MSU Billings Football Program?

[bobcat92]

Saw a full page add in the Gazette this morning that MSUB is exploring reviving the football program.

http://emcbighuddle.com/

Would they be a DIV II program? What conference would they play in.

[codecat]

Saw a full page add in the Gazette this morning that MSUB is exploring reviving the football program.

http://emcbighuddle.com/

Would they be a DIV II program? What conference would they play in.

At the time they closed the program down, they were in the Frontier I think.

[Bobcat Sig]

Saw a full page add in the Gazette this morning that MSUB is exploring reviving the football program.

http://emcbighuddle.com/

Would they be a DIV II program? What conference would they play in.

At the time they closed the program down, they were in the Frontier I think.

Does this mean that they will go back to being called Eastern? Man, that would be nice...

[catgrad05]

I think it would be good for the Billings community if they were to have a DII football program, but does Billings/state of Montana really need another college football program? Montana has one of the smallest populations and already has a ton of college football imo

[Bobcat Sig]

I think it would be good for the Billings community if they were to have a DII football program, but does Billings/state of Montana really need another college football program? Montana has one of the smallest populations and already has a ton of college football imo

Great question. Purely from a population standpoint, it makes a lot more sense for Billings to have a team, versus Havre.

[Hawks86]

I think it would be good for the Billings community if they were to have a DII football program, but does Billings/state of Montana really need another college football program? Montana has one of the smallest populations and already has a ton of college football imo

There are 117 MT kids, in the '13 class alone, that signed or will walk on to play college football at a MT college this fall.

[CatBlitz]

I think it would be good for the Billings community if they were to have a DII football program, but does Billings/state of Montana really need another college football program? Montana has one of the smallest populations and already has a ton of college football imo

Great question. Purely from a population standpoint, it makes a lot more sense for Billings to have a team, versus Havre.

Well they do have Rocky.
It might be more viable if the team was DII vs. NAIA but I'd like to read more on the subject.

[SonomaCat]

I think it would be good for the Billings community if they were to have a DII football program, but does Billings/state of Montana really need another college football program? Montana has one of the smallest populations and already has a ton of college football imo

There are 117 MT kids, in the '13 class alone, that signed or will walk on to play college football at a MT college this fall.

That's a pretty amazing stat. As a % of total senior football players in a state, that has to be really high as compared to other states. This seems way higher than it was when I was in high school, but maybe it's not.

[Hawks86]

I think it would be good for the Billings community if they were to have a DII football program, but does Billings/state of Montana really need another college football program? Montana has one of the smallest populations and already has a ton of college football imo

There are 117 MT kids, in the '13 class alone, that signed or will walk on to play college football at a MT college this fall.

That's a pretty amazing stat. As a % of total senior football players in a state, that has to be really high as compared to other states. This seems way higher than it was when I was in high school, but maybe it's not.

That doesn't include 21 more that are playing out of state. I got my numbers from Slim Kimmell at gazprepsports BTW.

http://billingsgazette.com/sports/high- ... 963f4.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[John K]

I think it would be good for the Billings community if they were to have a DII football program, but does Billings/state of Montana really need another college football program? Montana has one of the smallest populations and already has a ton of college football imo

Great question. Purely from a population standpoint, it makes a lot more sense for Billings to have a team, versus Havre.

Or Dillon.

[SonomaCat]

That somewhat speaks to some observations I've had between MT and CA from living in both places. In CA, it seems like the idea of playing college sports isn't something that hardly any high school students even think about -- it's something they see as reserved for elite athletes only (and NAIA sports programs have so little visibility around here that most don't even know they exist). But when I was in high school it was something that most of us had in at least the back of our minds (and very, very few of us were elite athletes). It seems that a typical Montana student is probably more apt to go play lower-level (NAIA or JC) college sports than kids from CA. It just seems to be more of the social norm, and so it's a goal that more of them work toward. Here, it seems that most of the kids are more goal-oriented toward just trying to get into college (as many of the colleges are very hard to get into, especially the UC system). In MT, it always seemed like pretty much anybody (with at least decent grades/test scores) that wanted to get into any school in MT wouldn't have any trouble getting in.

It's neither good nor bad either way, but it's intersting to observe some of these differences ... especially when my CA-born and raised wife and I talk about/argue over what we want our kids to be focused on as they grow older.

It would be interesting to see how much another football program in MT would impact the overall quality ... it would have to water down things at least a bit. It could also take a little bit away from MSU and UM in terms of attendance/money, but probably not much.

[PapaG]

EMC (that's what I grew up with, and that's what sticking with) has ~3500 full-time students.

