Appalachian State coming to the Zoo?
Once again, I don't have a link to the article because their site isn't updated, but the Kaimin is reporting the potential for a matchup in Missoula against Appalachian State.
According to the paper, the reigning I-AA National Champions are really pushing to be the ones who get to fill the void on UM's schedule.
"Appalachian State is pushing harder than anyone," O'Day said. "They're even willing to come here and play.""They're not afraid to play anybody," O'Day said. "But you also look at it and say, are we ready to play them? I know the fans would love it, but I'm not so sure the coaches would."
As a fan, I would love it but I am afraid of what could happen if things did go wrong. This game, I believe, would be early in the season and a poor showing could hurt their confidence going into conference play. A bad loss against one of I-AA elite could also serve as a measuring stick once it came time for seeding the playoffs.
Even so, you need to have faith in your program and your fans. Trust that WaGriz will be louder than ever and the players will probably be as up for this game as they would be for Griz-Cat. A win over the back to back national champions would give the players and fans a huge boost.
I'm for it. A win would securely place us back amongst the real elite. A loss would be bad but could just give us something to work for.
Did I miss the memo that announced UM is no longer part of the I-AA elite? WTF O'Day? Grow a pair and schedule the game.
Ending the season #3 means everyone else in the country thinks UM is still quite "elite". Make it so!
We also got our butts handed to us by a not-so-elite SHS team in '04 but went on to beat them in the post-season on our way to Chatty.
I agree. O'Day needs to pull his head out of his ass and get the game finalized. The Griz are THE elite team of 1-AA.
I wish Appalalchian State would play Montana, this way we can end all the drama with what team is the Elite team in AA.
The Mountaineer football team will show up and play their hearts out. My questions to all the Grizzles fans are you willing to make the trip to "The Rock" in the future?
If we don't play you first; hopefully we will see in Chatt., that is if you make that far!
APP Fan
After playing stupid money games against Oregon and Iowa....I'm all for having App play here....Your head's a little swollen there App fan. Your back to back titles are impressive as are your players....but you have not achieved a "dynasty" status yet....
I wouldn't expect the Griz to return the favor to your place as a trip cross country I don't foresee being in the budget, with the upcoming expansion at Wa-Griz, I see O'Day maximizing the "at home" effort.
I'd be all for this game, but only if it's a home and home.
I obviously have nothing but respect for the UM program, but fellas, you're going to have a hard time arguing that the back-to-back champions (and likely preseason #1 in '07) aren't the top program in the nation. Historically, UM has the edge, but not in the present.
I don't think the game is going to happen but do wish it would. I'm not going to argue, the Griz would be the underdog in this game, possibly by more than 7 points. Even so, I think the Griz could hang in there and create a really great game.