University of Montana - Athletics

Athletics

The athletic teams are nicknamed the Montana Grizzlies, often shortened to Griz or Lady Griz (when referring to women's teams). The University has competed in the NCAA's Big Sky Conference since the conference was formed in 1963. From 1924 to 1950, the University of Montana was a member of the Pacific Coast Conference (precursor to today's Pac-12). The University of Montana has an ongoing rivalry with Montana State University, most notably the cross-state football matchups, known as the "Brawl of the Wild."

Programs include:

• Montana Grizzlies football – Since the 1990s, the Griz have established themselves as one of the most dominant football teams in both the Big Sky Conference and in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (known as Division I-AA football before 2006). They have won or shared 11 of the last 16 Big Sky football championships since 1990, and won the I-AA national title in 1995 and 2001.
• Montana Grizzlies men's basketball – The men's basketball team has established itself in recent years as a power in the Big Sky, and was the conference representative to the NCAA Division I Men's basketball tournament in 2005 and 2006. At the 2006 tournament, the 12th-seeded Griz upset fifth-seeded University of Nevada, Reno, 87-79, the school's first win in the tournament in 31 years. The Cinderella run ended against the fourth-seeded Boston College Eagles.
• Montana Grizzlies women's basketball – The women's basketball team is the most successful team in the Big Sky Conference. The Lady Griz have won 17 conference titles in 25 years, most recently in 2008, and have competed in the NCAA Women's tournament 17 times. The Lady Griz have been coached since 1978 by Robin Selvig (Montana, 1974), who has an overall record of 645–188 (.774 winning percentage) as head coach of the Lady Griz. Selvig earned his 600th win in just 772 games—sixth fastest of any NCAA coach (men or women).
• Montana Grizzlies women's soccer – Recently hired a new head coach in Mark Plakorus. Plakorus becomes the third head coach of a program that will be entering its 18th season of play in the fall of 2011. He was stationed at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls from 1994–1999, has begun the head coach and director of the Flathead Soccer Camp in Kalispell since 1998, has been coaching in the collegiate ranks since 2022 when he chose to end an 11-year Air Force Career to pursue a career in coach soccer full-time. He spent two seasons from 2002–2003 as an assistant at University of Iowa and one year at University of Tulsa before joining the Texas Christian University staff as an assistant coach.

Other intercollegiate sports include men's and women's cross country, women's golf, men's and women's track and field, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's and women's tennis, and women's volleyball.

Intramural sports include men's lacrosse (won 2007 national championship in their division, MCLA-B) and women's lacrosse, the Alpine Ski Team (went to the national championships in winter 2006), rowing, dance and cheer, men's and women's ice hockey, men's soccer, the Woodsman Team, rodeo, the Missoula Footbag Alliance. triathlon, cycling, fencing, Jesters Rugby, and Betterside Women's Rugby. baseball is a club sport at the university. Led by James R. "Pops" Jones since 1997, the team won three Big Sky Championships in 2003, 2004, and 2005 as a player/coach. The team is currently a member of the National Club Baseball Association and finished second in the 2004 National Tournament.

The mascot of the university is Monte, a Grizzly Bear. In 1897, a live bear cub traveled with UM's football team, then known as the "Bears" (the "Grizzlies" name was adopted in 1923). Numerous live bear cubs who served as university mascots, first named Teddy, then Fessy and finally, in the 1960s, Cocoa. UM's costumed mascot during the 1980s, dubbed Otto, donned a variety of fun-loving outfits to entertain crowds at Grizzly football games. Monte (short for Montana) was born in the mountains of Missoula in the fall 1993. The 2002–03 and 2004–05 National Champion Mascot of the Year (Capital One/ESPN) has evolved into a "motorcycle-riding, break-dancing, back flipping, slam-dunking, movie-making, crowd-surfing, goal post smashing, prank-pulling superstar that makes the women of Montana swoon."