The Bobcat Nation

It seems that most rivalry games are scheduled for the last weekend of the season. I think it adds to the excitement that the Cat/griz game is so important this year as far as conf championship and playoff opportunities. However, both teams are always pretty beat-up by year end and the weather is unpredictable. Would you rather see this game be played mid-season or just leave it as the last game of the season?

Definitely leave it at the end. There would simply be too much of a let down if it were held in the middle of the season; both teams work towards going into this game with the best conf record possible, and in years when the title race is as close as this year, it adds a whole other element of excitment to the brawl

Lastly for all the marbles.

I love it at the end of the year and everytime someone mentions moving it I get worried. This game should be the last of the regular season ALWAYS!!

Definitely leave it the last game of the regular season. It's been that way for a long time now (anyone know how many years it's been the last conference game ?)

There is a reason Nov. 18th is called Rivalry Weekend all across the country.

I like it just where it's at.

By the way, the game is on the ESPN Gameplan page now, so you can order it.

I too like it at the end because it will always be interesting. Hopefully, every year it will come down to this game for the title and gives credit to both programs. I don't think we will ever see a year when both teams are down, but there will be a lot of years where one team will have a chance to ruin the season of the other - so that will keep it high profile. And besides, Montana football belongs in the snow and there is a much better chance of that this time of year. I hate the way CSU and CU do it so early in the year. They give up on one team right away.

Definitely at the end.

I like how the season builds up to it. Each game builds on the last one. I like how my pure hatred for maroon goes unnoticed for one day of the year.

However, I hate the fact that it means that I'll have to wait another 30 or so weeks until opening kickoff.

We should move it to the first game of the season...

While were at it, we can move Michigan-OSU to mid-season

Florida-FSU dont even have to play.

wait..

Keep it at the end

GOKATS wrote:Definitely leave it the last game of the regular season. It's been that way for a long time now (anyone know how many years it's been the last conference game ?)

I know for sure that CAT/Griz was not the last game of the year during those years, because I attended them all. The '87 game was on Halloween and the rest of those years it was always during the first round of the high school playoffs, because I remember hearing updates during time outs. I believe it was the second year of the Hysel regime that it was returned to the last weekend of November, if I remember correctly. Hysel also brought back the "original" gold color to the uniforms when he took over. The gold, pre- and throughout the "Solomonson" era, was more of a yellow color. I think I remember "Back to the Future" as the slogon MSU used when Hysel took over.

I believe that the BSC talked about how the schedule work, it goes something along these lines:

The conference schedule is set in advance with all teams having their "bye" week on the last weekend of the season. The schools have a right to adjust their schedules as long as both schools involved agrees. The open date at the end of the season is set just so rival games can be moved to the end of the season, again as long as both schools are in agreement, which in most cases happen.

The original schedule is set to try to have the games go in sequence, such as home-away-home-away.... As said above most rivals than move their game to the last weekend creating a midseason bye week.

So, in any given year there is always a small chance that the Cat/Griz game would not be played on the final weekend of the season, because the original schedule does not have the game scheduled for that weekend.

The CAT/griz game was moved when the Cats program was struggling and was purely economical. It is a lot easier to fill a stadium in the middle of November and really cold when it is Cat/griz instead of the Cats play Northern Colorado, etc.

I don't believe it should be played last because the weather can have too much of an impact on the game/players. If you play this game in early-mid October the weather would most likely be perfect (most years) and have no impact on the game.

Kramer has argued against playing it the last week since he's been in the program. His theory is it should be a bye weekend before the playoffs. Give the teams time to heal and prepare. Apparently it's the Presidents that control the decision and they won't move it. Yes, I agree it's a guarantee to fill the stadium late in November and also keep interest in the program through the end of the season. After all, most of Montana has been talking Cat/Griz for at least the last 3 weeks.

SenorWeezer wrote:The CAT/griz game was moved when the Cats program was struggling and was purely economical. It is a lot easier to fill a stadium in the middle of November and really cold when it is Cat/griz instead of the Cats play Northern Colorado, etc.

I don't believe it should be played last because the weather can have too much of an impact on the game/players. If you play this game in early-mid October the weather would most likely be perfect (most years) and have no impact on the game.

Come on its football, its supposed to be played in bad weather. The only people that care about the weather are the fans. I guarentee if you ask any player they will say that what the weather is like doesnt matter to them and that they would rather keep the game at the end of november.

[quote="CatRowdy"]Kramer has argued against playing it the last week since he's been in the program. His theory is it should be a bye weekend before the playoffs. Give the teams time to heal and prepare. Apparently it's the Presidents that control the decision and they won't move it. Yes, I agree it's a guarantee to fill the stadium late in November and also keep interest in the program through the end of the season. After all, most of Montana has been talking Cat/Griz for at least the last 3 weeks.[/quote]

A lot more folks are interested in the outcome of the 11/18 matchup between the 'Cats & griz than just Montanans. A 'Cat win puts two BSC teams in the playoffs with all kinds of playoff implications. Keep the Cat/griz game the last game of the regular season.

Last game of the season! Being freezing cold is only part of the charm