The Streak vs the last 10 games

[TomCat88]

While impressive, the Streak of 16 wins by UM over MSU didn't involve a lot of games that had surprising endings or that knocked MSU out of the playoffs. I think just two years 1993 and 1998 saw the Bobcats with a shot at the playoffs. They started 7-2 in 1993, then lost to EWU and UM. MSU only had four winning seasons during the streak, and the best record was 7-4. MSU was just 64-112 overall.

The Grizzlies have been knocked out of the playoffs at least twice, maybe three times, starting in 2016 and have had their seeding diminished in 2019, 2022, 2024 and 2025. They lost the ESPN Gameday game and the national semifinal game. MSU also avenged one of its two losses by getting to the national title game. The Griz are 82-35 during this stretch and have been to the semis twice.

The degree of difficulty in what MSU has done the last 10 games, which included all 10 games being against a playoff or playoff-caliber team, is a lot higher than UM's, which included all but a couple wins over sub-.500 non-playoff teams.

[nanacat]

While impressive, the Streak of 16 wins by UM over MSU didn't involve a lot of games that had surprising endings or that knocked MSU out of the playoffs. I think just two years 1993 and 1998 saw the Bobcats with a shot at the playoffs. They started 7-2 in 1993, then lost to EWU and UM. MSU only had four winning seasons during the streak, and the best record was 7-4. MSU was just 64-112 overall.

The Grizzlies have been knocked out of the playoffs at least twice, maybe three times, starting in 2016 and have had their seeding diminished in 2019, 2022, 2024 and 2025. They lost the ESPN Gameday game and the national semifinal game. MSU also avenged one of its two losses by getting to the national title game. The Griz are 82-35 during this stretch and have been to the semis twice.

The degree of difficulty in what MSU has done the last 10 games, which included all 10 games being against a playoff or playoff-caliber team, is a lot higher than UM's, which included all but a couple wins over sub-.500 non-playoff teams.

That's really interesting Tom, and telling, regarding all the love the media gives UM and Bobby. If they were honest and doing their jobs, they'd have all this same info, and would report it. But journalistic integrity hasn't been evident for many years. Skyline does well, and they have you, so that helps up their game.

It is intriguing to see how MSU has switched positions with UM, in all areas. It's been discussed before here alot, but Waded Cruzado was stellar in building Montana State into what it is today. On Sammy Akem's most recent podcast, he actually addressed what she did at MSU, and essentially said UM needs to get a president with that type of vision.

[TomCat88]

While impressive, the Streak of 16 wins by UM over MSU didn't involve a lot of games that had surprising endings or that knocked MSU out of the playoffs. I think just two years 1993 and 1998 saw the Bobcats with a shot at the playoffs. They started 7-2 in 1993, then lost to EWU and UM. MSU only had four winning seasons during the streak, and the best record was 7-4. MSU was just 64-112 overall.

The Grizzlies have been knocked out of the playoffs at least twice, maybe three times, starting in 2016 and have had their seeding diminished in 2019, 2022, 2024 and 2025. They lost the ESPN Gameday game and the national semifinal game. MSU also avenged one of its two losses by getting to the national title game. The Griz are 82-35 during this stretch and have been to the semis twice.

The degree of difficulty in what MSU has done the last 10 games, which included all 10 games being against a playoff or playoff-caliber team, is a lot higher than UM's, which included all but a couple wins over sub-.500 non-playoff teams.

That's really interesting Tom, and telling, regarding all the love the media gives UM and Bobby. If they were honest and doing their jobs, they'd have all this same info, and would report it. But journalistic integrity hasn't been evident for many years. Skyline does well, and they have you, so that helps up their game.

It is intriguing to see how MSU has switched positions with UM, in all areas. It's been discussed before here alot, but Waded Cruzado was stellar in building Montana State into what it is today. On Sammy Akem's most recent podcast, he actually addressed what she did at MSU, and essentially said UM needs to get a president with that type of vision.

2016 - UM 6-4 with an outside chance of making playoffs but wouldn’t have had 7 D1 wins. MSU 24, UM 17.

2017 - UM 7-3 needs a win to get 7 D1 wins. MSU 31, UM 23.

2018 - UM 6-4 needs a win to get 7 D1 wins. MSU 29-26.

2019 - UM 9-2 would get a top 4 seed with win. MSU 48, UM 14.

