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Post by Old Rip on Jul 17, 2010 9:12:52 GMT -5
The NCAA Division 1 FCS national championship game will be hosted by the Southland Conference and the community of Frisco, TX at the Pizza Hut Park.
The Montana Grizzlies under first year coach Robin Pflugrad are loaded with talent and looking to be running more of a spread offense similar to Pflugrad's system when he was coaching at Oregon.
I suspect the pre-season rankings to put Villanova at the number 1 slot and the Griz at No. 2. With the change in venue to a more central and improved weather location, the east coast advantage at Chattanooga, TN has been removed, and after going 2-5 in the national title game, I think the football gods may finally be smiling on the Grizzlies.
The Griz are still signing a lot of transfers, and have one defensive back Jimmy Wilson reinstated for eligibility to play by the NCAA after his acquittal on murder charges in California. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the young man and hoping he doesn't blow a second chance. He could be playing on Sundays after his final year at Montana.
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Post by west-texan on Jul 17, 2010 12:40:38 GMT -5
I've been lurking on 2 message boards and following the Griz a bit this summer.
They seem to have their community really engaged with a 1-AA FCS program.
A lot of buzz and chatter going on about Griz football.
I just did a google search, and I think Montana leads FCS average attendance with 24417.
Looks like 4 Texas schools finished in the FCS top 25, so I think Frisco is a good location choice.
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Post by west-texan on Jul 23, 2010 11:20:17 GMT -5
The start of moving up for Montana? Now if we can just get WT to start playing up a level for some games. billingsgazette.com/sports/co...cc4c002e0.htmlThere have been some rumors floating around that the Montana Grizzlies will travel to play Tennessee to open the 2011 football season. Well, a source of mine says it's a done deal. Good ol' Rocky Top! The Griz, apparently, will face the Volunteers on Sept. 3, 2011, at 100,000-plus seat Neyland Stadium in Knoxville. Montana, I'm told, will replace North Texas on the Vols' schedule. If it happens, this will be the first game the Griz will play against an Bowl division team since traveling to Iowa in 2006, a game they lost 41-7. Sure, they took one on the chin, but Montana did make something like $650,000 on that game, which helped the athletic department crawl out of a significant financial hole. So it was pretty much a victory in the long run. Griz AD Jim O'Day has told me in the past that the football team would not play an "up game" unless the money was right. Why would they go on the road, get beat, and only make $200,000? They can make that kind of coin easily on any given Saturday at Washington-Grizzly Stadium when they line up a patsy like Western State or Fort Lewis. Is the potential matchup with Tennessee a bodybag game in which the Griz will take a pounding? Perhaps, although the Vols are hardly the SEC power they used to be. And after the Lane Kiffin debacle, UT is in a reconstruction phase under new head coach Derek Dooley. New Griz coach Robin Pflugrad told me in an extensive interview during the spring that he will never duck the big dogs: "I don't want to ever sound conceited or brag about the fact that we don't have to go anywhere, because I WANT to go somewhere. I WANT to take this team on the road and play a, quote, Division I team. I want to do that if not every year, every other year. We've been looking for a 2011 (FBS) opponent, and it's been difficult. We've had a lot of teams turn us down. Do you go to just play them? No. You better be able to make more money if you leave Missoula, or straight across even. "We don't want to be cannon fodder for Nebraska or Florida or Alabama just to say we went and played them. I think our players have to get something out of it and I want it to be a positive experience. And our administration needs to get something out of it in a paycheck." Win or lose, my guess is that the Griz are going to be laughing all the way to the bank on this one. |
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Post by west-texan on Jul 23, 2010 11:26:51 GMT -5
From the www.egriz.com board, here is an interesting thought from a Montana fan: ;D Re: Griz Play Tennesee in 2011 Post by JDoub ยป Fri Jul 23, 2010 8:52 am I hope it is true -- good to see the griz step up for the competition. Wyoming beat Tennessee Weber State was one bad FG snap from beating Wyoming UM stomped Weber ergo, UM beats Tennessee |
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