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Welcome to the first week of the Rivalry Name Rankings, brought to you this week by…the state of Montana. If you are not familiar with this new column of mine, please read the introductory piece I wrote last week.
Our No. 15 ranking is a game played between Montana and Montana State in Division I-AA. (Of course this division is now known as something else, but let’s be honest. Who calls it the “NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision”?) First, I would like to go into a little detail about the Big Sky Conference, in which both teams play. There are nine members of this conference, and they are: Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Portland State, Sacramento State, and Weber State. That being said, it shouldn’t be a surprise if you have never heard of this rivalry featuring two Big Sky teams, with the lack of “star power” among these schools’ athletic programs.
As far as each school’s football programs go, Montana went 8-0 in conference this football season, winning the conference title. The Grizzlies (who hail from Missoula) advanced to the national semifinal game, where they lost the Massachusetts 19-17. Meanwhile, Montana State (located in Bozeman) finished second in the Big Sky, with a 6-2 conference record. The Bobcats lost 38-17 to Appalachian State in the second round of the playoffs.
While I was trying to think how to make these rankings a little bit objective, I realized it would be nearly impossible. So, after I tried to create a scale on which to rank the names of the games or trophies, I resorted to grouping the best fifteen names into categories. They are: “classic” names, meaning simple yet powerful; “clever” names, which are funny or extremely creative; or “completely random” names, meaning they don’t fit into either of the first two categories.
The name of this rivalry game falls under the “clever” name category. Why? It’s THE BRAWL OF THE WILD! Tell me that’s not one of the best names you’ve never heard of. (Wait, that might be difficult). Some call it the “Cat-Griz” game, but it’s the former nickname which landed this game among the Top 15 Rivalry Names.
The first game of this rivalry was played in 1897, which Montana won 18-6. Currently, the winner gets to take home the Great Divide Trophy, which was added to the game in 2001. Montana owns the all-time series, having a 66-35-5 record against their in-state foe. Of the five ties, three games ended 0-0 and the other two ended 6-6. Those must not have been the most thrilling games this rivalry has seen.
Montana went on a 10 game win streak between 1933-1946. Montana State won in 1947 but didn’t win again until 1956. This may seem like a rough patch for the Bobcats, but at least they had a win to break up all the losses, right? I say this because the granddaddy of all streaks occurred from 1986-2001, when Montana won 16 games in a row. Needless to say, the Bobcats don’t enjoy playing the Grizzlies today, and they never have in the past.
That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading. Go Wahoos.
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