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Eastern Washington University Football

Eastern Washington football ranked No. 8 by coaches, No. 6 by media in Big Sky preseason poll

Eastern Washington Eagles head coach Aaron Best calls a play during practice last fall in Cheney. (Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review)
By Dan Thompson The Spokesman-Review

If Eastern Washington goes on to reach the FCS playoffs this year, it would be overachieving in doing so.

Or at least that’s how it would be compared to the Big Sky football preseason polls, released Sunday, that have the Eagles ranked eighth by the coaches and sixth by the media.

Last season the Eagles finished 3-5 in Big Sky play and 4-7 overall, finishing 10th out of 12 teams in the league. So, both poll results actually indicate more optimism compared to how the Eagles ended last year.

But it still would leave the Eagles as a bubble playoff team at best in a league that usually sends four or five teams to the 24-team FCS playoff field.

Montana, last year’s national runner-up, sits atop both preseason polls, garnering 10 of 12 coaches’ first-place votes and 26 of the media’s 38. The next four places are identical in both polls, from second to fifth: Montana State, Idaho, UC Davis and Sacramento State.

Of those top five, all but UC Davis made the playoffs last year.

The top five teams in the poll also happen to be Eastern’s first five Big Sky opponents, with the initial matchup coming at home on Sept. 28 against Montana.

The polls diverge from there, with the coaches poll ranking Weber State sixth, Northern Arizona seventh, EWU eighth, Portland State ninth, Idaho State 10th, Northern Colorado 11th and Cal Poly 12th.

The media are higher on Eastern, ranked sixth, followed in order by Weber State, Idaho State and Northern Arizona. Portland State is 10th, Cal Poly 11th and Northern Colorado 12th.

EWU’s Chism, four Vandals named preseason all-league

Eastern Washington senior receiver Efton Chism III was named to the preseason All-Big Sky team, the program’s lone selection, while the Idaho Vandals had four players on the team.

The four Vandals selected were defensive lineman Dallas Afalava, defensive back Tommy McCormick, tight end Jake Cox and return specialist Abraham Williams, who transferred from Weber State during the offseason.

Lan Larison, the UC Davis running back, was named preseason offensive MVP, while Montana State defensive lineman Brody Grebe was chosen as preseason defensive MVP. Both are scheduled to play in Cheney this season, with UC Davis playing at EWU on Oct. 19 and Montana State on Nov. 2.

The preseason all-conference teams were announced as part of the ongoing Big Sky Football Kickoff weekend, with events hosted at Northern Quest in Airway Heights.