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Griz 2006-07 Schedule

Actually grizbacker is right. Last basketball season I recall the BSC commissioner telling everyone to have more difficulty and he wanted to see everyone playing a top 100 RPI schedule. At that time he mentioned he would like to see that but it could be difficult because of budgets and bigger conferences not wanting to take chances of top BSC teams beating them (see Stanford) BSC commissioner, most all coaches and ADS all echoed that as well. I have seen offseason perspective oppnents lists, and tell you what I was very impressed by what I saw. I know it is not the Griz being up to the challenge or any bigsky school. Larry and Wayne or both competitive and want the better challenges. Larry commented how he did not like how easy the schedule was when he took over and said in time they would make sure it would be more difficult. Another thing if bigger schools in the midwest and CA shedule us, coaches can tell recruits to go the game wherever it is at. Well a W or great showing can often nudge a kid our way and take one away from a bigger team. You have to admit both Wayne and Larry have great personalities that sell many recruits as well as families. Go back and read why Cameron Rundles signed with the Griz. Big Schools know the Griz are on our way to national prominence that no bigsky team has seen since the days of IDAHO. With time I hope we can get regional matchups more often, such as Wyoming (kudos to them being on our schedule), Idaho, Boise St, Gonzaga, WSU, UW, OSU, UO, CO, CSU, AF, NV even NE, Creighton, IA, MN. Plus Wayne knows if he beats the big boys that pads his resume. Even with that said, I believe Wayne maybe here several years with the way Oday is behind the program in addition to new recruits and community. Just my outlook, take how you like. GO GRIZ!!!!!!
 
I don't believe schools are ducking Montana. Like all endeavers, it takes time and deligence to improve upon anything in life. Playing, for the most part, an easy schedule is doing our program a disservice as the team won't improve overall. We have heard a gret deal of talk about Montana competing with the big boys in basketball which Spanky supports, but we can't accomplish that end by playing teams that won't be much of a challenge. Further, those responsible for the weak schedule shouldn't get off the hook by saying..oh hum, those good teams just won't play us.
 
Lets sell every home game out. I have been to everyone the last 2 years. If we want bigger name opponents lets sell the place out for everyone that way our boys can travel further and or more often. Keep in mind we are still hurting from the Budget fiasco a few years back. It is amazing our Mens team is back and moving forward every year yet we still have people complaining. Lets praise the athletic dept and get our butts in the seats, then you have a right to complain about the damn schedule.
 
Spanky said:
I don't believe schools are ducking Montana. Like all endeavers, it takes time and deligence to improve upon anything in life. Playing, for the most part, an easy schedule is doing our program a disservice as the team won't improve overall. We have heard a gret deal of talk about Montana competing with the big boys in basketball which Spanky supports, but we can't accomplish that end by playing teams that won't be much of a challenge. Further, those responsible for the weak schedule shouldn't get off the hook by saying..oh hum, those good teams just won't play us.
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You obviously have no idea what goes on when it comes to scheduling D1 BB teams. Many of these school have their schedules nearly full a few years in advance, ie, Montana and Gonzaga didn't call each other each year, they set up a home and away for 4 years at one time. They don't call and do it annually. This stuff doesn't happen overnight. Spanky, appreantly you know something O'Day and Tinkle are unaware of, I am sure they would love your help.
 
dear mr. o'day:

spanky, myself and several other griz basketball fans, mightily impressed not only with consecutive trips to the big dance but also three straight stellar recruiting classes (with a fourth in the wings), went and complained on the griz board about what we feel (except for the orlando tournament) to be a weak run-of-the mill basketball schedule, and certainly not one appropriate for a school we hoped was ready to take its place as a basketball power worthy of national recognition such as gonzaga, which last year played maryland, michigan state, connecticut, washington, washington state, oklahoma state, virginia, st. louis, memphis and saint joseph's pre-season.

we were then duly apprised by your many apologists of the difficult facets of making a basketball schedule, which include budget constraints, lead times, the fear we strike in the hearts of big-time opponents, the potential that we might steal recruits from our opponents because of the winning personality of wayne tinkle, the high cost of travel, the negative statements of a coach at ucla, our failure to talk to kystkowiak, the refusal of ex-coaches to bring their teams back to montana, the fact we can't put all our eggs in one basket like gonzaga, and all i can say is, wow! i am humbled! i had no idea! i atone!

