History of the Grizzlies

The Montana Grizzlies and Lady Griz are the nicknames given to the athletic teams of the University of Montana, located in Missoula. The university is a member of the Big Sky Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding six men's teams (basketball, football, cross country, tennis, and track and field (indoor and outdoor)) and nine women's teams (basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field (indoor and outdoor), and volleyball). The football team has won the university's only two NCAA championships.

College Sports Established
1893

Location
Missoula, Montana

College Name
University of Montana

Collegiate History
1973 - Present / NCAA Division 1
1921 - 1973 / University Division of the NCAA
1897 - 1921 / Athletic Association of the United States

Conference History
1963 – Present / Big Sky Conference
1962 / Independent
1951 - 1961 / Mountain States Conference
1950 / Independent
1924 - 1949 / Pacific Coast Conference
1897 - 1923 / Independent

Nickname
Grizzlies - Originally known as the Bears with a live black bear named Teddy as the mascot, the university's basketball team officially became the Grizzlies (sometimes called the Silvertips) in 1923 when they were admitted to the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC). That same year Montana became the first state in the nation to designate grizzlies as a protected game animal. However, this name change would later prove problematic for their new PCC conference mate, UCLA, who had also recently changed their name to the Grizzlies. When UCLA petitioned to join the conference in 1926, Montana claimed rights to the name, and the UCLA Grizzlies became the UCLA Bruins when they were admitted to the conference in 1928.

NCAA Championships
Baseball 0

Men's Basketball 0

Women's Basketball 0

Football 0

Soccer 0