lacks for talent, it just seems like competing for the Frontier title will be tough to do this season. Still, as has been the case in years past, they could also turn around and be the surprise team in the league.

7. UM-Western: The Dawgs have had some strong seasons in recent years, but have not had enough wins to break out of the middle of the Frontier pack. And they lost their two most productive offensive players from a year ago (quarterback and running back). So while I expect a stout defense in Dillon, some rebuilding on offense may hold them back this fall.

8. MSU-Northern: It’s always hard for me to pick against the team I cover. But that’s the job sometimes. I will say, though, I and Northern Nation couldn’t be more excited about the Andrew Rolin era. He’s only been in Havre since December, but it’s already obvious that Northern hit a grand slam with that hire. Will it take time for Rolin to build up the program? Of course. Will there be bumps in the road? Yup. Will this season still be a potential rebuilding year? Could be. But with Rolin at the helm, the rest of the Frontier will be on notice that the Lights are coming, and I would bet it won’t take long.