Brawl of the Wild

Brawl of the Wild
Teams University of Montana Grizzlies
Montana State University Bobcats
Trophy Great Divide Trophy
Alternative Names Cat-Griz
Griz-Cat
Originated Nov. 25, 1897
Series 111 Games
Montana leads 70-36-5
First Game Montana 18, MSU 6
(Nov. 25, 1897)
Largest Victory Montana 79, Montana State 0
(1904)
Highest Scoring Game Montana 59, MSU 28
(October 25, 1986)
Lowest Scoring Game Montana 0, MSU 0
Three times (1908, 1910, 1928)
Longest Win Streaks Montana 16 (1986-2001)
MSU 6 (three times)
Most Recent Game Montana 36, MSU 10
(November 19, 2011)
Current Streak Montana 1 (2011)
Last Ten Games Montana leads, 6-4
Next Game Missoula
(November 2012)

The Brawl of the Wild is an annual college football rivalry game between the Montana State University Bobcats and the University of Montana Grizzlies. The rivalry began on November 26, 1897 when the two teams played in Bozeman, Montana, home of Montana State, with Montana prevailing by the score of 18-6. At the time, Montana State was known as Montana State College, while Montana was known as Montana State. The rivalry is the 31st oldest among active rivalries in NCAA Division I and of those is the 11th oldest west of the Mississippi River. It is also the 4th oldest active rivalry in the FCS and the oldest west of the Mississippi River.

During a period that is often referred to in Montana as "The Streak", Montana won every meeting from 1986 until 2001. A few of these games were close, but most of them gave a strong indication that the two football programs were going in very different directions. Montana won two NCAA Division 1-AA championships during "The Streak", while Montana State had one season where they failed to win a single game. On a cold, snowy day in November 2002, Montana State was finally able to go on the road and snap Montana's 16 game run.

The game almost always, especially of late, has major implications on the Big Sky Conference championship and its automatic bid to the Division I tournament. The name "Brawl of the Wild" is now used almost exclusively to refer to the matchup in official publications, but most people in Montana affectionately refer to the game simply as "Cat-Griz" (Bobcat fans) or "Griz-Cat" (Grizzly fans).

Contents

The Great Divide Trophy

The Great Divide Trophy was first awarded in 2001. It has since changed hands six times.

History

The Brawl of the Wild is the game between MSU and their primary rival, the University of Montana Grizzlies, for The Great Divide Trophy. As of the most recent matchup in November 2011, Montana leads the series 70-36-5.

The series has three distinct periods. From 1897 to 1916 the teams didn't belong to a conference and at times would play twice per year. Early seasons had seven games or less with one season seeing the Grizzlies play just one game. Four of the five ties in the series came during this era. Montana won 12 games to Montana State's 7.

In 1917 Montana State joined the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and in 1924 Montana joined what is now the PAC-12 Conference when it entered the Pacific Coast Conference. The RMAC included several teams that would become Mountain West members. When MSU joined the RMAC included Colorado, Colorado State, Utah, Utah State, and Brigham Young. When UM joined the PCC included Stanford, California, UCLA, USC, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State, and Idaho. The Bobcats remained in the RMAC through 1956, while the Grizzlies remained in the PCC through 1949 and joined the Skyline (aka Mountain States) Conference from 1951-1961. MSU was independent from 1957-1962 and UM was independent in 1950 and 1962. During this period UM enjoyed a 30-8-1 edge in Cat-Griz games.

Both schools entered the Big Sky Conference as charter members in 1963 with Montana holding a 42-15-2 series lead. From 1963 to 1985 Montana State enjoyed its most successful period of the Cat-Griz rivalry. MSU won 17 games to just six for UM. Following that Montana started "The Streak" when it won 16 straight games from 1986 to 2001. MSU ended the drought by winning three of four, while UM holds a 6-4 edge after "The Streak" with Montana winning the most recent game 36-10 in Bozeman. The Big Sky era shows Montana with a 28-21 lead.

Montana has won 22 of the last 26 meetings. Since MSU won its first national championship in 1956, the series shows UM with a 30-26 edge.

