From the Fringe: Cats, Griz using summer to prepare for exciting fall seasons

Summer has barely begun, but is it really ever too early to think about the Cat-Griz football rivalry?

My thought on that subject is: absolutely not.

And though the game is still half a year away, the 2023 college football season is already right around the corner, so, here’s your latest update on the Cats and Griz.

Not long ago, Bobby Hauck and Co. were in Havre for the Grizzly Scholarship Association Spring Tour, and Hauck had plenty of exciting things to say about former Havre Blue Pony Kellen Detrick. Detrick, who will be a red-shirt sophomore defensive end with the Grizzlies this fall, had an excellent spring game where he registered a sack, and a couple of stops. He’s likely going into fall camp in two months as a second string defensive end, and not only did Hauck say he'll compete for lots of playing time on the DL, but also said he will likely be a special teams star this season as well.

As for the season itself, fans should be getting to see plenty of both the Bobcats and Grizzlies on many different television and streaming platforms, including ESPN. The network is in its third year of streaming and televising the Big Sky Conference and it recently announced its three regular season, national TV games, two of which involve the Montana teams.

The Grizzlies will play an ESPN2 night game at arch rival Idaho on Oct. 14 in Moscow, Idaho. The game will kick off at 8:30 p.m. M.S.T. and marks the third straight season the Griz have been a part of an ESPN2 game on the road. They played at Eastern Washington in 2021 and Sacramento State in 2022.

Montana State meanwhile, will play on ESPN2 at Sacramento State Oct. 21. That game will kick off at 8:30 M.S.T, as well. The Bobcats hosted UC Davis in a national TV night game last year.

Neither the MSU or UM full TV schedule is out yet, but more will be released as the summer goes along.

On another scheduling note, Havre Griz fans can now mark their calendars because Marc Mariani will officially be inducted into the Montana Grizzly Hall of Fame on the weekend of Oct. 28. There will be a ceremony Friday night in Missoula, and Mariani will be honored during the Griz’ game against Northern Colorado Saturday, Oct. 28. More details about the Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame Weekend will be announced later.

Lastly, both the Cats and Griz are getting plenty of summer, preseason recognition. Hero Sports recently released its FCS Preseason Poll, where the Bobcats are ranked No. 3 and the Griz are ranked No. 16.

The other Big Sky Conference teams in the HERO top 25 are Idaho (tied for fifth with Furman), Sacramento State (No. 10), Weber State (tied for 11th with SEMO) and UC Davis (No. 18).