2021 - UM 8-2 would get a top 8 seed with win. UM 29, MSU 10. MSU advanced to the national championship game. UM lost out in quarterfinals.

2022 - UM 7-3 has a good chance to get seeded with a win. MSU 55, UM 21.

2023 - UM 9-1 would get a top 2 seed with a win. UM 37, MSU 7. UM advanced to the national championship game. MSU lost in second round.

2024 - UM 8-3 would get a top 8 seed with a win. MSU 34, UM 11.

2025 - UM 11-0 would get a top 2 seed with a win. MSU 34, UM 31.

2025 - UM 13-1 would advance to the national championship game with a win. MSU 48, UM 23.

MSU had a chance to make the 1993 and 1998 playoffs with wins. UM 42, MSU 30; UM 28, MSU 21. MSU was 6-4 in 1997 but one win was over a D2, so beating UM wouldn’t have gotten it into the playoffs. In 1996, MSU was 6-4 but again one win was over a D2.

All four of those teams were under Cliff Hysell.

[nanacat]

See, why isn't all this ever written about, especially when griz fans, and Bobby, are touting their inflated overall records?

All sports journalists in Montana should be required to take a class from you Tom, on the actual Cat-Griz history.

[blueandgoldblitz]

While impressive, the Streak of 16 wins by UM over MSU didn't involve a lot of games that had surprising endings or that knocked MSU out of the playoffs. I think just two years 1993 and 1998 saw the Bobcats with a shot at the playoffs. They started 7-2 in 1993, then lost to EWU and UM. MSU only had four winning seasons during the streak, and the best record was 7-4. MSU was just 64-112 overall.

The Grizzlies have been knocked out of the playoffs at least twice, maybe three times, starting in 2016 and have had their seeding diminished in 2019, 2022, 2024 and 2025. They lost the ESPN Gameday game and the national semifinal game. MSU also avenged one of its two losses by getting to the national title game. The Griz are 82-35 during this stretch and have been to the semis twice.

The degree of difficulty in what MSU has done the last 10 games, which included all 10 games being against a playoff or playoff-caliber team, is a lot higher than UM's, which included all but a couple wins over sub-.500 non-playoff teams.

That's really interesting Tom, and telling, regarding all the love the media gives UM and Bobby. If they were honest and doing their jobs, they'd have all this same info, and would report it. But journalistic integrity hasn't been evident for many years. Skyline does well, and they have you, so that helps up their game.

It is intriguing to see how MSU has switched positions with UM, in all areas. It's been discussed before here alot, but Waded Cruzado was stellar in building Montana State into what it is today. On Sammy Akem's most recent podcast, he actually addressed what she did at MSU, and essentially said UM needs to get a president with that type of vision.

2016 - UM 6-4 with an outside chance of making playoffs but wouldn’t have had 7 D1 wins. MSU 24, UM 17.

2017 - UM 7-3 needs a win to get 7 D1 wins. MSU 31, UM 23.

2018 - UM 6-4 needs a win to get 7 D1 wins. MSU 29-26.

2019 - UM 9-2 would get a top 4 seed with win. MSU 48, UM 14.

2021 - UM 8-2 would get a top 8 seed with win. UM 29, MSU 10. MSU advanced to the national championship game. UM lost out in quarterfinals.

2022 - UM 7-3 has a good chance to get seeded with a win. MSU 55, UM 21.

2023 - UM 9-1 would get a top 2 seed with a win. UM 37, MSU 7. UM advanced to the national championship game. MSU lost in second round.

2024 - UM 8-3 would get a top 8 seed with a win. MSU 34, UM 11.

2025 - UM 11-0 would get a top 2 seed with a win. MSU 34, UM 31.

2025 - UM 13-1 would advance to the national championship game with a win. MSU 48, UM 23.

MSU had a chance to make the 1993 and 1998 playoffs with wins. UM 42, MSU 30; UM 28, MSU 21. MSU was 6-4 in 1997 but one win was over a D2, so beating UM wouldn’t have gotten it into the playoffs. In 1996, MSU was 6-4 but again one win was over a D2.

All four of those teams were under Cliff Hysell.

