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The Montana Grizzlies football team has suffered more than enough negative exposure. Throughout most of it the administration, and especially Bobby Hauck, have been relatively silent. We'll get a blurb in the newspaper story on how the actions of a few should not reflect poorly on the rest of the team but not much more. Never do we see the openness and level of accountability current Washington State head coach and former Eastern Washington head coach Paul Wulff displayed after the Seattle Times published a scathing article on the Cougars' past transgressions.

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.

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Griz fall to Washington State 66-55. The Griz trailed by only two at half before the Cougars eventually pulled away about halfway through the second half. Going into the game, this is about as much as you can ask for: hanging in there for as long as possible. This would've made an excellent signature win for this non-conference slate but the Griz put up a solid fight. The Cougars, who were ranked ninth going into the game are now, according to the media, the sixth best team in the nation.

Here's the lede from that article: "Tony Bennett wasn't surprised that his No. 9 Cougars had a rough time with unheralded Montana on Friday night.

'I had a feeling it would be a real good test,' Bennett said."

When your team carries that kind of a reputation into a game against a top ten team, things could be worse.

Grizzlies hold on for win against Air Force. The Falcons came into the game 5-0. They were down 18 at half and 23 with 17 minutes to play. Then things went bad. The Falcons used a 15-0 run to help get back in the game. Here's how it ended, courtesy of the Missoulian's lede on the game.

Cam Rundles thought he was going to be on SportsCenter for all the wrong reasons.

The sophomore buried a clutch 3-pointer to help blunt an Air Force rally during the Montana men's basketball team's 59-57 win over the Falcons on Saturday in the Cougar Hispanic College Fund Challenge at the Spokane Arena.

But that wasn't why the Griz guard thought he might show up in ESPN's highlight package. After receiving a football pass from Jordan Hasquet on an inbounds play with seconds remaining, Rundles passed the ball to an unsuspecting Greg Spurgetis, who watched the ball go through his legs and out of bounds with less than a second to play. The Falcons, though, could not muster a shot as time expired.

So what will Rundles do the next time he's in that position?

“I'm going to dribble it out,” Rundles said with a laugh and a shake of his head. “I'd have been on SportsCenter for the all-time record for the dumbest play in the world.”

The Griz did not show that killer instinct they needed to. Letting a team climb back into a game after being down 20+ is never good but a win is a win and it's a lot better being on the other side of these rallies.

Griz beat Mississippi Valley State, 69-62. The first half didn't go so well as Wayne Tinkle said his team was in "La-La Land." MVSU was up 30-28 at the break. On Friday, they only scored 29 points the entire game against Washington State. Yeah, it didn't go so well. They wanted to salvage their dignity before getting out of town but that didn't happen as the Griz pulled out the win.

Also, Matt Martin was named Big Sky Player of the Week.

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The Griz soccer team was outplayed in both of their matches this weekend but the total differential for the games ended up being a mere two goals.

The Griz lost 2-1 to Washington State in their season-opener on Friday. As I said I would, I made it to this game. The stats may or may not tell otherwise but Washington State controlled the play in this game. The Griz went up 1-0 on a lofty cross from the right side that found it's way into the left side of the net. Less than ten minutes later Wazzu tied it up as a forward got behind the D. Only three minutes later, the Cougars scored again from a shout outside the 18-yard box.

Like I said, the Griz were dominated in this match. They were outshot 19-4. That's a lot.

I wasn't able to make it to Sunday's game, a 1-0 loss to Gonzaga. The shots were closer but not as close as they should be. It was 15-10 in favor of the Bulldogs.

Next weekend the Griz travel to Oregon for matches at Oregon and Oregon State.

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The Griz soccer team opens its season tonight at South Campus Stadium against the Washington State Cougars. The Griz also face the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Sunday at 2 against the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Here's head coach Neil Sedgwick on the tough games:

“We’ll be facing two solid opponents from two strong conferences. Washington State we played down there the last two years – its good to have them back at home. That should be an exciting game for the supporters in Missoula. Same with Gonzaga, the matches with them have been close. They play in one of the most competitive conferences in the country. They are always a close challenge in a relatively close rivalry.”

Tonight will be my first Griz soccer game. It's kind of embarrassing to admit seeing as this is my third year on campus but it's better late than never.

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The Griz have some pretty solid teams on their schedule this year but it doesn't match the degree of difficulty looming ahead for the Idaho State Bengals.

Idaho State's 2007-08 men's basketball schedule is set, loaded with big names for the second straight year, such as UCLA, Washington, Brigham Young, Iowa and Utah. However, head coach Joe O'Brien has one of those big names, Washington State, coming to Holt Arena, along with Boise State and a full slate of Big Sky Conference games, and he promises that is just a taste of things to come as far as home scheduling goes.

