I do this every year where we grade every sports program and evaluate the Athletic Department as a whole. Let me know if you agree or disagree with any of these grades!
Soccer: A+. After two years of coming up short in the Big Sky tournament, Soccer finally got over the hump this year and won both the Big Sky regular season and tournament titles. They advanced to the NCAA Tournament and lost to Washington in the first round 2-0. After the season, head coach Chris Citowicki left to take the head coaching job at Washington State and he took the overwhelming majority of the roster with him to Wazzu. Now in comes Stuart Gore who won an NAIA National Championship and rebuilt a Northwestern State team that he twice took to the NCAA Tournament. He most recently was the head coach at Troy and that didn’t work out too well. He only has 6 returning players from this team so it will be a lot of newcomers in his first season. The Griz will once again host the Big Sky tournament, but I think we got to keep expectations realistic for year one of a new look team.
Track & Field: B+. Another very successful year by Griz Track & Field as both the Men’s and Women’s teams finished 3rd at both the Indoor and Outdoor championships, and both teams are still filled with tons of underclassmen. There were several individuals who won championships yesterday that I cannot possibly name all of them, but the Griz will be sending a plethora of athletes to the NCAA West Regional championships in two weeks both Men and Women which is awesome. Congratulations to the Men on finishing higher than the cats for the first time since 2019! That is an absolutely huge result as the cats have really become a dominant program in Track & Field, so to be able to surpass them in just year 4 under Doug Fraley is an immense accomplishment! They were also able to close the gap a little bit with NAU, but they still have a ton of work to do catch them (and they may never be able to). If it weren’t for Sac State having generational sprinters then the Griz would have finished second but now with Sac on their way out, there’s a chance that the Griz could be voted second in the preseason poll next year. Also important to note that next year’s Outdoor championships will be held in Missoula at Dornblaser, so the Griz really gotta go for it next year!
Men’s Tennis: B. After winning the Big Sky championship and playing in the NCAA tournament, and returning nearly the entire team, expectations were sky high for Jason Brown and Men’s Tennis. Unfortunately, this team faced a wrath of injuries that really hurt their chances of having a special season. Our #1 player Tom Bitner dealt with nagging injuries all year (as did others) and the Griz failed to win the regular season title and were upset by Idaho State in the semis of the Big Sky tournament. Now looking forward, they lose their top two players to graduation and have to go back to the drawing board a little bit. I would keep expectations a little bit lower next year.
Football: B-. I cannot in good conscience give Football an A with how the season finished. After starting the season 11-0 and looing like legit national championship contenders, it all came to a screeching halt in the Brawl in Missoula as Bobby Hauck’s vaunted 3-3-5 defense couldn’t stop a runny nose. The cats ran for over 250 yards and bled the clock out on us. There was some good fortune for the cats as they got a tipped pick 6 that ended up being the difference, and a questionable holding call that wiped away the go-ahead touchdown for the Griz. We would end up losing 31-28 but would get the chance to rematch them in the semis in Bozeman. Once again though, after taking a 24-20 lead in the 3rd quarter, the vaunted 3-3-5 defense couldn’t stop a runny nose and we would end up getting the doors blown off, which in tune led to the cats winning the natty. This is your legacy Bobby, good job! Now in comes Bobby Kennedy who has brought a new energy and quite the culture change. It remains to be seen if he can win games, but he has a lot of playmakers that will give him a chance to compete. Can he win in Bozeman though? We will find out.
Softball: B-. What an unbelievable turnaround by Stef Ewing in just her second year on the job. The Griz improved their win total by 15 games and played for a Big Sky championship on the final day of the regular season. Unfortunately, they ran into a very Senior laden Idaho State team that had really steam rolled every team in the Big Sky this year. The future is incredibly bright for Softball though as the Griz only lose 1 senior from this year’s team and there’s only 2 juniors on this team. They’re all underclassmen and that’s great news for the next 2 years! Can’t wait to see the progression and hopefully watch this team get over the hump next year.