Game results

# Year Winning team Losing team Series
1 1897 Montana 18 Montana State 6 Montana leads 1-0
2 1898 Montana 6 Montana State 0 Montana leads 2-0
3 1898 Montana 16 Montana State 0 Montana leads 3-0
4 1899 Montana State 5 Montana 0 Montana leads 3-1
5 1899 Montana State 38 Montana 0 Montana leads 3-2
6 1900 Montana State 38 Montana 0 Series tied 3-3
7 1901 Montana State 31 Montana 0 Montana State leads 4-3
8 1902 Montana State 38 Montana 0 Montana State leads 5-3
9 1903 Montana State 13 Montana 6 Montana State leads 6-3
10 1904 Montana 79 Montana State 0 Montana State leads 6-4
- 1905 - - - -
- 1906 - - - -
- 1907 - - - -
11 1908 Montana 0 Montana State 0 Montana State leads 6-4-1
12 1908 Montana State 5 Montana 0 Montana State leads 7-4-1
13 1909 Montana 3 Montana State 0 Montana State leads 7-5-1
14 1909 Montana 15 Montana State 5 Montana State leads 7-6-1
15 1910 Montana 0 Montana State 0 Montana State leads 7-6-2
16 1910 Montana 10 Montana State 0 Series tied 7-7-2
- 1911 - - - -
17 1912 Montana 7 Montana State 0 Montana leads 8-7-2
18 1912 Montana 39 Montana State 3 Montana leads 9-7-2
19 1913 Montana 7 Montana State 0 Montana leads 10-7-2
20 1913 Montana 20 Montana State 7 Montana leads 11-7-2
21 1914 Montana 26 Montana State 9 Montana leads 12-7-2
- 1915 - - - -
22 1916 Montana 6 Montana State 6 Montana leads 12-7-3
23 1917 Montana 9 Montana State 7 Montana leads 13-7-3
- 1918 - - - -
24 1919 Montana 6 Montana State 6 Montana leads 13-7-4
24 1920 Montana 28 Montana State 0 Montana leads 14-7-4
25 1921 Montana 14 Montana State 7 Montana leads 15-7-4
26 1922 Montana 7 Montana State 6 Montana leads 16-7-4
27 1923 Montana 24 Montana State 13 Montana leads 17-7-4
- 1924 - - - -
28 1925 Montana 28 Montana State 7 Montana leads 18-7-4
29 1926 Montana 27 Montana State 0 Montana leads 19-7-4
30 1927 Montana 6 Montana State 0 Montana leads 20-7-4
31 1928 Montana 0 Montana State 0 Montana leads 20-7-5
32 1929 Montana State 14 Montana 12 Montana leads 20-8-5
33 1930 Montana 13 Montana State 6 Montana leads 21-8-5
34 1931 Montana 37 Montana State 6 Montana leads 22-8-5
35 1932 Montana State 10 Montana 7 Montana leads 22-9-5
36 1933 Montana 32 Montana State 0 Montana leads 23-9-5
37 1934 Montana 25 Montana State 0 Montana leads 24-9-5
38 1935 Montana 20 Montana State 0 Montana leads 25-9-5
39 1936 Montana 27 Montana State 0 Montana leads 26-9-5
40 1937 Montana 19 Montana State 0 Montana leads 27-9-5
41 1938 Montana 13 Montana State 0 Montana leads 28-9-5
42 1939 Montana 6 Montana State 0 Montana leads 29-9-5
43 1940 Montana 6 Montana State 0 Montana leads 30-9-5
44 1941 Montana 23 Montana State 13 Montana leads 31-9-5
- 1942 - - - -
- 1943 - - - -
- 1944 - - - -
- 1945 - - - -
46 1946 Montana 20 Montana State 7 Montana leads 32-9-5
47 1947 Montana State 13 Montana 12 Montana leads 32-10-5
48 1948 Montana 14 Montana State 0 Montana leads 33-10-5
49 1949 Montana 34 Montana State 12 Montana leads 34-10-5
50 1950 Montana 33 Montana State 0 Montana leads 35-10-5
51 1951 Montana 38 Montana State 0 Montana leads 36-10-5
52 1952 Montana 35 Montana State 12 Montana leads 37-10-5
53 1953 Montana 32 Montana State 13 Montana leads 38-10-5
54 1954 Montana 25 Montana State 12 Montana leads 39-10-5
55 1955 Montana 19 Montana State 0 Montana leads 40-10-5
56 1956 Montana State 33 Montana 14 Montana leads 40-11-5
57 1957 Montana State 22 Montana 13 Montana leads 40-12-5
58 1958 Montana State 20 Montana 6 Montana leads 40-13-5
59 1959 Montana State 40 Montana 6 Montana leads 40-14-5
60 1960 Montana 10 Montana State 6 Montana leads 41-14-5
61 1961 Montana State 10 Montana 9 Montana leads 41-15-5
62 1962 Montana 36 Montana State 19 Montana leads 42-15-5
63 1963 Montana State 18 Montana 3 Montana leads 42-16-5
64 1964 Montana State 30 Montana 6 Montana leads 42-17-5
65 1965 Montana State 24 Montana 7 Montana leads 42-18-5
66 1966 Montana State 38 Montana 0 Montana leads 42-19-5
67 1967 Montana State 14 Montana 8 Montana leads 42-20-5
68 1968 Montana State 29 Montana 24 Montana leads 42-21-5
69 1969 Montana 7 Montana State 6 Montana leads 43-21-5
70 1970 Montana 35 Montana State 0 Montana leads 44-21-5
71 1971 Montana 30 Montana State 0 Montana leads 45-21-5
72 1972 Montana State 21 Montana 3 Montana leads 45-22-5
73 1973 Montana State 33 Montana 7 Montana leads 45-23-5
74 1974 Montana State 43 Montana 29 Montana leads 45-24-5
75 1975 Montana State 20 Montana 3 Montana leads 45-25-5
76 1976 Montana State 21 Montana 12 Montana leads 45-26-5
77 1977 Montana State 24 Montana 19 Montana leads 45-27-5
78 1978 Montana 24 Montana State 8 Montana leads 46-27-5
79 1979 Montana State 38 Montana 21 Montana leads 46-28-5
80 1980 Montana State 24 Montana 7 Montana leads 46-29-5
81 1981 Montana 27 Montana State 17 Montana leads 47-29-5
82 1982 Montana 45 Montana State 15 Montana leads 48-29-5
83 1983 Montana State 28 Montana 8 Montana leads 48-30-5
84 1984 Montana State 34 Montana 24 Montana leads 48-31-5
85 1985 Montana State 41 Montana 18 Montana leads 48-32-5
86 1986 Montana 59 Montana State 28 Montana leads 49-32-5
87 1987 Montana 55 Montana State 7 Montana leads 50-32-5
88 1988 Montana 17 Montana State 3 Montana leads 51-32-5
89 1989 Montana 17 Montana State 2 Montana leads 52-32-5
90 1990 Montana 35 Montana State 18 Montana leads 53-32-5
91 1991 Montana 16 Montana State 9 Montana leads 54-32-5
92 1992 Montana 29 Montana State 17 Montana leads 55-32-5
93 1993 Montana 42 Montana State 30 Montana leads 56-32-5
94 1994 Montana 55 Montana State 20 Montana leads 57-32-5
95 1995 Montana 42 Montana State 33 Montana leads 58-32-5
96 1996 Montana 35 Montana State 14 Montana leads 59-32-5
97 1997 Montana 27 Montana State 25 Montana leads 60-32-5
98 1998 Montana 28 Montana State 21 Montana leads 61-32-5
99 1999 Montana 49 Montana State 3 Montana leads 62-32-5
100 2000 Montana 28 Montana State 3 Montana leads 63-32-5
101 2001 Montana 38 Montana State 27 Montana leads 64-32-5
102 2002 Montana State 10 Montana 7 Montana leads 64-33-5
103 2003 Montana State 27 Montana 20 Montana leads 64-34-5
104 2004 Montana 38 Montana State 22 Montana leads 65-34-5
105 2005 Montana State 16 Montana 6 Montana leads 65-35-5
106 2006 Montana 13 Montana State 7 Montana leads 66-35-5
107 2007 Montana 41 Montana State 20 Montana leads 67-35-5
108 2008 Montana 35 Montana State 3 Montana leads 68-35-5
109 2009 Montana 33 Montana State 19 Montana leads 69-35-5
110 2010 Montana State 21 Montana 16 Montana leads 69-36-5
111 2011 Montana 36 Montana State 10 Montana leads 70-36-5
 

