Saturday Sound Offs has a brief preview on the Mustangs (scroll down). Here's their take on what could be one of the FCS' best offenses:

If you're not an FCS fan, you should be a fan of Mustang QB Jonathan Dally. His legs do more damage than his arm, if you can believe that. Cal Poly was fifth last year in rushing, gaining over 270 yards a game. Dally was the leading rusher statistically. That, however, doesn't mean he can't chuck it as well. Dally was second in the FCS in passing efficiency which is the holy grail of QB stats. Cal Poly relies on FB Jon Hall more than most teams utilize that position and James Noble did a good job at RB last year with over five yards a touch. Tredale Tolver and Ramses Barden team up to make a pretty impressive combo at WR and the line did its job finishing 27th in sacks allowed. In the FCS, there's just about no offense as feared as Cal Poly's.

Dave Coulson of the The Sports Network has more on Dally in his FCS quarterback rankings:

Dally made an immediate impact last year as a JC transfer, beating out the now-departed Matt Brennan and finishing second to San Diego's Josh Johnson in NCAA passing efficiency. Dally is one of the new breed of QBs who can beat you with both his arm (2,238 yards) and legs (763 yards), and leads an offense that ranked second in total offense a year ago.

My take: they leave our young defense more torched than a Montana forest in August. In the playoffs last year, Wofford's option offense blew up a much more formidable Griz D for 333 rushing yards. Not only do the Mustangs bring a similar offensive ground game, but also a much more skilled quarterback.

AOL's Fanhouse has his response:

In response to the Sunday story, Wulff hopped on the sports radio airwaves yesterday on KJR-AM in Seattle. You can give it a listen here. Most of all it was a chance for Wulff to respond in his own voice, beyond just a couple of lines in the story about what WSU is already doing to correct the problems of the past.

For example, since the APR debacle, academics have taken on a whole new level of importance. In Wulff's first semester in Pullman, the football team just turned in a 2.72 GPA for the spring, the highest in the last 30 years. The goal for this fall is to turn in the highest GPA in team history. And Wulff has already implemented a team "Unity Council", a 16-player group that will sit in judgment in dealing with players who stray off the beaten path. They will recommend punishment to the coaching staff, and the input will be part of the ultimate decision on each player.

The closest thing we have? Bobby Hauck appearing on his weekly KPAX show and ripping into the reporters who first covered the home invasion story.

Troy University began its first season in the FBS in 2001, only eight seasons after they moved up from Division II.  They haven't simply made the transition; according to an article in the TimesDaily (membership may be required, it let me in then it didn't), they have thrived since the move.

"We felt confident when we made the move because we had a great university and good tradition in our football program," [Troy head coach Larry Blakeney] said Tuesday before speaking to the Russellville Civitan Club. "We did well when we went to Division I-AA and then the crowning jewel was moving to I-A. There is no doubt that it has paid off for our team, but especially for the university."

Troy has something special with Blakeney. He's coached at Troy since 1991, having the fourth longest tenure coaching a Division I football team. He saw the program move from Division II to the FCS and then from there to the FBS. The odds of Bobby Hauck being in Missoula in five years, let alone staying with the program when (probably if) it moves to the FBS, are probably around the same as Cole Bergquist winning the Heisman.

Their résumé since the move: three Sun Belt titles, two bowl game appearances and a home win over Missouri (then ranked 17th) in 2004. Now, they're looking for something more.

"We're proud of the progress we've made, especially going to two bowl games in four years," Blakeney said. "Now, we want to move toward getting a home-and-home series with an SEC or ACC team."

How about Alabama or Auburn?

"We would love to play in Jordan-Hare or Bryant-Denny Stadium," he said, "but that's probably not going to happen in the foreseeable future. It's political more than anything, and you hear the argument that those schools have nothing to gain and everything to lose by playing us. I don't blame them, but we would sure relish that opportunity."

It's tough scheduling tough opponents when you're not on their level, especially getting them to come to your place. However, Troy hasn't given up and settled for playing lower-tier teams. In 2008, they play the two teams from last year's national championship game: LSU and Ohio State.

The Montana team will feature five Division I players, including future Lady Griz Ali Hurley. The Billings Gazette has a profile on Hurley, along with her thoughts on coming to UM and playing in the all-star game.

After the jump is an editorial I wrote for a class a few months back, citing one of the reasons I think he should be the next president.

The Montana Grizzlies basketball team has yet to add an assistant coach after Brian Marso resigned following a rough, yet chalupa-filled season. Well, here's a candidate: former Griz great Micheal Ray Richardson. It's something I touched on in my podcast with Jim O'Day, now let me lay out my reasons.