Men’s Basketball: C. Quite the Jekyl and Hyde season for Men’s Basketball. Coming off a season where the Griz won both the regular season and tournament titles and played in the NCAA Tournament, and returned the best player in the Big Sky in Money Williams, the team got off to a hell of a start knocking off UNLV on the road and coming within seconds of knocking off Texas A&M. After that though came the head scratching losses at home to Lamar, Oakland, and yes, Montana Tech. The Griz hit some home runs in the transfer portal in the 24-25 season but really struck out with this season’s portal class. It didn’t help that two guys that they were really counting on suffered season ending injuries in non-conference, but still they should’ve been better than that. Despite all that they still managed to make it to the Big Sky Championship game, but luck was not on our side as Money Williams would contract flu-like symptoms the night before the game and denied us of the championship against Idaho. A fitting way to end a roller coaster season. Now looking forward there’s no more Money Williams as he transferred to Boston College, and now we see what the identity of this team is in 26-27. I can guarantee you Travis DeCuire will not allow for another sloppy, turnover heavy team like he had this year. He will clean that stuff up in a hurry, but will he have the horses to compete for the title? We’ll find out!
Cross Country: C. We saw some improvement here as the Men finished 5th but the women finished down at 9th. This is the area that needs to continue to improve if Track & Field really wants to improve. We just have not had any distance runners do hardly anything over the years. We’re kind of starting to see some Men come onto the radar in the distance events, but the women still have a ways to go.
Volleyball: C-. Another year, another mediocre season from Griz Volleyball. They got off to an 0-3 start which featured two really bad losses to Utah Valley and Navy. After that though they went on a heater winning 10 straight games to get everyone’s hopes up before coming back down to earth when they lost in 5 sets at home to the cats. They would later on beat the cats in Bozeman and get the 5 seed in the Big Sky tournament, but they also lost their final 2 regular season games before bowing out in the first round of the tournament again to Weber. Allison Lawrence in her decade tenure still has yet to win a game at the Big Sky tournament, which has become a staple of her time at the helm. She still somehow manages to keep getting the benefit of the doubt, but when will enough be enough?
Women’s Tennis: D-. Tough year for Steve Ascher and the women. Kelsey Phillips was the one bright spot on this team, but outside of her it was a really rough season. They lost to teams they had no business losing to and they failed to qualify for the Big Sky tournament. Not sure where they go from here or what needs to be done to get the ladies back on track but hopefully Ascher has been brainstorming this.
Golf: F. Bad year for Jimmy Mee and Women’s Golf. One of the things that has really held this program back over the years was their lack of consistency. Well this year, they were just consistently bad. They finished at or near the bottom of every tournament they played in which included taking last place in their own home tournament. They took 9th at the Big Sky championships. Looking forward, they have a chance to reset a little bit with Raina and Hannah Ports both graduating. If I were Jimmy Mee, I would probably try to dip into the portal a little bit and see if you can grab 1 or 2 stud players to get this thing back on track. They’re in a tough spot right now.
Women’s Basketball: F. Historically bad year for the Lady Griz. One of the worst seasons in the history of the program. Finishing with single digit wins for a program like this is completely unacceptable. Luckily Nate Harris has had the proper response this offseason as he has completely revamped the roster and brought in several girls that I believe will make for a much-upgraded roster next year. Harris knows that with one more bad season that his ass will be on the line. I think he has a chance to turn it around next year, but if he doesn’t then it may be time for him to get out.
Overall Athletic Department Grade: C. This was a year that I had very high expectations for coming into the year, and outside of Soccer there was a lot of underachieving and coming up short. Especially among the Big 3 sports teams, they have to be better. Luckily each of these 3 programs has had a chance to hit the reset button in a big way, but you gotta go out there and prove it. We enter a new era at UM with new President Jeremiah Shinn coming in from Boise State in July. I’m sure he would have no issue making leadership changes in the athletic department if we have another year like this. Time to erase this year from our memories as fans and do what we can to help our teams reach that championship level next year. Step up and contribute to Good Ol Grizzlies, GSA, QB Club, Roundball Club, etc. and let’s get back to being the dominant force in the Big Sky!
