BILLINGS — Home-field advantage is alive and well again in the Montana/Montana State football rivalry.
Will that trend hold when the No. 2-ranked Grizzlies and No. 3 Bobcats clash Saturday in Missoula?
Since 2019 the home team has handled business in the state's marquee sporting event, and it hasn't been close. Last year the Bobcats dispatched the Grizzlies 34-11 in Bozeman. The year before that Montana rolled 37-7 in Missoula.
In the past five meetings, the average margin of victory was a whopping four touchdowns with the home team outscoring the visitor 203-63. That came on the heels of the road team winning a combined nine times in a 17-year stretch.
The 124th version of the Brawl of the Wild returns to Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday. And if recent history is any guide the Griz have a distinct advantage simply because they are hosting the game.
Since UM's jewel of a stadium opened on campus in 1986, the Grizzlies have lost to the Bobcats there just five times in 19 tries. The last time a road team won in this rivalry was in 2018, and we all remember how that game ended — with the Bobcats forcing a fumble on the goal line on the final play to preserve a 29-25 come-from-behind win.
Saturday's game will be Montana coach Bobby Hauck's 14th against the Bobcats. He is 7-6 in the previous 13 (5-2 from 2003-09 and 2-4 since returning as coach in 2018). Hauck is 5-1 against MSU at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, with his only loss coming in that 2018 thriller.
By contrast, this will be Montana State coach Brent Vigen's fifth time coaching in the game. Vigen's run at MSU has been wildly successful — he has lost only three Big Sky Conference games since arriving to Bozeman in 2021. But he is 2-2 against the Grizzlies and has yet to win in Missoula.
The Bobcats bring a 15-game conference winning streak into Saturday's contest. Their last loss came in 2023 at Montana.
MSU quarterback Justin Lamson and Griz signal-caller Keali'i Ah Yat will both be making their starting debuts in the rivalry. This is Lamson's first time playing against Montana altogether; Ah Yat played one second-quarter series as a true freshman in 2023 but did not play last year.
Both Lamson and Ah Yat have been stellar this season, and the quarterback matchup could go a long way toward deciding who prevails on Saturday.
Montana owns the all-time series 74-43-5. But since the Bobcats broke a 16-game losing streak to the Griz in 2002 the rivalry is remarkably even, with MSU holding a slight 11-10 edge. (No, Montana's 2011 win that the school later vacated due to NCAA penalties still doesn't count.)
It goes without saying that this year's game has enormous stakes.
Montana enters 11-0 overall and 7-0 in the Big Sky; the Cats are 9-2 overall and also 7-0 in the league. The winner will claim the outright conference title and will probably earn a top-two seed for the FCS playoffs, guaranteeing home-field advantage through the semifinal round and an "easier" path to a berth in the national title game in Nashville, Tenn.
But what's interesting is that Saturday's loser could still earn a top-three seed, which could set up a potential pre-championship postseason matchup between the Cats and Griz down the road — provided No. 1 North Dakota State beats St. Thomas (Minn.) at home on Saturday.
Hauck alluded to the potential for a Cat-Griz playoff rematch during a press conference on Monday. And it's something we've not seen before.
"Two of the best teams in the country will be playing right here on Saturday, and maybe the two best," Hauck said. "The way it's shaping up is interesting in my opinion. Probably a chance we'll play each other later in the year, as well, so that's part of the equation."
The teams were on the same side of the bracket in 2011 and again in 2023, but a matchup never materialized.
There's certainly a precedent of archrivals meeting in the FCS postseason, probably best exemplified by the six times "Dakota Marker" rivals North Dakota State and South Dakota State have gone head-to-head in the playoffs. That includes SDSU's 45–21 win over the Bison in the 2022 championship game.
Is this the year it actually happens for the Cats and Griz?
One thing at a time, though. First comes Saturday's heavyweight matchup. One team, Montana, will try to continue the recent trend of home-field dominance. The other, Montana State, will try to drive a stake right through the heart of that.
To the victor belong the spoils.
