SPOKANE, Wash. — Montana and Idaho staged a battle on social media in the days leading up to the Big Sky Kickoff last week to see which school’s mascot would be crowned the best in the Big Sky.
The voting came down to the wire, just like the recent games between two of the founding members of the conference. The Griz and mascot Monte, who became a Hall of Famer this offseason, emerged with 50.1% of the vote.
That is expected to be about the extent of the competition between Montana and Idaho this season. They won’t be duking it out for the Little Brown Stein due to the Big Sky’s rotating schedule and them not being protected rivals.
“It’s a little disappointing, especially being my last year,” Idaho senior safety Tyler McCormick said at the Big Sky Kickoff. “We’ve had some great battles the last two years. It’s a little disappointing. It’s a huge rivalry between us that has gone back a long time. I wish that was an every-year game for us. A little sad we don’t get another opportunity to get the Stein back.”
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Montana has been tabbed the 2024 Big Sky preseason favorite after winning the league crown and finishing as the FCS national runner-up last year. Idaho coach Jason Eck said he voted the Griz in first place in his poll.
Idaho was selected third by both the coaches and media after a quarterfinal run and despite losing four key players to the FBS. Perhaps that’s a nod to the job Eck has done during his first two seasons leading Idaho.
Both teams are expected to be national contenders too. The Griz are ranked third and the Vandals are seventh in the national poll by Hero Sports. As they angle for the Big Sky and FCS trophies, Montana will keep possession of the Little Brown Stein, which was introduced in 1938.
“Playing Idaho is fun,” UM senior linebacker Ryan Tirrell said. “It’s a trophy game so there’s some more stakes to it. Then they’re a fun opponent to play. They’re always salty.”
The Montana-Idaho game returned to being a must-see contest when Eck took over in 2022 after coaching at South Dakota State. The unranked Vandals came into Missoula that year and knocked off the third-ranked Griz, 30-23.
UM returned the favor in 2023 as the 16th-ranked Griz upset the No. 3 Vandals, 23-21, on the road. Before those two games, UM had scored three consecutive blowouts against a struggling Idaho program coached by Montana native Paul Petrino.
Idaho senior defensive end Keyshawn James-Newby said he was “pretty bummed” about missing out on playing Montana this year because it meant he’ll never get to play in Washington-Grizzly Stadium. He’s a Helena High grad who started college at Montana Tech and transferred to Idaho in 2023.
“Those games are always super intense against Montana,” he said. “They always put on a big fight. They’re a very physical team.
“Tough team. Gritty. That was a really gritty game last year. I would say it was probably one of the most aggressive games all season, even against some FBS schools.”
Montana and Idaho have played each other 89 times, making it the opponent that UM has faced the second-most times. The only team the Griz have seen more is in-state rival Montana State at 122 games.
The Griz trail the series against Idaho, 31-56-2, dating back to the first game in 1903. It’s the only current Big Sky team that UM has an all-time losing record against.
However, Montana has won eight of the past nine meetings. Griz head coach Bobby Hauck is 5-1 against the Vandals, tying him with Don Read (5-6) for the most wins by a UM coach against Idaho.
“I have some angst that we don’t all play each other (in the Big Sky),” he said. “It’s disappointing that we don’t all play each other. Now in order to make that happen, you can’t have the same number of teams in the league. That’s a whole different can of worms to talk about. That’s the way college football is going.”
In 2018, UM and Idaho became protected rivals who would play yearly when the latter dropped back down from the FBS after leaving the FCS in 1996. That marked the first game between the schools since 2003, when they completed a five-game nonconference series in which UM went 4-1.
Idaho’s annual matchup against Montana meant that the Griz lost their yearly game against Eastern Washington, which had gone uninterrupted from 1983-2017. When Southern Utah left in 2022, the Big Sky redrew its schedules and protected rivals, with Idaho replaced by Portland State for UM. The Griz retained Montana State as their primary protected rival.
Last year, Montana missed out on a game against Eastern Washington, a team it’ll see in Week 5 this year. The Eagles have dropped off the past two years but made the national title game in 2018 and are still the Big Sky’s most recent national champion, having won in 2010.
“We don’t get to play Idaho this year but we get to play Eastern this year,” Montana senior wide receiver Keelan White said. “So at least there’s that balancing, one or the other.”
Every team played each other in the Big Sky until the conference expanded from nine to 13 teams in 2012. The league currently sits at 12 teams, meaning each school misses out on three opponents each season. Montana also doesn’t play Sacramento State and Idaho State this year.
Big Sky schedules are set through the 2027 season barring realignment. The Griz host Idaho in 2025 and play at Idaho in 2026. They don’t face off in 2027, meaning they’ll play each other only two times in a four-year stretch.
Eck has a solution where UM and UI could play each other annually without the league size needing to change. It’s an idea that comes from the Big Ten, where he played at Wisconsin, as the league grew to 18 teams this year.
Some teams have three protected rivals in Big Ten play. Other have two. Some have one. One school even has no protected rivals, which Eck says is a good idea because why force a rivalry where there is none.
“I wish we had three protected rivals,” he said. “I wish we played Montana, Eastern (Washington) and Idaho State every year because I think they’re such great games. And Eastern and Montana are driving distance, which is good for your budget in the FCS when you got to go on the road.
“I think it’s a shame. It’s disappointing. But they got a heck of a team. You never know, we could maybe see each other in the playoffs.”
Frank Gogola is the Senior Sports Reporter at the Missoulian and 406 MT Sports. Follow him on X @FrankGogola or email him at frank.gogola@406mtsports.com.