Soccer: A+. After two years of coming up short in the Big Sky tournament, Soccer finally got over the hump this year and won both the Big Sky regular season and tournament titles. They advanced to the NCAA Tournament and lost to Washington in the first round 2-0. After the season, head coach Chris Citowicki left to take the head coaching job at Washington State and he took the overwhelming majority of the roster with him to Wazzu. Now in comes Stuart Gore who won an NAIA National Championship and rebuilt a Northwestern State team that he twice took to the NCAA Tournament. He most recently was the head coach at Troy and that didn’t work out too well. He only has 6 returning players from this team so it will be a lot of newcomers in his first season. The Griz will once again host the Big Sky tournament, but I think we got to keep expectations realistic for year one of a new look team.
Track & Field: B+. Another very successful year by Griz Track & Field as both the Men’s and Women’s teams finished 3rd at both the Indoor and Outdoor championships, and both teams are still filled with tons of underclassmen. There were several individuals who won championships yesterday that I cannot possibly name all of them, but the Griz will be sending a plethora of athletes to the NCAA West Regional championships in two weeks both Men and Women which is awesome. Congratulations to the Men on finishing higher than the cats for the first time since 2019! That is an absolutely huge result as the cats have really become a dominant program in Track & Field, so to be able to surpass them in just year 4 under Doug Fraley is an immense accomplishment! They were also able to close the gap a little bit with NAU, but they still have a ton of work to do catch them (and they may never be able to). If it weren’t for Sac State having generational sprinters then the Griz would have finished second but now with Sac on their way out, there’s a chance that the Griz could be voted second in the preseason poll next year. Also important to note that next year’s Outdoor championships will be held in Missoula at Dornblaser, so the Griz really gotta go for it next year!
Men’s Tennis: B. After winning the Big Sky championship and playing in the NCAA tournament, and returning nearly the entire team, expectations were sky high for Jason Brown and Men’s Tennis. Unfortunately, this team faced a wrath of injuries that really hurt their chances of having a special season. Our #1 player Tom Bitner dealt with nagging injuries all year (as did others) and the Griz failed to win the regular season title and were upset by Idaho State in the semis of the Big Sky tournament. Now looking forward, they lose their top two players to graduation and have to go back to the drawing board a little bit. I would keep expectations a little bit lower next year.
Football: B-. I cannot in good conscience give Football an A with how the season finished. After starting the season 11-0 and looing like legit national championship contenders, it all came to a screeching halt in the Brawl in Missoula as Bobby Hauck’s vaunted 3-3-5 defense couldn’t stop a runny nose. The cats ran for over 250 yards and bled the clock out on us. There was some good fortune for the cats as they got a tipped pick 6 that ended up being the difference, and a questionable holding call that wiped away the go-ahead touchdown for the Griz. We would end up losing 31-28 but would get the chance to rematch them in the semis in Bozeman. Once again though, after taking a 24-20 lead in the 3rd quarter, the vaunted 3-3-5 defense couldn’t stop a runny nose and we would end up getting the doors blown off, which in tune led to the cats winning the natty. This is your legacy Bobby, good job! Now in comes Bobby Kennedy who has brought a new energy and quite the culture change. It remains to be seen if he can win games, but he has a lot of playmakers that will give him a chance to compete. Can he win in Bozeman though? We will find out.
Softball: B-. What an unbelievable turnaround by Stef Ewing in just her second year on the job. The Griz improved their win total by 15 games and played for a Big Sky championship on the final day of the regular season. Unfortunately, they ran into a very Senior laden Idaho State team that had really steam rolled every team in the Big Sky this year. The future is incredibly bright for Softball though as the Griz only lose 1 senior from this year’s team and there’s only 2 juniors on this team. They’re all underclassmen and that’s great news for the next 2 years! Can’t wait to see the progression and hopefully watch this team get over the hump next year.
