STARCH MADNESS — It's March, and that means the madness is here.

And, perhaps, no conference does March basketball better than the Big Sky.

• Rebranding the Boise-based tournament as "Starch Madness"? Check.
• Have the top two men's seeds lose to play-in teams? Check.
• Incredible one-liners by former Utah and Weber State coach Joe Cravens during national broadcasts? Check.

But the University of Montana mascot "Monte" almost pulled off the greatest spectacle of all as the No. 3 seed Grizzlies men's basketball team executed a semifinal win over Idaho State. OK, maybe not.

Video from the crowd during the team's semifinal game showed Monte the grizzly bear trying to kayak down the Idaho Central Arena bowl mid-game.

Listen, we've all seen the iconic videos of Jazz Bear sledding down the Delta Center stairs to the court. What makes it work is the Delta Center doesn't double as a hockey arena that often, so it doesn't have a wall surrounding the playing surface.

I think you can guess where this is going. Sure enough, in the video posted to X by No Context College Basketball, Monte's voyage down the seats ended with the mascot checking himself into the boards.

Oof.

The good news is that the bear popped up, so we're assuming the mascot is OK.

Montana is vying for a spot in the NCAA tournament Wednesday night against in-state rival Montana State. A win there will probably heal all wounds anyway.

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