That's excellent work Tom and I'm very thankful for you doing all that work. I just wanted to point out that at least a couple of your scores are incorrect and the only reason I'm doing this is so you can fix it before you tweet it or write a story about it (if you're going to do either of those things). The miracle in Missoula game (2018) final score was 29-25. It originally caught my eye because I knew they won by more than a field goal because they needed a TD on that final play. The other game I noticed was the 2025 Brawl. Final score was 31-28. It's still fresh in my memory. Sorry if I corrected you for nothing. I just didn't want you to share this without your editor (me! ) providing feedback.

[TomCat88]

While impressive, the Streak of 16 wins by UM over MSU didn't involve a lot of games that had surprising endings or that knocked MSU out of the playoffs. I think just two years 1993 and 1998 saw the Bobcats with a shot at the playoffs. They started 7-2 in 1993, then lost to EWU and UM. MSU only had four winning seasons during the streak, and the best record was 7-4. MSU was just 64-112 overall.

The Grizzlies have been knocked out of the playoffs at least twice, maybe three times, starting in 2016 and have had their seeding diminished in 2019, 2022, 2024 and 2025. They lost the ESPN Gameday game and the national semifinal game. MSU also avenged one of its two losses by getting to the national title game. The Griz are 82-35 during this stretch and have been to the semis twice.

The degree of difficulty in what MSU has done the last 10 games, which included all 10 games being against a playoff or playoff-caliber team, is a lot higher than UM's, which included all but a couple wins over sub-.500 non-playoff teams.

That's really interesting Tom, and telling, regarding all the love the media gives UM and Bobby. If they were honest and doing their jobs, they'd have all this same info, and would report it. But journalistic integrity hasn't been evident for many years. Skyline does well, and they have you, so that helps up their game.

It is intriguing to see how MSU has switched positions with UM, in all areas. It's been discussed before here alot, but Waded Cruzado was stellar in building Montana State into what it is today. On Sammy Akem's most recent podcast, he actually addressed what she did at MSU, and essentially said UM needs to get a president with that type of vision.

2016 - UM 6-4 with an outside chance of making playoffs but wouldn’t have had 7 D1 wins. MSU 24, UM 17.

2017 - UM 7-3 needs a win to get 7 D1 wins. MSU 31, UM 23.

2018 - UM 6-4 needs a win to get 7 D1 wins. MSU 29-26.

2019 - UM 9-2 would get a top 4 seed with win. MSU 48, UM 14.

2021 - UM 8-2 would get a top 8 seed with win. UM 29, MSU 10. MSU advanced to the national championship game. UM lost out in quarterfinals.

2022 - UM 7-3 has a good chance to get seeded with a win. MSU 55, UM 21.

2023 - UM 9-1 would get a top 2 seed with a win. UM 37, MSU 7. UM advanced to the national championship game. MSU lost in second round.

2024 - UM 8-3 would get a top 8 seed with a win. MSU 34, UM 11.

2025 - UM 11-0 would get a top 2 seed with a win. MSU 34, UM 31.

2025 - UM 13-1 would advance to the national championship game with a win. MSU 48, UM 23.

MSU had a chance to make the 1993 and 1998 playoffs with wins. UM 42, MSU 30; UM 28, MSU 21. MSU was 6-4 in 1997 but one win was over a D2, so beating UM wouldn’t have gotten it into the playoffs. In 1996, MSU was 6-4 but again one win was over a D2.

All four of those teams were under Cliff Hysell.

That's excellent work Tom and I'm very thankful for you doing all that work. I just wanted to point out that at least a couple of your scores are incorrect and the only reason I'm doing this is so you can fix it before you tweet it or write a story about it (if you're going to do either of those things). The miracle in Missoula game (2018) final score was 29-25. It originally caught my eye because I knew they won by more than a field goal because they needed a TD on that final play. The other game I noticed was the 2025 Brawl. Final score was 31-28. It's still fresh in my memory. Sorry if I corrected you for nothing. I just didn't want you to share this without your editor (me! ) providing feedback.

Thx!! I just fat-fingered the 26. And whiffed on the 31-28.

My main point is that the “streak” is still talked about in reverence and the overall record is a go-to in every pregame story/broadcast. You also hear/read about how the teams have been even since 2010 and it’s stated in a way that’s kind of condescending to MSU, like “wow! Msu is 9-7 since 2010! Who knew!”

Meanwhile, you rarely hear that MSU has more conference and national titles. Or that MSU won 22 of 30 games and 8 of ten vs good UM teams.

[catscat]

And one can only speculate how different the "streak" might have been had he who shan't be named never been head coach at MSU.