“Bozeman Is A Better Basketball City Than Missoula”… We Beg To Differ!

I'm typing this story, not with spirit fingers, but with angry fingers instead. Bozeman is allegedly a better basketball town than Missoula, and as the Voice of the Lady Griz, I am going to war against this story.

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WalletHub looked at several factors: how well teams perform, ticket prices, arena sizes and social media engagement. The study compiled all the data together and ranked the top 290 cities in the United States.

Neither Montana Division 1 cities ranked higher than 167. The University of Montana and Montana State University rivalry rages on over which city is better for college hoops...

The winner... is Bozeman...

BUT WE WANT A RECOUNT

Bozeman checked in #167 on the list while Missoula was at 219.  Make it make sense to me.

Championship history

Part of the study was "how well the teams performed," so I compared and contrasted Montana VS Montana State's Big Sky championships.

Montana Grizzlies: 11 Big Sky Conference Tournament Championships in 20 Title Game Appearances.

Montana State Bobcats: 4 Big Sky Conference Tournament Championships in 8 Title Game Appearances.

Granted, I will give MSU some bonus points for winning the last two titles and making three in a row.

However, Montana leads the all-time series 156-151 after sweeping the season series.

Plus, plus, plus I'm not even including women's basketball because the Lady Griz owned the conference for 38 seasons.

Point: Montana

Arena sizes

Missoula's Robin Selvig Court inside Dahlberg Arena fits 7,500 people.

Bozeman's Worthington Arena at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse wins with 8,455 people.

Point: Montana State (Though Dahlberg wins in my head because it feels like a basketball arena and not a multipurpose room)

Ticket prices

The regular season is over, so I can't find any current ticket prices. A quick Google search showed Griz tickets averaging out to $24.

Vivid Seats showed Montana State's average prices is $33.

Point: Montana

Bottom line, I'm picking Griz Basketball over the Cats. Missoula's a better hoops town. Sue me!

Other findings from the study showed Los Angeles is the best college basketball city. UCLA's storied history helps boast L.A. Plus, there's a ton of schools to go to, which plays into the rankings.

Philadelphia is #2. Philly is a hotbed for basketball history with the Philadelphia Big 5 (Villanova, La Salle, St. Joseph's, Penn and Temple).

Storrs, Connecticut (UConn) is third, Durham, North Carolina (Duke) is fourth  Lexington, Kentucky (Kentucky) is fifth.

The worst college basketball city is New Britain, Connecticut (Central Connecticut State).