Between A Rock And A Hard Place

I had the chance to go see the Lady Griz basketball team in action earlier today against Gonzaga at the Adams Center. Unfortunately, Montana lost to a very physical Bulldog squad 80 to 62.

However, the game I am most excited about tips off at the top of the hour right here on KGVO. The Montana men's team heads down to Pauley Pavilion to face the UCLA Bruins in a game between very similar teams.

When I'm not cheering on the maroon and silver, I am supporting UCLA, who has been a favorite team of mine for years. Most of the time, I can root on both the Griz and the Bruins without any problems, because these two schools rarely meet in an athletic setting.

Looking at tonight's matchup both schools are very similar. The main focus is now on basketball after both football teams lost to arch-rivals to end the season (the Griz lost to Montana State 3 weeks ago, while the Bruins fell to crosstown rival USC last night).

Both basketball teams feature a true freshman in the starting lineup (Montana forward Kareem Jamar and UCLA center Josh Smith). Both teams are coming off of heartbreaking losses (Montana fell to Portland 58-54 on Friday and UCLA lost at 4th ranked Kansas 77-76).

And finally, both teams are trying to create new identities after losing talented players (players such as Andrew Strait, Jordan Hasquet and Anthony Johnson for the Griz and Jordan Farmar, Darren Collison and Kevin Love for the Bruins).

The way I see it, regardless of tonight's outcome, I'm walkin' away a winner!