The Bobcat Nation

... will just have 4 road games in a 12-game season.

http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007 ... orts04.txt

Griz search for 11th 2008 game
By FRITZ NEIGHBOR of the Missoulian



Grambling has left the FCS Kickoff Classic scrambling, and the Montana Grizzlies still have a spot to fill on their 2008 football schedule.

That's all we know for sure about the Grizzlies' effort to find an 11th game for next season, when Division I schools can play 12 games. Montana athletic director Jim O'Day was hoping to have something figured out this week, though he's not ready to divulge all his choices for filling the schedule.

“If we could get Grambling, we would do it in a heartbeat,” O'Day said Thursday. “It would be great to get our two institutions together.”


A couple months ago it seemed possible, with Barry Alton and his group Bayside Promotions out of St. George, Utah, trying to set up an FCS “Kickoff Classic”-style game in Las Vegas. The idea, O'Day said, is to pay the expenses of two teams that travel well, from different parts of the country.

The Griz are half of that equation.

Alton said by phone Thursday that he'd like to see one of the historically black colleges from the south - Grambling, Southern, FAMU, Jackson State or Hampton, to name a few - play the Griz or possibly the Montana State Bobcats, among others.

But Grambling's open dates didn't match up with UM's, which are Aug. 30 and Sept. 27 for next season. Moving games around is a sticky proposition. Alton felt Southern and FAMU may be possibilities for 2008, and Grambling could go the year after.

“We're hoping to keep Montana for two years for this thing,” Alton said. “But they seemed pretty excited for the first year.”

“I think the concept is great,” said O'Day. “At the same time, it's not making it an economic disadvantage to either school. In addition to picking up expenses, they're also looking at a guarantee.

“If they take care of the expenses and write you a check on top of it, it's a win-win.”

But O'Day mostly wants a viable opponent on a schedule that includes the other eight Big Sky Conference schools plus Western State College of Colorado on Sept. 6, Southern Utah on Sept. 13 and UC-Davis on Sept. 20.

There was a rumor that Bowl Subdivision program Hawaii was in the picture, but that was more the case for this 2007 season. The dates didn't work for UM, and Northern Colorado ended up going to Honolulu and absorbing a 63-6 loss. A matchup in 2008 also seems unlikely.

“I said into the future we may want to look at it,” said O'Day. “Again, it's timing and everything else. We're just one of many that they are visiting with.”

O'Day is burning up some minutes himself. The UC-Davis game is part of a home-and-home contract, with the Griz set to go to California in 2009. That season there is also a possibility that Boise State could be a foe, though that would give UM six road games against five at home.

“That makes (going to) Boise tough,” O'Day said. “But in 2010 there are just four road games.
“They would love to play us in Boise. I think our fans would love to get that chance again. But they are an impressive program right now. That's not to take anything away from our program, which is outstanding.”

Boise State left the Big Sky in 1996 for Division I-A, and pulled off the stunner of last year's BCS, downing Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl to cap an unbeaten season. The program is set to expand the 31,000-seat Bronco Stadium.

Meanwhile UM is expanding its stadium, and one of the top FCS programs in the country is looking for someone to play. Bayside Promotions could be the answer. Alton's group hosted the Las Vegas All-American Classic in January of 2005 that included UM players Justin Green and Craig Ochs and featured a brief fistfight between opposing assistants near the end.

Cal Poly, a common FCS opponent for UM, is on the 2010 schedule. But trips to Iowa and Oregon could become scarce.

“Appalachian State's victory over Michigan continues to complicate matters a little bit more for teams in our division,” said O'Day. “It is cutting down the number of FBS opponents who want to pay you large amounts of dollars. It used to be they thought they were bringing in people and chalking up a win.

“That's not necessarily the case anymore.”

Griz are pansies. They won't play anybody outside of Fizzoula unless its a conference game. Pathetic.

I don't know if 2010 is a 12 game schedule or not, 2008 is, but it's a rarity.

I'm not out to defend the fizz, but I think you may be taking things out of context.

O'Day is burning up some minutes himself. The UC-Davis game is part of a home-and-home contract, with the Griz set to go to California in 2009. That season there is also a possibility that Boise State could be a foe, though that would give UM six road games against five at home.

“That makes (going to) Boise tough,” O'Day said. “But in 2010 there are just four road games. “They would love to play us in Boise. I think our fans would love to get that chance again. But they are an impressive program right now. That's not to take anything away from our program, which is outstanding.”

I think what he's saying is that playing Boise St. in 2009 won't work because with the teams they've scheduled it would be only five home games (which neither um or MSU is going to do).

His comment regarding 2010 refers to the fact that since they haven't scheduled any other teams yet, there are just four road games (so far), being the mandatory four road trips required by every team in the BSC.
In 2010 they could schedule Boise on the raod and still have six home games.

Just the way I read it.

FTG06' wrote:Griz are pansies. They won't play anybody outside of Fizzoula unless its a conference game. Pathetic.

You got that right! Hell, one of their own fans was complaining about the weak schedule and about Hauck ducking any road game against a quality opponent over on egriz.com, and the regulars on the board banned that poster from even posting! They are in denial, but possibly down deep inside they know that this guy spoke the truth, and the could not allow him to expose Hauck and his mickey mouse schedule on their own message board.

GOKATS wrote:I don't know if 2010 is a 12 game schedule or not, 2008 is, but it's a rarity.

I'm not out to defend the fizz, but I think you may be taking things out of context.

O'Day is burning up some minutes himself. The UC-Davis game is part of a home-and-home contract, with the Griz set to go to California in 2009. That season there is also a possibility that Boise State could be a foe, though that would give UM six road games against five at home.

