i concede, 1-aa has been good for us in football. it's revitalized our program. you can't argue with 25,000 dedicated howling fans, or a #25 rating in the entire country by s.i. for game-day atmosphere, or two national championships among five appearances in championship games, or the reputation this run has garnered for the university, or the benefits that have accrued for fund-raising. it's been a glorious two decades of football at montana.
at the same time, being a big fish in a small pond has meant we remain a minnow outside it. nobody outside a few small-town enclaves in this country has any respect for 1-aa football. ratings for even a national championship game are zilch. few 1-aa fans themselves much care about the outcome after their team has been eliminated from the playoffs. i'd wager that way fewer than half of montana fans could tell you who won the 1-aa championship game this year.
which is way different from basketball. when you win respect in basketball, as gonzaga, utah and new mexico have done, as nevada and utah state are now doing (all teams that were once conference foes of the griz) you do it on a national level. you earn real national respect. you get on television. you're in the big leagues, not the little leagues.
understand, i'm not dissing football. i'm as big a fan as anybody on this board. i'm just trying to explain for the benefit of the football junkies here why the chance to play with the best will always have appeal for a growing segment of the montana fan base, especially those that remember the glory-days of micheal ray richardson and larry krystkowiak, or that night on the big stage that we almost knocked off john wooden and u.c.l.a. in what was wooden's final year as head coach.
that was a huge challenge. but even in defeat, it won us our greatest respect.