Published on December 3rd, 2015 | by Montana Parlay
The Rematch
The Griz travel to Fargo in what should be an epic rematch with the Bison.
UM +10 at NDSU
They always say that it’s tough to beat a team twice in one season, and it will be even harder to do it in the Fargo Dome, can Montana keep up their momentum?
In this situation you can basically throw out the first game of the year. Teams always change over the course of the season and game plans are always different when you have the entire off season to prepare. Saturday’s game could look completely different from the August thriller.
North Dakota State isn’t invincible at home, having lost to South Dakota on October 17th, which happens to be the week after a close win over powerhouse Northern Iowa in what could have been a classic ‘let-down’ game (UM knows a bit about that too, see Cal Poly).
Montana showed they can play with the mighty Missouri Valley by completely shutting down South Dakota State in the first half. It will be interesting to see if Montana’s second half showing was due to being conservative at home with a big lead, or if the Jackrabbits found something that the Bison can also use to stop the Griz.
North Dakota State actually had a relatively easy schedule by Missouri Valley Conference standards. The Bison didn’t face conference co-champ Illinois State and played Northern Iowa and Western Illinois at home. This will change soon if they move on to the championship, as the selection committee put all of those teams on the same side of the bracket in what makes for a brutal road to Frisco.
I’m pretty confident that the Griz can and should cover the spread, which actually opened at 13.5 before being bet down to 10. I see this being a defensive battle early with a shootout in the 4th quarter. Beating the Bison twice in one season won’t be easy, but I’m picking the upset.
Griz 31 NDSU 30
Montana Parlay is 15-7 against the spread for the season.