No question, when it comes to FCS football, Montana is a "national" power. And as morose as we all are today over our football tailspin, it'll take far more than one bad season to sully that reputation.
But for myself, LAGriz, and so many others who live on "the other side of the mountain" yet retain a deep loyalty to Montana athletics, being a FCS power counts for little. Except for the playoffs, or a once-a-decade game like Montana v North Dakota State or v. Appalachina State, the games are not on national TV, scores and odds are not listed in the paper, and your friends from the larger schools take a condescending attitude toward your "national championship." No bragging right at the FCS level; Little League champions get more exposure. And that's why for so many of us the fantasy persists of Montana as a true national brand, a la Gonzaga, in the big-boy world of college basketball. That we were only one half away from a Sweet 16 under Krystkowiak only keeps that fantasy alive.
Then, for one brief shining hour Friday afternoon, that fantasy was realized! Sure it was a laid-back pre-season tournament in a tropical paradise, but there was Montana, on bona fide national TV (CBS Sports), facing one of the premier big-time college basketball programs, North Carolina State, and lo! holding our own! Playin' 'em straight-up dead even! The commentators were amazed by the speed, daring and quickness of Walter Wright, the fastest guy in the tournament, they believed. There were the commentators again raving about Sayeed Pridgett, and how Montana out-recruited several bigger programs, including Oregon State, to land him. Or--ouch!--lauding Travis DeCuire as one of the up-and-coming young college coaches, already on the radar of major programs, while at the same time listing Montana's fabled "coaching tree," all the great names who passed through on their way to something bigger, something better.
Of course, it all came crashing down, amid a flurry of turnovers, missed shots and a woeful lack of the bigs that we need to compete at this level, a streak of ineptness and inexperience that would persist for the next three halves. But for that one shining hour, the fantasy lived. Could it be?
Well, I'm still a believer. Remember, while both USC and NC State were missing some of their stud players, we've been without Alphonso Anderson and Michael Olguine. Even Steph Curry can go one for ten from three's, so a reliance on three-point shooting is always dicey. Meanwhile, Pridgett and Jared Samuelson are emerging as big-time, big-program college players. And while we've been a bit giddy on this board lately, thinking we'd beat Washington State or Ole Miss, my prediction about the lack of an inside game is really proving out, especially against the competition we're facing this pre-season. I'm still waiting for the cavalry to arrive--Anderson, Akoh, Dorsey, Nicholas, Kramer. If you can have any criticism at all of DeCuire, it is that in his third year at the helm, we have only two quality bigs Samuelson and Krslovic, one of whom is only a freshman. Once Oguine returns, I feel we can play with anybody in the backcourt, even the top-flight programs. Up front? No way. We're still in for some painful results, and surely a 16-seed if we're able to win the Sky this year.
But for myself, LAGriz, and so many others who live on "the other side of the mountain" yet retain a deep loyalty to Montana athletics, being a FCS power counts for little. Except for the playoffs, or a once-a-decade game like Montana v North Dakota State or v. Appalachina State, the games are not on national TV, scores and odds are not listed in the paper, and your friends from the larger schools take a condescending attitude toward your "national championship." No bragging right at the FCS level; Little League champions get more exposure. And that's why for so many of us the fantasy persists of Montana as a true national brand, a la Gonzaga, in the big-boy world of college basketball. That we were only one half away from a Sweet 16 under Krystkowiak only keeps that fantasy alive.
Then, for one brief shining hour Friday afternoon, that fantasy was realized! Sure it was a laid-back pre-season tournament in a tropical paradise, but there was Montana, on bona fide national TV (CBS Sports), facing one of the premier big-time college basketball programs, North Carolina State, and lo! holding our own! Playin' 'em straight-up dead even! The commentators were amazed by the speed, daring and quickness of Walter Wright, the fastest guy in the tournament, they believed. There were the commentators again raving about Sayeed Pridgett, and how Montana out-recruited several bigger programs, including Oregon State, to land him. Or--ouch!--lauding Travis DeCuire as one of the up-and-coming young college coaches, already on the radar of major programs, while at the same time listing Montana's fabled "coaching tree," all the great names who passed through on their way to something bigger, something better.
Of course, it all came crashing down, amid a flurry of turnovers, missed shots and a woeful lack of the bigs that we need to compete at this level, a streak of ineptness and inexperience that would persist for the next three halves. But for that one shining hour, the fantasy lived. Could it be?
Well, I'm still a believer. Remember, while both USC and NC State were missing some of their stud players, we've been without Alphonso Anderson and Michael Olguine. Even Steph Curry can go one for ten from three's, so a reliance on three-point shooting is always dicey. Meanwhile, Pridgett and Jared Samuelson are emerging as big-time, big-program college players. And while we've been a bit giddy on this board lately, thinking we'd beat Washington State or Ole Miss, my prediction about the lack of an inside game is really proving out, especially against the competition we're facing this pre-season. I'm still waiting for the cavalry to arrive--Anderson, Akoh, Dorsey, Nicholas, Kramer. If you can have any criticism at all of DeCuire, it is that in his third year at the helm, we have only two quality bigs Samuelson and Krslovic, one of whom is only a freshman. Once Oguine returns, I feel we can play with anybody in the backcourt, even the top-flight programs. Up front? No way. We're still in for some painful results, and surely a 16-seed if we're able to win the Sky this year.