anyway, thank you for all you've done to pull it together this year. i think everybody in griz nation should be grateful for the chance to play the northern lights, the orediggers and the rocky mountain bears, because this can only prepare us for the tougher challenges after that--the south dakota state jackrabbits, u.c. riverside, utah valley state. with that budget deficit still lurking and everybody hoping for a big revival of the old basketball fever at montana, you've mangaged to bring in teams that will surely get dahlberg rocking, while providing an appealing challenge for future recruits. thanks again for all you've done, and my apologies for anything bad i might have said about this schedule.

love, citay
 
City,

You must really think the Selvig's and O'Days read your stuff. That is great comedy. :laugh: One thing about it, you sure no how to exaggerate, pontificate, and flat our make shit up, to try and make your point. Next thing you will try and promote Montana going D1 in football and recruiting inner city girls for the Women's BB team. :shocked:
 
City has a point. An invite to one decent tourney does not make the whole schedule. When Western Kentucky is your top non-conf game, you might want to step it up. :loser:
 
The Western Kentucky game will be a sell out. The NAIA games will have 3000 people maybe. They could think about what the fans like when putting together these schedules.
 
Turd Ferguson said:
City has a point. An invite to one decent tourney does not make the whole schedule. When Western Kentucky is your top non-conf game, you might want to step it up. :loser:
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Don't get me wrong here, I would like to see someone other than msu-Northern, but it isn't as easy as some think it is. The schedules are set in advance and Krysko, O'Day, and now Tinks are all on the same page wanting better competition. It is stil wayyyy better than it was when Monty and the boys were at UM. :thumb:
 
I can't understand why City is unhappy with this schedule. I like this schedule, for the most part.

Only thing I would change about it is the Griz playing three lower division chumps. The Griz should have had no more than one game against an MSU-Northern caliber team.

Secondly, I've never heard of starting conference play with three straight road games. The Griz are going to be road weary by the time they finish that five game road stretch that spans over about a month in late Dec.-early Jan.
 
Still, the Griz have a much stronger schedule than they had last season.

They will get to play three quality opponents in Orlando, WKU, Oral Roberts, Boise State, Portland, Wyoming, and a Bracketbuster team with comparable RPI.

Pretty good.

I think it's silly to expect Montana to be playing a Gonzaga strength schedule. It's taken the Zags several years to obtain its prestige, which allows them to schedule the top teams in the country, and even HOST some of these teams on a home and home agreement.

If the Griz can continue to win in the NCAA's, their day will come. One major obstacle, though, is that the BSC is considered much weaker than the WCC, and it's going to be more difficult for the Griz to get the national respect they deserve playing in the conference they are currently in.
 
I think as UM continues to establish itself as a legitimate, nationally recognized hoops program, they will be playing higher caliber programs. More programs will be willing to schedule the Griz, and they'll probably be extended more invites to preseason tourneys like the Great Alaska Shootout, Top of the World Tournament, etc.

The Zags winning the Top of the World tournament in 1998 is what Zag fans point to as the birth of their program as a national power. The Griz can go a long ways towards gaining some national attention with a strong showing in Orlando.

In the coming years, I'd like to see the Griz play more Mountain West, Missouri Valley, WAC, and even PAC 10 teams. That will happen as UM's program continues its ascent.
 
SeatownGrizzly said:
I can't understand why City is unhappy with this schedule. I like this schedule, for the most part.

Only thing I would change about it is the Griz playing three lower division chumps. The Griz should have had no more than one game against an MSU-Northern caliber team.

Secondly, I've never heard of starting conference play with three straight road games. The Griz are going to be road weary by the time they finish that five game road stretch that spans over about a month in late Dec.-early Jan.
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City is not happy unless he is not happy. He thinks we should be D1 in football and will beat that to death a few times a year. He chastises Selvig every chance he gets, because he doesn't recruit inner city black players, despite his 600 plus wins, and he thinks all you have to do to schedule a Duke is call. Other than that, he loves everything Griz. I say this tongue in cheek somewhat, but City has his idea what it should all be like, and that is his right. I just happen to disagree, and that is mine. It's all good cause we are both diehard Griz. :thumb:
 
Right. From reading his posts, I get the impression that he thinks the Griz should have a Gonzaga strength schedule.