Credibility
Micheal Ray Richardson was drafted fourth overall in the 1978 NBA Draft. Two spots later, the Celtics drafted Larry Bird, who had led the Indiana State Sycamores to the NCAA Championship game. Yeah, a Griz going ahead of Larry Legend. Whenever there's a scuffle or disagreement between player and coach, "I played so great in college I was drafted ahead of Larry Bird" has to trump all.

Not only did Micheal Ray play hoops at the highest level of competition, but he excelled at that level. In his second season in the NBA, he became the first player to lead the league in both assists and steals. This was during an era when the NBA was as good as it's ever been and probably every will be.

This part of his past gives him instant respect from players.

Experiences
Micheal Ray was banned from the NBA for life in 1986 after three failed drug tests. Then, he got another chance. He proceeded to fail two more drug tests (for cocaine). He knows how badly stupid off-court mistakes can mess up your game, career and life. There isn't a more suitable person to preach to players on the subject.

Apart from his troubled past,  Richardson also has experience as a head coach. While it was in the CBA, we know it helps. He coached the Albany Patroons and Oklahoma Cavalry.

Style
Micheal Ray Richardson is a fiery guy. He yells, he talks, he isn't afraid to speak his mind. It's gotten him in trouble at times but I'd rather have a coach or player who talks too much than one who talks too little. With the talk came a certain attitude. He had a swagger about him. He had confidence. Last year's Griz team had next to no swagger.

His style of play would also be greatly valued. He hustled on both sides of the ball, always looking to make a steal and go the other way or make the extra pass for easy points. This attitude is something the current team sorely lacks.

A minority hire
Race is a weird issue. No one should ever be hired or not hired because of the color of their skin. But let's face it, Montana is very very white. Having one African American coach on the staff may make coming to this place seem a little less daunting to some recruits.

Aside from recruiting, this seems like the perfect candidate. Tinks, please consider it. Great highlight reel after the jump.

Anyway, they're looking to make some major improvements. I have to say... not too shabby.

Going off the video, it looks great. Their goal is to have 22,000 seats in eight years. Two major problems: the money and whether or not they can even put fans in that many seats. If I recall correctly, there were even a few empty seats for last year's Griz-Cat game. Not good.

However, this video and these plans would get me legitimately pumped to be a Cat fan. I almost want to donate money myself.

My guest on the first one is University of Montana Athletic Director Jim O'Day. We start by talking about next years hoops team then move onto football scheduling, the draft, the expansion and more.

• Download The Grizzoulian podcast

It looks like Cameron Rundles is headed to Wofford, the same tiny school that upset us in football. Wofford plays in the SoCon, a Division I conference. So, I believe he will have to sit out a year.

Well, good luck as a Terrier.

“We just are not in a position to move up right now,” Athletic Director Jim O’Day said.

Even if the Griz were currently ready to make the jump from the FCS to the FBS, they would not be able to do so. During its August 9, 2007, meeting, the NCAA Division I Board of Directors established a Division I membership moratorium. The moratorium, effective until 2011, prohibits any school from reclassifying to Division I (including reclassifying within Division I from the FBS to the FCS) unless they have already begun the process.

There are currently 20 schools who have already begun the process, with their expected timeframes for a move ranging from one to six years. While only these twenty schools have officially declared themselves as being in the preparation and transition phase, countless other schools are taking a look at making the move.

“So many teams in the Football Championship Subdivision are constantly talking about it,” said O’Day, who will be attending a meeting in June in Dallas where he will discuss the issue with other athletic directors.

So many teams are talking about it, but some take the issue more seriously than others. One mark that a team is seriously looking at moving up: they choose to conduct a feasibility study examining exactly what it would take in terms of money, facilities and competitive ability for a team to move up.

O’Day said the University of Montana isn’t quite ready to conduct a feasibility study of its own, but they do look at studies done by other schools.

“At this point, it’s just not a priority for us, a priority for me,” O’Day said. “Sometimes you kind of wish you had the answers but there’s no reason for us to do anything right now because of our health and where we’re at right now.”

Financially, Montana is one of the “healthiest” football programs in the FCS. When the Griz play Division II Central Washington at home next season, they will net just under $500,000. When they play rival Montana State, the net gain for the University of Montana will be $1 million. The increase comes from higher ticket prices and UM creating a standing room only crowd by selling more tickets than the stadium has seats.

By comparison, the $25,000 the University of Albany netted after traveling out to Missoula in 2007 and getting beat 35-14 was more than they made for a home game.