“That makes (going to) Boise tough,” O'Day said. “But in 2010 there are just four road games. “They would love to play us in Boise. I think our fans would love to get that chance again. But they are an impressive program right now. That's not to take anything away from our program, which is outstanding.”

I think what he's saying is that playing Boise St. in 2009 won't work because with the teams they've scheduled it would be only five home games (which neither um or MSU is going to do).

His comment regarding 2010 refers to the fact that since they haven't scheduled any other teams yet, there are just four road games (so far), being the mandatory four road trips required by every team in the BSC.
In 2010 they could schedule Boise on the raod and still have six home games.

Just the way I read it.

You could be right about it not being a 12-game schedule.... I assumed that every couple of years there were 14 Saturdays to allow the 12-game schedule.... but considering they also only have 4 road games this season, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if that's the way it pans out for 2010.

FTG06' wrote:Griz are pansies. They won't play anybody outside of Fizzoula unless its a conference game. Pathetic.

I'm going to argue this as soon as I think of a valid argument......






.......Insert Cricket noise.......

Top 5 dumbest smack post ever. Congrats.

Billings_Griz wrote:Top 5 dumbest smack post ever. Congrats.

I think you mean the 5 smartest. And thank you.

I hate this year's OOC Griz schedule as much as anyone else. There's really no excuse to schedule the Ft. Lewises and the Dixie States. But after listening to both sides obsess about the 2007 Griz schedule I've come to a couple of conclusions.

1. The 2007 Griz OOC schedule is weaker than the Cats' 2007 schedule. The 2006 Griz OOC schedule was stronger than the Cats' 2006 schedule. Most other recent years' schedules were fairly comparable with the Griz barely edging here and the Cats barely edging there. The argument that goes "we Bobcats, year after year after year, are scheduling tougher teams than the Griz" is pretty funny. So please....keep it up. When work gets a little stressful and I'm in need of a respite I come to BN and find those threads. Thank you Cat fans for making it easy to find them.

2. Don't thump your chest by scheduling and subsequently losing to a good FBS team by 20+ points. It doesn't take guts to get your ass kicked as expected. You don't take a risk (aside from injuries I suppose) by playing those games anymore than Ft. Lewis does when they play the Griz or when Dixie plays the Cats. It's either a neutral (you lose as expected) or wildly positive (you win) experience. There's really no downside no matter how it plays out. You can't "lose" because there's no risk. So again, when I need a laugh I'll come here to see posts that claim "we're better because we had the guts in 2007 to get our asses kicked like you guys did last year ".

playoffs baby, playoffs

Ghost wrote:playoffs baby, playoffs

And if, by playoffs, you mean what the Dodgers are going to be watching from their comfy couches, I agree with you 100%.

Cat in NC wrote:

Ghost wrote:playoffs baby, playoffs

And if, by playoffs, you mean what the Dodgers are going to be watching from their comfy couches, I agree with you 100%.

I know,

FTG06' wrote:Griz are pansies. They won't play anybody outside of Fizzoula unless its a conference game. Pathetic.

Please tell me what OOC the Cats have played that was not a money FBS game.

If you choose the FBS money game, the Griz can match you step-for-step.

Thread number 119 on the Griz schedule.


And once again, haven't we been through all of this many times before? I'm pretty certain if you go back through the last 15 years, you'll see that the Griz and cat schedules are about as comparable as can be.

And finally, Montana plays their difficult schedule in December, not September.

GrizinWashington wrote:Thread number 119 on the Griz schedule.

Started by the griz rag the Missoulian no less

GrizinWashington wrote:Thread number 119 on the Griz schedule.

Posted on your own board first and lots of whining about it there too.

http://www.egriz.com/GrizBoard/topic25873.php

The Griz will undoubtedly be ranked #1 in the nation now. But nobody really knows how good (or how average) they really are yet due to their pollyanna schedule. It will not get much better until they have to play EWU and the Cats. These are the only two real challenges they will have until the playoffs.

I think that the Griz find a way to lose at home every year under Hauck in the playoffs because they have not had to face strong competition much during the regular season. Could happen again this year. I wonder what the excuse will be this time around when they fail to get out of Missoula and the cozy confines???

Cats Meow wrote:The Griz will undoubtedly be ranked #1 in the nation now. But nobody really knows how good (or how average) they really are yet due to their pollyanna schedule. It will not get much better until they have to play EWU and the Cats. These are the only two real challenges they will have until the playoffs.

I think that the Griz find a way to lose at home every year under Hauck in the playoffs because they have not had to face strong competition much during the regular season. Could happen again this year. I wonder what the excuse will be this time around when they fail to get out of Missoula and the cozy confines???

The Griz lose in the playoffs once in a while because they are there every freakin' year, and they are playing the absolute best teams in the nation, something the cats know nothing about.

And if the Griz schedule is so pollyanna, what, exactly is the cat's schedule? Please don't tell me it's any more difficult. That ground has been covered in pages and pages of other threads, and proven to be 100% inaccurate.

GrizinWashington wrote:The Griz lose in the playoffs once in a while because they are there every freakin' year, and they are playing the absolute best teams in the nation, something the cats know nothing about...

1) I believe the Griz have lost in the playoffs 12 of the past 14 years, GinWa; I think that would classify as more than "once in a while".

2) Seems to me we handled playoff-regular Furman last year and were actually in the game against App. St. so I think the Cats DO know something about playing the "absolute best teams in the nation"...

Cats Meow wrote:I think that the Griz find a way to lose at home every year under Hauck in the playoffs because they have not had to face strong competition much during the regular season. Could happen again this year. I wonder what the excuse will be this time around when they fail to get out of Missoula and the cozy confines???

I'd start by explaining that it's not our fault you're in our conference.