We’ll be doing NCAA Tournament profiles for all automatic bid conference winners leading into the NCAA Tournament. See below for previous team profiles.

Conference/Record: Big Sky (25-6)

Location: Missoula, MT

Famous Alums/Attendees: Current Realhusband of Atlanta and NFL player Kroy Biermann, NBA and College Coach Larry Krystkowiak,  and Actor JK Simmons

Social Media: The official twitter account for the Grizzlies is @UMGRIZZLIES_BB.

Random Fun Fact: Rolling Stone Magazine once labeled the university as the “Most Scenic Campus in America”

Tournament History/Most Recent: This will be the Grizzlies 10th NCAA Tournament appearance, and their third since 2010. They lost in the round of 64 to Wisconsin last year.

Good Wins/Bad Losses: Despite their gaudy record, Montana played an incredibly weak schedule (#267 on SevenOT, #300 on KenPom, #203 RPI). Their best wins include a road win vs. Idaho (#163) and home wins against Weber St.

Notable Player(s): Many of the better mid and low major teams are centered around one star player (Iona, Bucknell, S Dakota St), but this Montana team has a “Big Three” of their own. Mathias Ward, Kareem Jamar, and Will Cherry all average 14 points per game, and lead the team in minutes played. Jamar and Cherry average 4 assists per game each, while sharp-shooting Ward averages 50% from the floor, 82% from the line, and 40% on 3s.

All-Important Rankings: 74 (RPI), 144 (Pomeroy), 89 (Seven Overtimes)

Outlook/Seed: No need to project their seed anymore (they’re a #13), playing Syracuse at 10pm ET in San Jose. The lines in Vegas would say Syracuse has a 80-90% chance of winning the game, the SevenOT predictions gives Montana a slightly better chance.

Previous Team Profiles:

James Madison

Florida Gulf Coast

Harvard

Liberty

Creighton

Belmont

Bucknell

Gonzaga