(Stats Perform) - The Montana Grizzlies winning the Big Sky championship once seemed like a given - it occurred in 12 consecutive seasons from 1998 to 2009 and 15 out of 17 years when stretched out to '93.

Their drought in the last 12 seasons (since 2010, although the Griz sat out the 2020 pandemic-delayed conference schedule) is just as surprising.In 2022, the Griz are favored to return to the top of the standings - an arduous task given the depth of the Big Sky, whose six teams ranked in the Stats Perform FCS Preseason Top 25 are the national conference high.

The conference is exceptionally deep in running backs this season, and key returning standouts on defense seem to be everywhere.