It’s WSU’s sixth time winning the honor, most in the conference, since the award began in 2003.

The Presidents’ Cup is awarded annually to the top school on an index of athletic and academic success.

“It’s an accumulation of a lot of hard work from a lot of different people, starting with our student-athletes and their commitment to finding excellence on the field and in the classroom — to all the support they get from our department, from academics and compliance,” WSU athletic director Tim Crompton said in a video released by the school. “And it’s a testament to the great coaches we have and how they lead their student-athletes.”

Athletically, points are awarded for place of finish in the regular-season standings of eight team sports, and for performance at the conference championship events in cross country, track and field, and golf.

Academically, schools are measured by academic progress rate (APR) from the previous year and by each team’s GPA in the current year.

The Wildcats placed 80 student-athletes on the Big Sky Fall All-Academic Team, 70 on the Winter Team and 87 on the Spring Team, which honors student-athletes with over a 3.2 cumulative GPA.

FOOTBALL PICKED 6TH & 7TH

Weber State football was voted sixth in the coaches poll and seventh in the media poll as the league revealed 2024 preseason voting at the kickoff event.

Montana was a runaway first in both polls after finishing as the national runner-up in 2023.

The order of the coaches poll is: Montana (10 first-place votes), Montana State (1), Idaho, UC Davis (1), Sacramento State, Weber State, Northern Arizona, Eastern Washington, Portland State, Idaho State, Northern Colorado, Cal Poly.

Junior defensive end Brayden Wilson was Weber State’s only selection to the Big Sky preseason All-Conference team after leading the conference in tackles for loss (16.5) in 2023.

UC Davis running back Lan Larison and Montana State defensive lineman Brody Grebe were voted as preseason MVPs.

Weber State had 11 players receive All-Conference honors after the 2023 season; Wilson is the only returner. Eight were seniors, linebacker Jack Kelly transferred to BYU and kick returner Abraham Williams left to go to Idaho.

Williams was voted to the 2024 preseason All-Conference team as a kick returner.

ESPN DEAL RENEWED

Big Sky Commissioner Tom Wistrcill announced Monday that the Big Sky has renewed its media rights deal with ESPN.

It’s a five-year contract extension. Wistrcill said it includes a “healthy rights fee increase” for money coming to the Big Sky, which uses the ESPN+ streaming service for a vast majority of game productions.

The new deal, he said, will also increase the number of football games on national TV from two to four, starting in the 2025 season. In 2024, the matchups of Idaho at Montana State, and UC Davis at Montana, have been selected to air on ESPN2.