The biggest differences he points out are that the No. 1 goal of the program is to beat the Cats. Which has happened twice in the last nine years. No. 2 is to win the Big Sky. Which has happened once in 16 seasons. Third is to get a degree - which they are doing very well. And No. 4 is to win the natty. Which no Griz team in a quarter century, including Andrew's, have been able to accomplish.
Left out, is that the Cats were pretty bad for years and then UM had Stitt. And the conference is stronger now than it was in the 2000's. It's much harder to beat the Cats now that they are good and on the same level of the Griz, and it's harder to win the conference when there are multiple good teams in most years. While EWU is now down, MSU, Davis, Idaho, NAU (in a few recent years), Weber in many years, Sac State in multiple recent years. Until this year, the Big Sky was sending alot of teams to the playoffs.
Setting high goals, which have never been met since 2001 (and maybe not met them based on academics), is great and something to work towards. But saying things are bad or down because the very high goals are not met is not valid. To me high goals should not become expectations. They are not the same, or shouldn't be.
The Cats haven't won a nation championship since 1984. The Griz have won it twice since 1995. The Griz have been in the championship game many times. The Cats haven't. The Cats and Griz have had a hard time beating the Dakota teams, but even in recent years, the Griz have done a better job.
I can't imagine the Cats would win the national championship this year, but if they do, great for them. My view is that if the Griz can get past SDSU, the Griz have as good of a chance of winning the championship as the Cats do. I firmly believe the Griz will defend the Cats more effectively if they play again. There was much to improve, and the game was still only 3 points.
I think the Griz will be hungry on Saturday, but we shall see. The week off should be good for them.