The Big Sky Conference

[IdaGriz01]

There are many ways to look at this. Here's the one I like: My printed schedule shows four playoff games for Dec 12, 13 ... three of them include a Big Sky team.

 

[behappp]

Hasn’t Idaho been pretty good historically as an FCS program? I am too young to remember them before they moved up to FBS where they struggled but they had some great players in the 1980s and 1990s like Mark Schlereth.

John Freisz was maybe the best pure passer I ever saw. I remember being amazed at the spirals he could toss time after time.

 

[SoldierGriz]

Between those times we went to 8 NC games. That is their entire playoff history and their first year in the I-AA playoffs was 1982, a year we won in Missoula and then lost the playoff game in Moscow and they lost in the round.

Not sure we are talking about the same thing...

Look at relative performance of both teams in the 80s and early 90s - before the Griz ascended.

Quick Answer: Between 1980 and 1993, the University of Idaho football program was consistently stronger, posting multiple playoff appearances and conference titles, while the University of Montana improved steadily under Don Read after 1986, culminating in a breakthrough 11–3 season in 1989. Idaho had more sustained success in the early and mid-1980s, while Montana surged late in the period.

Relative Performance

- Idaho was the stronger program overall during 1980–1993, with more playoff appearances and conference titles.
- Montana closed the gap significantly after 1986, and by 1989 matched Idaho’s success with its own semifinal run.
- The rivalry was highly competitive, with both programs becoming perennial playoff contenders by the early 1990s.

 

[Hells bells]

Hmmm I don't know, it seems like EWU and ISU are about as good as UM.

Not necessary.

 

[nicktaber58]

Not necessary.

Well, and also wrong, of course. Or they'd be in the quarterfinals, or at least hdmadethr playoffs.

 

[mousegriz1]

I don't agree. Schmidt is wrong. Except for perhaps this season with 3 teams in the playoffs, the Big Sky has been quite strong for all or most of the last handful of years. 5 BS qualifiers in 2024. 4 the prior year. 5 the prior year.

AND.....a national title 15 years ago!

 

[mthoopsfan]

AND.....a national title 15 years ago!

Can you show us his stats for that game, and the Participation report?

 

[5280Griz]

Can you show us is stats for that game, and the Participation report?

EWU’s best teams as far as the talent of the players on the team was not the 2010 team that won the chipper. The teams 4-6 years later were more talented than 2010 but didn’t make the same playoff run.

 

[SinCityGriz2005]

When push comes to shove, there are THREE Big Sky Conference teams left, and only one from any other conference. Pretty amazing! How about a UM-Davis championship?!?!

I picked this in one of my four brackets.

 

[mousegriz1]

Can you show us is stats for that game, and the Participation report?

Can I show "us is"?

EWU beat Delaware. Look it up and add details of their title run to your dominant Big Sky Conference argument.

 

[IdaGriz01]

History is great ... one of my favorite topic (since I lived through a lot of it). The history I'm looking forward to is ... three Big Sky teams in the semi-finals, with one (Griz, obviously) playing for the Natty.