Next meeting 2018 | Meetings total 84 | |
First meeting 1903, 114 years agoIdaho, 28–0 Latest meeting September 27, 200314 years agoMontana, 41–28 All-time series Idaho leads,55–27–2 (.667) | ||
The Little Brown Stein is a rivalry trophy awarded to the winner of the college football game between the University of Idaho Vandals and University of Montana Grizzlies. The trophy is, as the name implies, a large stein mug with the results of all the games between the two painted on.
Contents
The game was last played 14 years ago in 2003, and Montana retains the trophy. The series is set to resume in 2018, when Idaho rejoins the Big Sky for football.
History
Idaho and Montana first played 114 years ago in 1903 and have played 84 times, and the stein was introduced 79 years ago in 1938, at the 25th meeting. Idaho has dominated the overall series (55–27–2), which also includes two Division I-AA playoff wins at home in the 1980s. Montana has had the upper hand since 1991, winning eight of the last ten. Since Idaho moved back up to Division I-A in 1996, the teams have met five times, with Montana winning the last four.
The schools were the only public universities in their respective states for decades, and are about 200 miles (320 km) apart. Moscow and Missoula are on opposite sides of the lower Idaho Panhandle, separated by the Bitterroot Mountains over Lolo Pass.
Conferences
Both were members of the old Pacific Coast Conference (the forerunner of today's Pac-12); Montana departed after the 1950 season, and the PCC disbanded in the summer of 1959.
The universities were charter members of the Big Sky Conference in 1963, (although Idaho remained an independent in football until 1965) and their final season as conference opponents was in 1995. While Montana has been in the Big Sky since its inception, Idaho has changed its conference affiliation no fewer than five times since 1995:
Results
A Division I-AA playoff game (1982, 1988)
Coaching records
Since 1945