Are You Ready For Some Football??

There's not much else to think about for the next 24 hours other than football in the state of Montana. Three HUGE games starting tonight.

• The Helena Capital HS Bruins host the Billings Senior HS Broncos for the AA Championship (AA is the large school classification here). The Bruins will be making their 3rd straight appearance in the championship, and are the defending state champions. They bring an 11-1 record into the game, and have outscored their regular season opponents 426-69. Not too shabby. Also my former high school. GO BRUINS! UPDATE: Helena Capital scores 2 touchdowns in the last 5 minutes to beat Billings Senior, 30-27, successfully defending their state crown, and their 9th football championship in school history. Yay!
  
• The 107th "Brawl of the Wild" takes place on Saturday. The MSU Bobcats (boo!) host the UM Grizzlies (yay!) in Bozeman. The 'Cats lost to the worst team in the FCS (formerly the 1-AA), but have also beaten some quality opponents. Their season ends tomorrow. They have no chance for post-season play. Their highlight would be to beat the Griz (as it is year after year). The Griz, on the other hand, will probably get the #2 seed in the playoffs with a win. With a loss, they will probably still host at least one, if not two playoff games. As with every cross-state matchup, this could go either way. Personally, I haven't ever thought that this year's Griz team is as good as everyone else seems to think, but they DO find a way to win. They are undefeated for the season. Update: Griz beat MSU, 41-20!!!
• There's actually 4 undefeated teams going into this weekend:
  

Northern Iowa will probably retain the #1 seed with a win. Update: Northern Iowa beat Southern Utah, 49-10. This will make them the #1 seed in the playoffs.


North Dakota State is ineligible for post-season play until next season, thank God! Update: Oops! NDSU loses their first/last game against SoDakState, 24-29. Griz will definitely move to #2!


Montana will get the #2 seed with a win, and continue the most impressive playoff run in all of football. Truly a dynasty, even if they don't win the championship each year. Update: Home-field advantage through to the championship game!


Oh, yeah. Some team from Louisiana is undefeated, too... Update: Yeah, they won too, against Central Arkansas (pffftttt...), 41-14. They'll host playoff games until they have to travel to MT in the semis (remember last year??).

• The NAIA playoffs start tomorrow, with the #2 Carroll College Fighting Saints hosting Black Hills State in the first round. The Saints are also undefeated, with the #1 defense in the country. The Saints have won 4 of the last 5 national championships, and look to make it to the championship game again. Could be tough, though. Their senior QB is injured. He can play, but he can't run, and the Saints' offense depends on that. They should win this game, but the rest of the playoffs might be tough. Update: Carroll won this game, 34-0, and looked pretty good doing it! They might really have a good chance!
  

What's nice in a state like Montana--all of these games will be televised. I'll sit at home and watch the HS game, and then flip-flop tomorrow afternoon between the two college games. I know. If I were a true fan, I'd have two TV screens with a game on each. Maybe I should just go to the sports bar and watch!
Edit: Forgot to mention my niece's soccer team, playing in the NAIA national soccer tournament. They won their first game against Point Loma Nazarene earlier tonight, 2-1. They are now in the quarterfinals, playing tomorrow night against #2 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.). Which I'll be able to watch on webcast! Update: Carroll College lost to Lindsey Wilson, 2-0. Congrats on a great season!!