Because the University of Montana makes so much off its home games, the team doesn’t have to travel to FBS powers and risk injury for payouts that would seem very lucrative to some schools, but are beneath what UM makes for staying at home.

Travel costs are another reason the Griz play so many games at home. These costs could potentially go up if the Griz were to move to the FBS. If the Griz were to play in the Western Athletic Conference—home to former Big Sky teams Boise State, Idaho and Nevada—they would have to travel to the University of Hawaii and Louisiana Tech.

Every time the Griz travel, they are forced to charter their own flight because there isn’t an airline that offers a big enough plane to fly the team and coaching staff out of Missoula. O’Day said the cost of chartering a plane ranges between $60,000 and $100,000.

With so many factors off the field that play into the decision, it’s almost easy to forget what could happen on the field of play. The wide range of issues includes how well UM would compete at a higher level, the type and caliber of player the Griz could recruit and the effect on sports other than football.

“People say ‘Well, what happens if we go 4-7?’” O’Day asked. “I think that would be very realistic.”

The Griz haven’t finished below .500 since they went 3-8 in 1985. That season, they averaged 5,599 fans per home game; that's less than the basketball team averaged for the same year. One has to look no further than UM's men’s hoops program to see what losing does to a fan base, attendance has plummeted 42 percent since the 1991-1992 season.

At the FCS level, Griz fans not only get to see a winning team, but also a large chunk of homegrown talent. Of the 67 kids currently on Montana’s 2008 roster, 52 percent of them are from Montana. By comparison, only 13 percent of the University of Idaho’s current 2008 roster is from Idaho. Some of the best talent in Montana wouldn’t be able to compete on the state’s biggest stage and many fans wouldn’t get to see players they watched excel at the high school level.

Another crop of talent Montana may not be able to get at the FBS level: the “tweeners” who may be good enough to play at the FBS level, but choose to play in the FCS for an increase in playing and a better chance at winning.

Tyler Joyce, a senior linebacker who led the Griz in tackles in 2007, said he had opportunities to play football at Colorado University, Colorado State University and the University of Idaho.

"I chose to go to Montana because, first, I wanted to go somewhere where I felt wanted," Joyce said. "Second, I had the opportunity to play as a true freshman, and I wanted to win."
O'Day reasoned that factors like watching Montana players and the team’s readiness to compete would weigh heavily on the minds of the fans. When guessing what their stance on the issue would be, he said he “bet it favors, at least 10-to-1, to stay where we’re at.” Not quite.

In a poll on eGriz.com, a popular Internet message board for Montana Grizzlies diehards, 53 percent of the 128 people who responded said they would like to see the University of Montana move up to the FBS. It’s worth noting that this only represents the fanatics and not necessarily your average fan. However, they are passionate and opinionated.

“It's not just football for me,” an anonymous commenter said. “I'd like to see our basketball programs get into a higher profile basketball conference so they would have a chance for a 6 or 7 seed [in the NCAA Tournament]. As it is in the Big Sky, we were lucky to get a 12 a few years back and a 14 to 16 is the norm.”

If the Montana football team were to move to another conference, all other sports would be forced to come with. This may be best for revenue sports like football and men’s basketball but there are sports where, competitively, it wouldn’t even matter and may even hurt.

For example, in 2007, the Big Sky Conference actually had a higher RPI (a computerized ranking used to rate how well conferences and teams compare to each other) than the Western Athletic Conference when it came to women’s basketball. In men’s basketball, where the Big Sky is rated far lower than the WAC, the Montana Grizzlies beat conference powers Boise State and Nevada in the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons respectively.

O’Day said in Olympic sports like soccer, track and field and tennis, “we’re all pretty much on the same level.”

Football, however, is the money sport and there are a lot of obstacles in the way of a move. University President George Dennison would have to approve; then it would go to the Montana Board of Regents. It’s very possible the Board of Regents would turn down any move unless it included Montana State University tagging along. O’Day said he would be “very surprised” if the Board of Regents and State legislature allowed the Griz to move up without the Bobcats. O’Day said he believes the state would like to see the two teams playing in the same conference and division, where their century-old rival would mean more.

In 1996, a similar packaged deal was made with Boise State and the University of Idaho. Boise State has excelled since the move with seven conference championships (two in the Big West and five in the WAC) and a Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Idaho has struggled.

“Obviously, we would’ve liked to have been more competitive in our revenue sports,” Idaho Athletic Director Rob Spears said.

Spears pointed to the school’s facilities as one of the reasons for a disappointing beginning in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

“In the past ten years, we didn’t do the things we needed to do to prepare to be in this league,” Spears said. “From 1982 until 2004, this athletic program did not do one facility enhancement. Had they been preparing for success over that twenty year span, it would’ve been a lot easier.”

