Article from the Great Falls Tribune
Saints taking on big (Sky) boys
The Carroll College football program of coach Mike Van Diest has always been shooting for the moon and this season the Saints are looking to the Big Sky.
It was announced Tuesday that Carroll, the NAIA power with six national championships to its credit, will take on Portland State of the Big Sky Conference Sept. 1 in a nonconference game.
"We're stepping up and that's something we're certainly excited about," said Van Diest, who is 157-22 in 13 seasons with the Saints. "All of our players, at one time or another, have dreamed of playing in the Big Sky or higher. It's all about trying to be the best they can be."
While the Saints have played NCAA Division II schools before, they've never met a team from the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly NCAA I-AA). Portland State was 7-4 last season in the Big Sky, which of course includes the Montana Grizzlies and Montana State Bobcats.
NCAA rules allow for 63 full scholarships at the FCS level. Carroll is able to offer the NAIA maximum of 24 scholarships, but no full rides.
"It's great for our conference," said Van Diest. "Both Western and Tech have stepped up and played these types of teams before, and I think this is a big plus not only for Carroll College but our conference."
Bruce Parker, Carroll's athletic director, said it was a huge day for the Helena school.
"I can't tell you how many times we've tried to play the Big Sky schools, not that we have anything to prove but to provide a new challenge for our program," said Parker. "We think this will be a great opportunity for our team."
Parker said the Saints are assured of the largest payday in school history. Several years ago, Carroll was slated to play Idaho State and received a $25,000 buyout when the Bengals opted to face another opponent instead. It's believed that Portland State has guaranteed Carroll $45,000 or more.
"We know what lies ahead of us," said Van Diest. "We know the challenges. We'll start worrying about that on Aug. 26."
The Saints open the Frontier Conference slate Aug. 25 at Montana State-Northern in Havre.
The revamped Frontier is now an eight-team conference that stretches from central North Dakota to western Oregon. The new members are Southern Oregon in Ashland, and Dickinson (N.D.) State. It's a nine-hour drive east from Helena to Dickinson. It's about a 16-hour trip the other direction from Montana's Capital City to Ashland.
"It gives us a little more exposure, with two teams now in Oregon and one in North Dakota," Van Diest said. "We'll be in three time zones almost ... It makes us a little bit stronger, and now we'll get two (national) raters at the NAIA level instead of one."
For many years, the Frontier has been a league where teams play each other twice in the regular season. Now the league will feature two divisions, an East and West. Teams will play each team in its division twice and each team in the other division once.
The East Division includes Carroll, MSU-Northern, Rocky Mountain and Dickinson State. The West includes Montana Tech, Montana Western, Eastern Oregon and Southern Oregon.
To play their normal 10-game regular-season schedules, then, it's necessary to schedule just one nonleague game. The Saints, 13-2 overall last year and winners of 13 consecutive Frontier championships, will play in Portland at a time to be determined.
"There hasn't been a lot of people standing in line to schedule us for nonconference games," said Parker, who added he hoped to secure a deal to televise the Portland State game in the Treasure State.
It's not unheard of for an NAIA team to defeat an FCS opponent. Last year, Lindenwood knocked off Northern Colorado of the Big Sky, and two years ago, Sioux Falls College defeated North Dakota, which joins the Big Sky this fall.
"I'd never say we're going to go out there to Portland and win for sure," Parker said. "But I know we're going to go out and compete. Every single Mike Van Diest team always competes hard for 60 minutes."
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