Sorry, but the Griz are not going to be playing Duke or Carolina at Madison Square Garden any year soon.

UM is still in the process of earning its stripes, so it may take a few years. One thing Montana's program has going for it is that mid-majors are getting a lot more respect. George Mason did for Mid-Majors what Jeanette Rankin did for women in congress. The door of opportunity for the smaller programs is now open. So now the Griz have a chance to walk through that door if they can continue to win in the NCAA's.

That said, I don't think Montana will really gain the attention it deserves until it knocks off an east coast program or a UCLA or Arizona in the dance. Beating Nevada got the Griz a little bit of attention, but not nearly as much as they would have if they'd defeated a Big East or ACC team in the first round.
 
We all realize that the schedule is made, often, but not always in advance, but that doesn't change the fact that it is a weak schedule. If folks are happy with a weak basketball schedule, so be it. Spanky does say that if we continue with such a schedule in the years to come, there will be little chance that Montana basketball will get any positive national recognition.
 
let's clear up a coupla points here:

1. it's not my job to make this schedule, or have the contacts, or pass on tips to tinks and o'day. i am a fan--a customer, if you will--and it is their job to make sure their fans are happy. i don't know whether i'm in the majority or minority here, but if i'm running a business or a collegiate sports program, i can tell you one thing for sure: you damned well better listen to your customers. ALL of them.

2. as a general rule, i would not schedule ANY naia teams. why? there's no challenge for your players, no appeal to your fans. if you can't do better than rocky mountain, montana tech and northern montana, then just schedule a scrimmage against the lady griz. you'd certainly draw more fans.

3. this "lead time" issue seems very suspicious to me. it was kennedy's idea to upgrade the schedule, and he did it quickly. during his tenure we played purdue, northern iowa, gonzaga, washingtons state, pacific, nevada, idaho, stanford and colorado, in addition to participating in two tournaments, one of which got us on espn against michigan state. and you're saying that four years later, after two ncaa appearances, we still need more "lead time" to upgrade from montana tech, northern montana, rocky mountain, southern utah state, u.c. riverside and south dakota state? c'mon!
 
SeatownGrizzly said:
Still, the Griz have a much stronger schedule than they had last season.

They will get to play three quality opponents in Orlando, WKU, Oral Roberts, Boise State, Portland, Wyoming, and a Bracketbuster team with comparable RPI.

Pretty good.

I think it's silly to expect Montana to be playing a Gonzaga strength schedule. It's taken the Zags several years to obtain its prestige, which allows them to schedule the top teams in the country, and even HOST some of these teams on a home and home agreement.

If the Griz can continue to win in the NCAA's, their day will come. One major obstacle, though, is that the BSC is considered much weaker than the WCC, and it's going to be more difficult for the Griz to get the national respect they deserve playing in the conference they are currently in.
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I agree completely with this post.

And I wish Spanky would quit referring to himself in the first person.
 
I am not sure about this, but I seem to remember that the State has pushed UM and MSU to schedule the likes of Montana Tech, Norhtern Montana, etc. for as they put it, I money-saving venture.

I also believe if you look at the schedule:

HOME:
Boise St. back of a home-and-home from last season
WKU back of a home-and-home from two seasons ago
UC Riverside back of home-and-home from last season
South Dakota St
MSU-Northern
Montana Tech

AWAY:
Utah Valley back of home-and-home from last season
Oral Roberst return for bracketbuster
Wyoming
Portland
Old Spice Classic

It looks to me that the only games that were not scheduled in advance were South Dakota St. Wyoming, Portland, Old Spice Classic, MSU-Northern, and Montana Tech. Of these games, most peopld would only complain about the two Frontier teams, and like I said, I am pretty sure that the State puts funding pressure on UM and MSU to play these types on in-state schools.
 
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