Men’s Basketball: C. Quite the Jekyl and Hyde season for Men’s Basketball. Coming off a season where the Griz won both the regular season and tournament titles and played in the NCAA Tournament, and returned the best player in the Big Sky in Money Williams, the team got off to a hell of a start knocking off UNLV on the road and coming within seconds of knocking off Texas A&M. After that though came the head scratching losses at home to Lamar, Oakland, and yes, Montana Tech. The Griz hit some home runs in the transfer portal in the 24-25 season but really struck out with this season’s portal class. It didn’t help that two guys that they were really counting on suffered season ending injuries in non-conference, but still they should’ve been better than that. Despite all that they still managed to make it to the Big Sky Championship game, but luck was not on our side as Money Williams would contract flu-like symptoms the night before the game and denied us of the championship against Idaho. A fitting way to end a roller coaster season. Now looking forward there’s no more Money Williams as he transferred to Boston College, and now we see what the identity of this team is in 26-27. I can guarantee you Travis DeCuire will not allow for another sloppy, turnover heavy team like he had this year. He will clean that stuff up in a hurry, but will he have the horses to compete for the title? We’ll find out!
Cross Country: C. We saw some improvement here as the Men finished 5th but the women finished down at 9th. This is the area that needs to continue to improve if Track & Field really wants to improve. We just have not had any distance runners do hardly anything over the years. We’re kind of starting to see some Men come onto the radar in the distance events, but the women still have a ways to go.
Volleyball: C-. Another year, another mediocre season from Griz Volleyball. They got off to an 0-3 start which featured two really bad losses to Utah Valley and Navy. After that though they went on a heater winning 10 straight games to get everyone’s hopes up before coming back down to earth when they lost in 5 sets at home to the cats. They would later on beat the cats in Bozeman and get the 5 seed in the Big Sky tournament, but they also lost their final 2 regular season games before bowing out in the first round of the tournament again to Weber. Allison Lawrence in her decade tenure still has yet to win a game at the Big Sky tournament, which has become a staple of her time at the helm. She still somehow manages to keep getting the benefit of the doubt, but when will enough be enough?
Women’s Tennis: D-. Tough year for Steve Ascher and the women. Kelsey Phillips was the one bright spot on this team, but outside of her it was a really rough season. They lost to teams they had no business losing to and they failed to qualify for the Big Sky tournament. Not sure where they go from here or what needs to be done to get the ladies back on track but hopefully Ascher has been brainstorming this.
Golf: F. Bad year for Jimmy Mee and Women’s Golf. One of the things that has really held this program back over the years was their lack of consistency. Well this year, they were just consistently bad. They finished at or near the bottom of every tournament they played in which included taking last place in their own home tournament. They took 9th at the Big Sky championships. Looking forward, they have a chance to reset a little bit with Raina and Hannah Ports both graduating. If I were Jimmy Mee, I would probably try to dip into the portal a little bit and see if you can grab 1 or 2 stud players to get this thing back on track. They’re in a tough spot right now.
Women’s Basketball: F. Historically bad year for the Lady Griz. One of the worst seasons in the history of the program. Finishing with single digit wins for a program like this is completely unacceptable. Luckily Nate Harris has had the proper response this offseason as he has completely revamped the roster and brought in several girls that I believe will make for a much-upgraded roster next year. Harris knows that with one more bad season that his ass will be on the line. I think he has a chance to turn it around next year, but if he doesn’t then it may be time for him to get out.
Overall Athletic Department Grade: C. This was a year that I had very high expectations for coming into the year, and outside of Soccer there was a lot of underachieving and coming up short. Especially among the Big 3 sports teams, they have to be better. Luckily each of these 3 programs has had a chance to hit the reset button in a big way, but you gotta go out there and prove it. We enter a new era at UM with new President Jeremiah Shinn coming in from Boise State in July. I’m sure he would have no issue making leadership changes in the athletic department if we have another year like this. Time to erase this year from our memories as fans and do what we can to help our teams reach that championship level next year. Step up and contribute to Good Ol Grizzlies, GSA, QB Club, Roundball Club, etc. and let’s get back to being the dominant force in the Big Sky!