External links

See also

Venues
Bowls & rivalries
Culture & lore
People
Seasons
National championship seasons in bold
Venues
Bowls & rivalries
  • Bowl games
  • Brawl of the Wild (Montana)
Culture & lore
  • Spirit of the West Marching Band
People
  • Head coaches
Seasons
  • 1897
  • 1898
  • 1899
  • 1900
  • 1901
  • 1902
  • 1903
  • 1904
  • 1905
  • 1906
  • 1907
  • 1908
  • 1909
  • 1910
  • 1911
  • 1912
  • 1913
  • 1914
  • 1915
  • 1916
  • 1917
  • 1918
  • 1919
  • 1920
  • 1921
  • 1922
  • 1923
  • 1924
  • 1925
  • 1926
  • 1927
  • 1928
  • 1929
  • 1930
  • 1931
  • 1932
  • 1933
  • 1934
  • 1935
  • 1936
  • 1937
  • 1938
  • 1939
  • 1940
  • 1941
  • 1942
  • 1943
  • 1944
  • 1945
  • 1946
  • 1947
  • 1948
  • 1949
  • 1950
  • 1951
  • 1952
  • 1953
  • 1954
  • 1955
  • 1956
  • 1957
  • 1958
  • 1959
  • 1960
  • 1961
  • 1962
  • 1963
  • 1964
  • 1965
  • 1966
  • 1967
  • 1968
  • 1969
  • 1970
  • 1971
  • 1972
  • 1973
  • 1974
  • 1975
  • 1976
  • 1977
  • 1978
  • 1979
  • 1980
  • 1981
  • 1982
  • 1983
  • 1984
  • 1985
  • 1986
  • 1987
  • 1988
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