Weber State’s men’s team starts at home with a 2 p.m. Thursday matinee in a stiff test against Portland State, then hosts Sacramento State at 7 p.m. Saturday.

The WSU women, therefore, start on the road with an 8 p.m. MST tipoff Thursday at PSU, and a 1 p.m. faceoff Saturday at Sac State.

Both squads went 6-7 (insert juggling gesture here) in their non-league preparation for Big Sky play and have plenty to prove against league foes. Below is a breakdown of how the conference shapes up on both the men’s and women’s sides.

BIG SKY MEN

Teams are ranked by the average of their NCAA NET and Ken Pomeroy ratings among all 365 Division I teams nationally. Typically, the Big Sky has two sub-300 teams but, top to bottom, the conference is stronger than it’s been in several years.

1. NORTHERN COLORADO (10-3)

Rating: 133

Offensive strength: Field goal percentage

Defensive strength: 3-point percentage

Leading scorer: Quinn Denker (18.7 ppg)

Notes: Analytically, Northern Colorado profiled as the top team in the conference but against a slate of teams that would mostly fall in the bottom third of the Big Sky. Then the Bears capped nonconference play with an 86-81 road win at Colorado in which senior Quinn Denker totaled 33 points, eight rebounds and eight assists — putting UNCo firmly at the top of the league.

2. IDAHO STATE (7-6)

Rating: 146.5

Offensive strength: Rebounding

Defensive strength: 3-point percentage

Leading scorer: Caleb Van De Griend (14.5)

Notes: The Bengals? One of the least-experienced teams, by DI experience, doesn’t have any marquee wins but beat the pants off CSUN and Denver. And Utah Valley (57 NET), who has played a home schedule that includes Cal Baptist, Weber State and UC Irvine, got its toughest test in Orem against Idaho State. Caleb Van De Griend and returner Connor Hollenbeck might be the toughest frontcourt in the league.

3. MONTANA STATE (6-7)

Rating: 163

Offensive strength: Low turnovers

Defensive strength: 3-point percentage

Leading scorer: Patrick McMahon (15.3)

Notes: MSU complemented returners Patrick McMahon and Jed Miller with Washington transfer forward Christian King and JUCO guard Davian Brown; Brown is the younger brother of Darius.

4. IDAHO (8-5)

Rating: 169.5

Offensive strength: Free-throw rate and percentage

Defensive strength: Rebounding

Leading scorer: Jackson Rasmussen (14.2)

Notes: The Vandals have a true freshman leading the team in scoring, former No. 1 recruit in the state in Jackson Rasmussen. They’ve been without expected leading scorer Kristian Gonzalez but are balanced and are one of the nation’s best defensive rebounding teams.

5. PORTLAND STATE (6-5)

Rating: 180

Offensive strength: None

Defensive strength: Rebounding, creating turnovers

Leading scorers: Terri Miller (17.8), Jaylin Henderson (17.0)

Notes: PSU hasn’t fared as well as expected but the returning trio of super seniors in Terri Miller, Jaylin Henderson and Tre-Vaughn Minott should still be a problem in the Big Sky. Defensively, the Vikings are top-100 nationally in effective field goal percentage, turnover rate, 3-point percentage and block rate.

6. WEBER STATE (6-7)

Rating: 204.5

Offensive strength: Rebounding, free-throw rate

Defensive strength: 3-point percentage

Leading scorers: Jace Whiting (13.0), Trevor Hennig (13.0)

Notes: WSU is balanced but has struggled to build on its early-season outings against its toughest opponents. The Wildcats, who have played without junior sharpshooter Viljami Vartiainen for the last seven games, focus on consistency, routine and tougher defense as league play arrives.

7. MONTANA (6-7)

Rating: 223.5

Offensive strength: 3-point percentage

Defensive strength: 3-point percentage

Leading scorer: Money Williams (18.2)

Notes: Money Williams has been good but the Griz have undone a tough road win at UNLV with only two other DI wins, totaling three more wins against non-DI opponents, and a home loss against NAIA Montana Tech. Montana will likely be tough in league play but may have some issues to work through.

8. SACRAMENTO ST. (4-8)

Rating: 268.5

Offensive strength: Free-throw percentage

Defensive strength: Creating turnovers

Leading scorer: Prophet Johnson (16.5)

Notes: Mikey Williams gets attention because of his former recruiting ratings, but transfer guard Prophet Johnson (Southern Utah, Fairfield) has been Sac State’s best player, leading his team in scoring and rebounding at 6-foot-3. The Hornets have one DI win and have been without UNLV transfer forward Bear Cherry, injured after four games.

9. E. WASHINGTON (2-11)

Rating: 272.5

Offensive strength: Field goal percentage

Defensive strength: None

Leading scorer: Isaiah Moses (17.0)

Notes: EWU has shown flashes (overtime losses at Colorado and North Texas) against the Big Sky’s toughest nonconference schedule, even after losing expected leading scorer Andrew Cook before the season began. But a roster loaded with nine seniors has struggled mightily on defense (second-to-last nationally in effective field goal percentage defense).

10. NORTHERN ARIZONA (6-7)

Rating: 285

Offensive strength: 3-point percentage

Defensive strength: Free-throw rate

Leading scorer: Zack Davidson (15.2)

Notes: Former big contributors Oakland Fort and Diego Campisano have taken a back seat to transfers Nick Davidson (Montana) and Arne Osojnik (Eastern Michigan), but after a tough performance against Drake and consecutive home wins against SEMO and Cal Poly, the Lumberjacks have gone 1-5 in their last six against DI opponents.

BIG SKY WOMEN

Listed in order of NCAA NET rating.

87. Montana State (7-4). Leading scorer: Taylee Chirrick (17.5 ppg)

119. Idaho (9-4). Leading scorer: Hope Hassmann (14.2)

133. Idaho State (7-4). Leading scorer: Tasia Jordan (16.2)

203. Northern Colorado (9-4). Leading scorer: Neenah George (13.9)

215. Weber State (6-7). Leading scorers: Antoniette Emma-Nnopu (14.0) and Lanae Billy (13.9)

217. Northern Arizona (4-9). Leading scorer: Naomi White (22.6)

236. Eastern Washington (7-6). Leading scorers: Kourtney Grossman (13.8) and Jaecy Eggers (13.5)

241. Montana (3-8). Leading scorer: Mack Konig (16.4)

244. Sacramento State (6-7). Leading scorer: Rubi Gray (14.8)

313. Portland State (4-8). Leading scorer: Kyleigh Brown (18.3)