Big Sky Preview: 2026-27 College Basketball Predictions & Best Bets Recap
Ryan McIntyre (@Moneyline_Mac) and Troy Chewning (@Troychewning) bring in Cannabis Capper (@CannabisCapper) for the Big Sky conference preview ahead of the 2026-27 college basketball season. All three have Montana State winning the regular season, but nobody agrees on who survives Starch Madness.
Starch Madness Never Goes Chalk
Last season was pure Big Sky chaos. Idaho came out of the seven hole and won four games in four nights. That run took the conference tournament, and the Vandals beat Montana, the five seed, in the final. So the title game was a seven against a five. Ryan McIntyre pointed out that this tournament almost never goes chalk, and 10 seeds have beaten one seeds before. Portland State felt it most. The Vikings won their first regular season title in forever, then dropped to Montana in the semifinals. Montana State, the two seed, also got picked off by Idaho in the first round. Eastern Washington reached the semis before running out of gas against the Vandals.
The league also looks different this winter. Sacramento State left for the MAC. Southern Utah and Utah Tech come in, so the Big Sky now sits at 11 teams. Ryan McIntyre likes adding the two Utah schools because it makes the league more regional. Troy Chewning thinks some of the top teams might eat the newcomers alive. Then there is the courtroom angle. Cannabis Capper noted that Montana State gets point guard Jed Miller back for a fifth year. Northern Colorado also keeps Langston Reynolds for a fifth season. Hanging onto that kind of talent says plenty about the quality at the top of this league.
The Big Sky Coaches From Monson To Canales
Dan Monson is one of the two veterans in the league. It is only his third year at Eastern Washington, but he coached Gonzaga before Mark Few and has won NCAA tournament games. Judkins heads into year 22 at Utah Tech. Then comes the rest of the bench. Logie enters year four at Montana State, and Pribble also hits year four at Idaho after breaking through in the tournament. DeQuire took over for Big Tink at Montana and kept the Grizzlies rolling. Ryan McIntyre called Looney, now in year eight at Idaho State, one of the more underrated coaches because he gets more out of less.
Weber State is the one program with a new head coach. Canales takes over after a year as associate head coach under Cross at Troy. Cannabis Capper thinks the bigger Weber storyline is Dame Lillard taking a general manager role with the program. He is a Weber State guy, so money should start flowing in. Troy Chewning cracked that they call him Dame Dolla, not Dame Pennies. Meanwhile Northern Colorado’s Steve Smiley, in year seven, watched his son Madden pick Wyoming. That puts the kid under Sundance Wicks, who was Smiley’s roommate at Northern State.
Stock Up On Northern Colorado
Cannabis Capper led off stock up with Northern Colorado, and he is all the way in. The Extra Points newsletter ranked them ninth in most efficient spending per win. So they do not have a ton of money, but they spend it well. Reynolds is the centerpiece, because Cap believes he finished second in Player of the Year voting last season. Now he returns as a fifth-year senior. Egan Shields also gives them a 6-foot-10, 250-pound senior center, the exact Big Sky big you expect to eat up the floor. Then add Campbell Blog, a 23-year-old Australian with two years of eligibility and a perimeter role.
Troy Chewning had Northern Colorado too, so he went Montana State instead. Jed Miller is eligible, and Jeremiah Davis and Christian King are also back. Ryan McIntyre agreed on the Bobcats because they are the oldest team in the league. But he also threw Eastern Washington into the mix in Monson’s third year. Cannabis Capper has that team second on his own list. They return two starters, including Alton Hamilton IV, who made second team All-Big Sky and led the team in rebounding. So the top tier looks clear-cut, with these three teams sitting above everyone else.
Fade Portland State After The Magical Year
Stock down split the room. Cannabis Capper went Weber State, but only slightly, because the front court has holes and Canales is in year one. Ryan McIntyre and Troy Chewning went Portland State, and that is the better fade. The Vikings won the league and bring nobody back. Coburn went 8 and 10 in league play in each of the two seasons before that title run, so last year looks like the outlier. Troy thinks the returning teams behind them can pass them, even if only by a game or two. He sees a real chance Portland State finishes fifth.
The roster leans heavily on D2 scorers. Kuran Johnson does arrive from Ole Miss as a fifth-year senior with SEC experience. Then there is Yaroslav Nikonov, who put up 17 points per game for CSKA2 in Russia, and Cannabis Capper cannot wait to see him. Troy argues the other contenders are better put together, especially early in the conference season. So expect a drop from the top, with the Vikings settling into the middle of the pack. Even Cap ended up with them fifth, which he called both their floor and their ceiling.
Big Sky Conference Preview Rankings: Montana State On Top
All three guys picked Montana State to win the regular season. The Bobcats return too much production to bet against, and their age only helps. After that it gets razor thin. Cannabis Capper and Ryan McIntyre both put Northern Colorado second and Eastern Washington third. Troy Chewning flipped those two, because he could not quite push Northern Colorado up to second. Mac said he could see both teams going 12 and 8 or 13 and 7 in league play. Then everyone agreed on Montana at four, since DeQuire seems to finish in the top five just about every year.
Portland State landed fifth on all three boards. From there the picks scattered. Cap went Utah Tech sixth on the back of Ethan Potter, a fifth-year senior who can contend for All-Conference. Troy took Weber sixth, while Mac took Idaho, the defending tournament champ. Mac put Weber seventh and the Southern Utah T-Birds eighth, because Rob Jeter’s team is old and year four is a big one. Cap and Troy also both had Idaho seventh and Idaho State eighth. Cap then dropped Weber to ninth, while Mac and Troy had Utah Tech there. At the bottom, Cap and Troy went Southern Utah 10th and Northern Arizona 11th. Mac had Idaho State 10th and the Lumberjacks in the basement.
Tourney Winner, Player Of The Year And Coach Of The Year
This is Starch Madness, so nobody went chalk on the tournament. Cannabis Capper took Eastern Washington. Troy Chewning went Weber State and joked that Dame Lillard shows up for the conference tournament. Ryan McIntyre took Montana from the four spot, upsetting Montana State in the semifinal before winning the final. The other two briefly dubbed him Chalkentire, because they heard Montana State twice. Mac also checked the history mid-show. Montana State last won the tournament in 2022 as the one seed, which was also its last regular season title. So he has the Bobcats taking the league and the Griz cutting down the nets.
For Player of the Year, Cap and Mac both landed on Langston Reynolds. Mac expects big numbers in Smiley’s offense, and Cap thinks Reynolds finally gets the job done. Troy went Jed Miller at Montana State instead. He also wants a sprinkle on Ethan Potter if a Big Sky Player of the Year market goes up. Coach of the Year was unanimous. All three took Logie, because whoever wins the league should win the award. Coburn took it last year for Portland State. That makes this preview number 15 for the guys, with 17 conferences still to go.
Podcast Chapters
00:00 Download the SGPN App Today!
01:12 Big Sky and Starch Madness
04:03 Last Year Recap, Sacramento State and Southern Utah
07:15 Coaches Breakdown: Monson, Judkins and Canales
12:36 Stock Up: Northern Colorado, Montana State and UW
15:44 Stock Down: Weber State or Portland State
19:51 Who Wins the League: Montana State
21:34 Four Through 11: Montana, Portland State, Utah Tech
26:15 Tourney Winner, Player of the Year, Coach of the Year
30:15 Sign-Off & Socials
