Washington–Grizzly Stadium

The rivalry between the University of Montana Grizzlies and the Montana State Bobcats can be traced back to November 26, 1897 in Bozeman. The fanbases of the two schools is split by the Continental Divide, which is a natural mountainous division of the state. Montana Griz fans on the west side and the Montana State Bobcats fans on the east side of the Divide. In 2001, the two schools formalized the rivalry and made the Great Divide Trophy one of the hardest fought rivalries in the FCS.

The first game between the University of Montana Grizzlies and the University of Idaho Vandals took place in 1903. During this time, the Vandals have won more than twice as many games that have been played. This rivalry has a trophy that gets passed to the winner of the game. A stein mug became the trophy in 1938 and is known as the “Little Brown Stein.” Even though the rivalry has been put on hold in 2003 since the two teams haven’t played each other, the Griz and the Vandals will play a game in 2018 when the teams will be in the same conference again.

The annual game between the Montana Grizzlies and the Eastern Washington Eagles began in 1938. In 1998, this rivalry became known as the Governors Cup. The Griz lead the rivalry by winning almost twice as many games over the course of it. The games played between the two has been selling out since 2009. The winner of the game has often become the conference champion for the season which has led to a heated rivalry between the Griz and the Eagles.