Yea, challenging your squad by tough opponents is a good idea, but this is out of hand. On top of these tough squads, they also face Long Beach State, an NCAA Tournament team.

They may lose every single one of these games but that Washington State matchup in Holt Arena makes it all worth. Even if they lose by 45, it'll still be fun for at least the first few minutes. I'm not envious of their away games because the Griz have a pretty fair yet challenging schedule but I do wish we had a shot at the Cougars in the Zoo instead of on a neutral court.

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AOL Fanhouse has started doing a ridiculously early look at they they believe are the top 25 college hoops teams. Griz opponents Gonzaga and Washington State were up today as they came in at 15 and 11 respectively.

Each preview gives a brief intro to then sections on why the team should be ranked where it is, why it should be ranked higher and why it should be ranked lower. Seeing as these are both legit top 25 teams and we or may not crack the top 144, let's take a look at why they should be ranked lower for hope we can pull off the upset.

No. 15 Gonzaga

Why This Team Should Be Ranked Lower: There's still the issue of when and how effective Josh Heytvelt will be when he returns. Because of the rest of the WCC, Gonzaga can't afford an inconsistent start to the season. If they stumble, early there won't be much of an opportunity to recover in the polls.

I absolutely hate that Josh Heytvelt is on this team. He was caught with hallucinogenic mushrooms, a felony. Because he hadn't been caught before, he got off on community service or classes. Maybe it's just me, but you'd think a private Catholic university would take a tougher stance on this. If it was someone outside the starting 5, they'd be gone.

No. 11 Washington State

Why they should be ranked lower: The surprise factor is gone. The Cougars were the darling of the West Coast last season, and they were able to sneak up on just about everybody. Even when they got ranked highly, opponents still seemed to fear the Cougs' cross-state rival more than WSU during the Thursday/Saturday match ups. People will be ready for the Cougs this year, so the guerrilla tactics of college hoops are obsolete.

The hope with this team is that we can sneak up on them like they snuck up on everyone else. Maybe an early season loss will shake their confidence and remind them of the team they were two years ago.

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Get excited Griz hoops fans, sources say the University of Montana basketball team will face the Gonzaga Bulldogs and the Washington State Cougars next season.

The game away game against the Zags will likely be held in early November and the Griz will compete in a holiday tournament at the Arena in Spokanistan.

Mark this down as one of the many reasons I like the Griz basketball program more than the football one. While the Griz football team plays Sisters of the Poor Nunnery and the Sentinel High School Freshman squad, the hoops programs schedules a mid-major powerhouse and one of the best 15 teams in the nation. Even during something of a down year, they faced West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Minnesota and Boise State; and they beat Minnesota and Boise State!


UPDATE
My brother, Eamon, had me take a look at Andy Katz's preseason top 25. Gonzaga is at 11 and Washington State is 5. I'm not saying I agree, but still, if someone who does this for a living think's they're this good then they have to be in the at least somewhere in that range.

I think we got a shot at the Zags. They play in a conference that isn't a whole lot better than ours and they their lost veteran point guard, Derek Raivio. If anyone knows how much that hurts, it's Griz fans. Oh, and what happened to being all upright and holy? This is a Catholic private school that charges students their weight in frankincense and they allow Josh Heytveldt  — the guy that got busted with mushrooms — back on the team. Then again, that fine, fine institution did produce this nut.

WSU is a bit tougher but you have to try to get up and make them think they're really not that good. You know, hope for some kind of mental collapse. They played way above their heads last year and their talent level doesn't quite match their record. Wait, Tony Bennett didn't move up to take a better job? Nevermind then.

I'm not gonna lie, these teams are probably way better than us but this is still going to be a lot of fun.

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As most fans of college sports know, when a player becomes upset with playing time or just how things are going at his current school he or she may transfer to a school where they think they'll have more of an impact. This is the case with University of Washington freshman Phil Nelson and Washington State's Mac Hopson.

Most have probably heard but Phil Nelson, who got some starts at UW, is headed to Portland State. He's definitely going to have an impact on that program and probably the conference as a whole as any player who can contribute as a frosh in the Pac-10 certainly has some talent.

Mac Hopson, a sophomore who made some starts early in the season for WSU, is reportedly interesting in attending either the University of Montana or MSU.

As you can see there, Mac was pretty candid about just wanting more playing time in the future, and there's no doubt that he could get it at a bunch of schools out there. Hopson, you'll remember started the season as a starter for WSU and was clearly capable of making a decent contribution at the Pac-10 level, even if he was best suited as a role player right now. Should he opt for a lesser-conference school, I have to believe he can get the 30 minutes a game he's looking for. Mac mentioned Montana and Montana State to me, and said that he's looking to stay in the Northwest or on the West Coast, so we'll see how that all goes.

Sounds like this kid is very capable of making a major impact on this team. Come on Tinks, land this guy.

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