As a comparison using the most recent full-time enrollment numbers:

MSU-Northern - 968
Tech - ~1800
Rocky - ~1000
Dillon - ~1400
Carroll - ~1400

Granted, EMC is as close to a 'commuter' school as you'll find in Montana, but from number of students, I'm actually a bit surprised they haven't considered reviving football earlier.

[CelticCat]

Would be very interesting if they started a DII team...

[Rich K]

Every couple of years somebody writes a letter to the Editor of the Billings Gazette suggesting football for MSUB.

http://billingsgazette.com/news/opinion ... 1df84.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They usually get swatted down as quickly as this one was.

[catgrad05]

I think it would be good for the Billings community if they were to have a DII football program, but does Billings/state of Montana really need another college football program? Montana has one of the smallest populations and already has a ton of college football imo

Great question. Purely from a population standpoint, it makes a lot more sense for Billings to have a team, versus Havre.

I am not disputing that at all, nor am I saying that Billings could not support 2 teams although I think that would be a stretch. My point was that Billings already has one team and IF they did another team they should try Div II since they would be the only DII in the state.

I have actually never gone to a Northern football game as I save my Saturdays off to go to Bozeman when the Cats play. But there would be a decent amount of people in town that would be very disappointed if we lost the team again. Northern just restarted their program in 2009 I think

[John K]

I think it would be really strange to go to, or be an alumnus of, a school that didn't have a football program. Regardless of whether it's Alabama, or MSU-Northern, or whatever level in between, I can't imagine not having a college football team to follow during the fall. It blows me away when I read Idaho's board, and see that many of their fans say they'd rather drop football completely, versus going back to the BSC/FCS. I can't imagine that it would ever come to this, but if there was ever a scenario in which MSU's only viable option was going down to D-II, I'd certainly rather do that, as opposed to dropping the program. Would a life without Bobcat football, really be any kind of a life at all?

[John K]

I think it would be good for the Billings community if they were to have a DII football program, but does Billings/state of Montana really need another college football program? Montana has one of the smallest populations and already has a ton of college football imo

Great question. Purely from a population standpoint, it makes a lot more sense for Billings to have a team, versus Havre.

I am not disputing that at all, nor am I saying that Billings could not support 2 teams although I think that would be a stretch. My point was that Billings already has one team and IF they did another team they should try Div II since they would be the only DII in the state.

I have actually never gone to a Northern football game as I save my Saturdays off to go to Bozeman when the Cats play. But there would be a decent amount of people in town that would be very disappointed if we lost the team again. Northern just restarted their program in 2009 I think

Actually, I think it's been at least 10 years since Northern reinstated football, maybe even closer to 15 years.

[catgrad05]

I think it would be good for the Billings community if they were to have a DII football program, but does Billings/state of Montana really need another college football program? Montana has one of the smallest populations and already has a ton of college football imo

Great question. Purely from a population standpoint, it makes a lot more sense for Billings to have a team, versus Havre.

I am not disputing that at all, nor am I saying that Billings could not support 2 teams although I think that would be a stretch. My point was that Billings already has one team and IF they did another team they should try Div II since they would be the only DII in the state.

I have actually never gone to a Northern football game as I save my Saturdays off to go to Bozeman when the Cats play. But there would be a decent amount of people in town that would be very disappointed if we lost the team again. Northern just restarted their program in 2009 I think

Actually, I think it's been at least 10 years since Northern reinstated football, maybe even closer to 15 years.

Dang it I was thinking one thing and typed another. I think it was about 1999 is what I ment.

[Catfanatic84]

I'm in favor of reviving the program at MSUB. Like it or not, football is a draw for many students and helps build the brand. The enrollment increases at MSU and UM are in part due to the success of the FB program.

I'd suggest MSUB return to the frontier conference and play Rocky the weekend before Cat/Griz. "Brawl of the Rimrocks"!!

[DaCats21]

I think it would be really strange to go to, or be an alumnus of, a school that didn't have a football program. Regardless of whether it's Alabama, or MSU-Northern, or whatever level in between, I can't imagine not having a college football team to follow during the fall. It blows me away when I read Idaho's board, and see that many of their fans say they'd rather drop football completely, versus going back to the BSC/FCS. I can't imagine that it would ever come to this, but if there was ever a scenario in which MSU's only viable option was going down to D-II, I'd certainly rather do that, as opposed to dropping the program. Would a life without Bobcat football, really be any kind of a life at all?

If MSU didnt have a football team, I would have gone to Tech or more likely an Engineering school out of state with a D-1 football team. College football is a major part of the college experience (and a great excuse to start drinking at 7am)