Appalachian State Athletic Director Charlie Cobb, whose school has won three straight FCS National Championships, said facilities are currently a much higher priority than any potential move to the FBS.
Appalachian State is currently spending $50 million to enhance its facilities, including $35 million on 4,500 new seats for the football stadium and a 125,000 square foot athletic complex adjacent to the stadium.

“If you’re going to write anything,” he said, “say that we haven’t spent more than one second trying to decide whether we’re going to move up in the near foreseeable future.”

He pointed to the moratorium and the schools current budget as reasons to stay in the FCS. Appalachian State currently has an athletic budget of $11 million, about $500,000 less than Montana. Both Cobb and O’Day said their budgets would need to be about $16 million to compete in the FBS.

O’Day said improving athletic facilities is also a goal the University of Montana has focused on.

“Right now, you do your best to get your facilities in place because you can’t be running scared,” he said.

O’Day said facilities like a new locker room, an indoor practice facility, and a new academic center for athletes—all things the athletic department is working on—help draw in the best student-athletes.

Montana and Appalachian State do have some similarities in their hesitance towards moving up and attempts to ready themselves by building facilities but there are major differences.

Appalachian State tries to play one FBS team per year—a scheduling challenge issued to Cobb by head football coach Jerry Moore—and already has one on the schedule for four of the next six seasons, including a sure-to-be-hyped battle of national champions with reigning FBS champ LSU in 2008. Montana does not currently have any scheduled FBS opponents.

Also, Appalachian State currently supports 20 varsity sports, four more than what’s required to compete in an FBS conference. Montana only has 14 varsity sports.

Right now, University of Montana is not in a position to make the move or officially looking to do so. However it is tough to deny that the university and athletic department are doing their best to prepare, whether it’s intentional or not, for a move to the Football Championship Subdivision.

The fans should do so as well, not necessarily by dumping in money, but by savoring what we have now. The Grizzlies are at the top of their division, winning conference titles and competing for national championships every year. The administration is currently content with the football program staying in the Football Championship Subdivision, but eventually, their opinion and other circumstances may change.
“We will continue to improve facilities, build the program and do our best to make UM Athletics the special place it has become—knowing that some day we might have to make a decision that will affect the future of our athletics program and its fans,” O’Day said. 

“Only time will tell.  Stay tuned.”

We've all seen them so I feel like it fits in on this blog. The great barstoolio (via Deadspin) gives a college football version of these ads.

I'm not great with Photoshop so I can't fix these and take the text out but if someone wants to make a not too terrible UM version, I'll toss it right up.

Taken during a lacrosse game inside the stadium.

Above is the last regular season game for now NFL-players Lex Hilliard, Kroy Biermann and Dan Carpenter. Hilliard gets three touchdowns, Biermann chases down a wide receiver way down field and Carpenter knocks a couple big ones through, including a 50-yarder.

After the jump are highlights from Biermann's award-winning season.

There are numerous intriguing storylines that make the matchup appealing for ESPN2’s national audience. The contest pits the defending Southern Conference co-champions and is the first between the two teams since Appalachian had its 17-game winning streak snapped by Wofford, 42-31, last Sept. 22 in Spartanburg, S.C. ASU rebounded from the loss to Wofford to go 13-2 en route to its third-straight NCAA Division I national championship, while Wofford (9-4) earned the SoCon’s automatic postseason bid and advanced to the national quarterfinals.

The timing's not great as there will be a decent chunk of people out doing whatever adults or college students do on Halloween, but whatever, it's exposure for the FCS and App State program. Good for them.

So, will something like this ever happen for Montana? One of two things would have to happen: we'd need to get lights. ESPN2 could be interested in a Friday night Cat-Griz game under the lights. It's one of the oldest rivalries in college football and, along with App State, Missoula is one of the best FCS venues in the nation. Otherwise, we have to schedule someone great. An App State, Georgia Southern, what have you. Even then, you probably still have to beat Michigan and win a string of National Championships.

