Notes: Due to COVID-19, the Big Sky suspended the fall 2020 football season. Montana State, Northern Colorado, and Sacramento State opted out of the spring season. † – Montana and Portland State opted out of the conference season, but scheduled non-conference games. ‡ – Cal Poly opted out of the remainder of the spring season on March 29, 2021.
The Eagles finished the 2019 season 7–5, 6–2 in Big Sky play to finish in a three-way tie for third place. They were not selected to participate in the FCS Playoffs. [1]
Preseason
Polls
On July 23, 2020 during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Eagles were predicted to finish fourth in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.[2]
Coaches poll
Predicted finish
Team
Votes (1st place)
1
Weber State
135 (7)
2
Montana
128 (3)
3
Montana State
121 (1)
4
Eastern Washington
118 (1)
5
Sacramento State
99 (1)
6
UC Davis
83
7
Northern Arizona
68
8
Portland State
67
9
Idaho
66
10
Cal Poly
46
11
Idaho State
37
12
Southern Utah
33
13
Northern Colorado
13
Media poll
Predicted finish
Team
Votes (1st place)
1
Weber State
546 (28)
2
Montana
496 (8)
3
Montana State
493 (6)
4
Eastern Washington
438 (1)
5
Sacramento State
389
6
UC Davis
325 (1)
7
Portland State
274
8
Idaho
273
9
Northern Arizona
238
10
Cal Poly
206
11
Idaho State
133
12
Southern Utah
105
13
Northern Colorado
88
Preseason All-Conference Team
The Eagles had two players selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team. Senior quarterback Eric Barriere was also selected as the Big Sky Preseason Most Valuable Player.[3]
Eastern Washington released their full schedule on January 11, 2019.[4]
The Eagles were scheduled to play against Florida on September 5th in Gainesville, but this game was cancelled on July 30th after the Southeastern Conference moved to a ten game, conference-only schedule for its teams due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]
Despite being a Big Sky opponent, the game against Northern Arizona on September 19 will not count towards the Big Sky Conference standings.[6] [7]