NCAA Bracket 2012: How Montana Basketball Got To March Madness

Montana is in the NCAA Tournament after winning the Big Sky Tournament, earning the conference's auto-bid in the process. As the No. 13 seed in the East, they'll face No. 4 Wisconsin in the second round.

The Grizzlies defeated Weber State in the championship, avenging a January loss to the Wildcats. That Montana won the tournament and entered the March Madness field should come as no surprise: the Grizzlies nearly ran the table in the Big Sky, finishing 15-1 in conference play and 25-6 overall.

It has been just about a month since Montana lost its last game, with the loss coming at the hands of Weber State Jan. 16. The rest of the conference slate was essentially a breeze for the Grizzlies, with wins coming in bunches and by significant margins.

The non-conference schedule, perhaps a better indicator of Montana's NCAA Tournament performance, was not so smooth. The Grizzlies lost their season-opening matchup to Colorado State and dropped four other games to out-of-conference foes. However, those losses came to Notre Dame, Nevada, Oregon State and San Francisco, giving us an unclear picture of what Montana may be capable of when March Madness tips off later this week.

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