Round Pick # Overall Team Athlete Pos. School
2008 Draft 24 student-athletes
1 16 16 Arizona Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie CB Tennessee State
1 18 18 Baltimore Joe Flacco QB Delaware
2 15 46 Cincinnati Jerome Simpson WR Coastal Carolina
2 27 58 Tampa Bay Dexter Jackson WR Appalachian State
3 3 66 Miami Kendall Langford DT Hampton
3 16 79 Houston Antwaun Molden CB Eastern Kentucky
3 17 80 Philadelphia Bryan Smith OLB McNeese State
3 33 96 Washington Chad Rinehart OT Northern Iowa
4 4 103 Tennessee William Hayes DL Winston-Salem St.
4 26 125 Oakland Arman Shields WR Richmond
4 34 133 Baltimore David Hale OT Weber State
5 11 146 Detroit Jerome Felton FB Furman
5 14 149 Arizona Tim Hightower RB Richmond
5 19 154 Atlanta Kroy Biermann OLB Montana
5 25 160 Tampa Josh Johnson QB San Diego
6 11 177 Cincinnati Corey Lynch FS Appalachian State
6 14 180 Washington Kareem Moore DB Nicholls State
6 27 193 Minnesota Jaymar Johnson WR Jackson State
6 34 200 Philadelphia Joe Mays ILB North Dakota State
6 38 204 Miami Lex Hilliard RB Montana
6 41 207 Cincinnati Matt Sherry TE Villanova
7 3 210 Kansas Brian Johnston DE Gardner-Webb
7 12 219 Buffalo Demetrius Bell OT Northwestern State
7 18 225 Arizona Brandon Keith OT Northern Iowa

Besides the 24 total, four were taken in the first two rounds. Also, Montana had as many as Appalachian State. Then again, I believe Montana lost more seniors.

With Lex drafted, the Dolphins now have two Grizzlies. Maybe they saw Carpenter knocking a 50-yarder through while watching Lex rip apart the Cats. The Dolphins would've had three Grizzlies, but they cut Tuff Harris the day before the draft.

Biermann was drafted two spots ahead of Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon, who went 156th overall to the Pittsburgh Steelers. This one makes some sense. Dixon lost his Heisman hopes to a blown out knee late in the season. I was still somewhat surprised his stock was so low. I mean, Willis McGahee went in the first round, 23rd overall, after he blew out his knee at Miami.

The situation with the player near Lex is different. Lex was drafted only two spots behind Michigan running-back Mike Hart, who went 202nd overall. Going into the season, Hart wasn't viewed as highly as, say, McFadden, but he was a legit pro prospect and Heisman contender. If you would've told me at the beginning of the season that Hilliard would go only two spots behind Hilliard I would've said that's about as likely as the Griz losing in the first round of the playoffs to a school with less than 1500 students App State beating Michigan Montana moving up to the FBS. Crazy stuff.

As part of the expansion, the Big South and Northeast Conference champions will receive automatic bids to the playoffs beginning in 2010 and can earn access into the field in 2008-09 by attaining certain criteria adopted this week during the Board of Directors meeting.

The Division I playoff committee adopted changes in the selection process that will guarantee entry into the postseason for any conference champion that wins at least eight games against Division I opponents, wins two non-conference games against teams from auto-bid leagues and ranks 16th or higher in an average of the Sports Network top-25 poll, the coaches poll and the Gridiron Power index (GPI) computer ranking.

So, now we can lose to even smaller schools in the first round.

It's been a long trip to this level for both of them, especially for Anthony. At one point, he was completely out of organized basketball; then he met Shaunte. For their incredible story, read this article in the Tacoma Weekly.

At Stadium [High School], Johnson wasn’t much of a standout on the court or in the classroom. As a senior, he averaged just more than 12 points per game while the Tigers went 6-15 and finished in seventh place in the Narrows League Bay Division. Not exactly the kind of performance that gets you noticed at the next level.

On his report cards, things were even worse. Not showing up for class on a regular basis, Johnson saw his cumulative grade-point average during his time in high school come out as a 1.6. Needless to say, there weren’t a lot of opportunities awaiting him after graduation.

In 2005, though, while he was spending the year at home helping his mom and brother around the house, the most important event of his life happened. He started dating Nance. After that, things just started to change for him.

Not sure what he was doing or could do with his life, Nance was there as someone who believed in him. She pushed him to become better not only as a basketball player but as a person as well.

“She noticed something in me,” Johnson said. “She figured in her mind that I could play college basketball while at the time I was ready to give it up.”

Nance, then playing basketball on a full-ride scholarship to Northwest Nazarene University (NNU), watched Johnson play at the YMCA and knew that his time on the hardwood wasn’t over.

“He had an amazing shot, it was something I envied,” Nance said. “His dedication to the game was a big thing. I knew once he put his mind to it, the sky was the limit for him.”

And it was. Anthony was further motivated by his freshman season at Yakima Valley Community College—Shaunte got him a tryout there— where he averaged 18.3 points per game on 57.6 percent shooting. The next season, he was NWAAC east region MVP as he led his 7-man team to a conference title.