Category Archives: Ramblings

Long before Wind River was Wind River, the Cougar contingent was split between two schools, Morton and Pavillion.

Separately, the Broncs in Morton and the Panthers in Pavillion established a trend that the conjoined Cougars continued after the separate schools became one — success at home.

In fact, the old Pavillion squad has the largest difference between success at home and success on the road of all squads in the state, past or present. Morton and Wind River, meanwhile, are both in the top seven all-time, and Wind River is second among active programs in that difference.

In 11 seasons, Pavillion won 52.5 percent of its games at home but only 27.8 percent of its games on the road — a difference of 24.7 percent. Wind River and Morton, meanwhile, have both won 17.6 percent more games at home than on the road. (Wind River matched Pavillion in home winning percentage at 52.5 but has won 34.9 percent of road games; Morton won 52.3 of home games and 34.7 percent of road games.)

Of active programs, Sheridan has the biggest difference between home and road success, as the Broncs win nearly 20 percent more games at home than on the road. The Broncs have won less than half their road games but win close to 70 percent of their home games.

Where Wind River and Sheridan love the home games, other schools don’t mind hitting the road.

In particular, Riverside shows a particular indifference to game locations. The Rebels have won 50.9 percent of their road games and 54.3 percent of their home games — a difference of just 3.4 percent, the smallest difference of active programs with at least 50 games played.

Of all Wyoming high schools with at least 50 games played, only one — Arvada-Clearmont — won a higher percentage of games on the road than at home. The Panthers, who last played in 1971, won 46.3 percent of road games but only 45.1 percent of home games.

Home teams win Wyoming high school football games about 56 percent of the time. That means, on average, the usual difference between home and road victories is about 12 percent. Some teams, like Wind River and Sheridan, tend to win a heck of a lot more at home; some teams, like Riverside, don’t really show much of a difference between home and road success.

Here are all Wyoming’s past and present football programs, ranked from lowest difference to highest difference, of schools with at least 50 games played (defunct programs in italics):

Team	Road Win %	Home Win %	Difference
Arvada-Clearmont	0.463	0.451	-0.012
Riverside	0.509	0.543	0.034
Wyoming Indian	0.186	0.223	0.037
Manderson	0.307	0.357	0.050
University Prep	0.232	0.283	0.051
Mountain View	0.534	0.587	0.053
Pinedale	0.418	0.479	0.061
Evanston	0.441	0.512	0.071
Kelly Walsh	0.450	0.521	0.071
Snake River	0.471	0.542	0.071
Basin	0.494	0.573	0.079
Rawlins	0.342	0.423	0.081
Powell	0.503	0.585	0.082
Big Horn	0.543	0.626	0.083
Byron	0.766	0.851	0.085
Bow-Basin	0.229	0.314	0.085
Albin	0.352	0.438	0.086
Lovell	0.493	0.580	0.087
Upton	0.467	0.558	0.091
Reliance	0.627	0.719	0.092
Southeast	0.609	0.703	0.094
Wright	0.405	0.500	0.095
Pine Bluffs	0.463	0.558	0.095
Thermopolis	0.421	0.521	0.100
Douglas	0.472	0.574	0.102
Greybull	0.380	0.483	0.103
Dubois	0.400	0.506	0.106
Midwest	0.425	0.531	0.106
St. Mary’s	0.337	0.445	0.108
Worland	0.491	0.599	0.108
Lyman	0.396	0.506	0.110
Moorcroft	0.389	0.500	0.111
Tongue River	0.493	0.606	0.113
Lingle	0.472	0.586	0.114
Meeteetse	0.353	0.467	0.114
Cheyenne East	0.394	0.510	0.116
Saratoga	0.353	0.469	0.116
Buffalo	0.503	0.620	0.117
Newcastle	0.383	0.501	0.118
St. Stephens	0.500	0.618	0.118
Hulett	0.306	0.426	0.120
Superior	0.326	0.446	0.120
Cokeville	0.659	0.780	0.121
Glendo	0.318	0.439	0.121
Rocky Mountain	0.508	0.630	0.122
Deaver-Frannie	0.483	0.606	0.123
Guernsey-Sunrise	0.470	0.596	0.126
Cody	0.489	0.616	0.127
Dayton	0.517	0.645	0.128
Huntley	0.277	0.409	0.132
Wheatland	0.346	0.478	0.132
Torrington	0.495	0.629	0.134
Big Piney	0.495	0.630	0.135
Glenrock	0.546	0.683	0.137
Normative Services	0.267	0.404	0.137
Lander	0.385	0.525	0.140
Laramie	0.495	0.636	0.141
Sundance	0.380	0.523	0.143
Green River	0.456	0.601	0.145
Burlington	0.346	0.492	0.146
Farson	0.204	0.353	0.149
Shoshoni	0.415	0.566	0.151
Rock Springs	0.456	0.608	0.152
Natrona	0.580	0.734	0.154
Ten Sleep	0.355	0.512	0.157
Jackson	0.337	0.495	0.158
Burns	0.345	0.503	0.158
Kemmerer	0.404	0.566	0.162
Star Valley	0.542	0.707	0.165
Riverton	0.422	0.588	0.166
Goshen Hole	0.408	0.575	0.167
Cheyenne Central	0.516	0.683	0.167
Hanna	0.328	0.496	0.168
Lusk	0.528	0.700	0.172
Gillette	0.457	0.629	0.172
Guernsey	0.257	0.432	0.175
Morton	0.347	0.523	0.176
Wind River	0.349	0.525	0.176
Sunrise	0.421	0.602	0.181
Sheridan	0.495	0.694	0.199
Cowley	0.434	0.633	0.199
Manville	0.091	0.304	0.213
Pavillion	0.278	0.525	0.247

Generally, the further down this list you go, the better that team’s home-field advantage… or, pessimistically, the worse that team plays on the road. The higher up you go, the more consistent that team is… or, pessimistically, the worse that team’s home-field advantage is.

The question I can’t really answer: Why are the schools at the top of this list at the top? Why are the schools at the bottom of this list at the bottom? Feel free to chime in with your thoughts below.

–patrick

When Craig Bohl was introduced as Wyoming’s new head football coach in December, he emphasized how he recruited high school players from the state of North Dakota while coaching at North Dakota State.

With the Cowboys, Bohl said he would recruit each of Wyoming’s 64 football-playing high schools, looking for players who fit his system. In fact, Bohl said he would “scour” Wyoming to find players to don the brown and gold.

The promise instantly endeared him to Wyoming fans, who for years have griped about UW’s inability to both find and develop in-state football talent. How well Bohl follows through on that promise will be determined in part by how many Wyoming players join the Cowboys by signing a National Letter of Intent on signing day on Wednesday.

In the past 10 years, Wyoming fans have had plenty of reasons to be disillusioned by the lack of homegrown talent suiting up for the brown and gold. In fact, only once in the past 10 years has the Wyoming football team had an above-average number of letterwinners actually hail from the Equality State, an examination of 2,626 UW letterwinnners by home state since 1964 by wyoming-football.com shows.

In fact, former UW head coach Dave Christensen had only three letterwinners from Wyoming on his squad in 2011 and 2012, and only two letterwinners from Wyoming in his final year 2013 – matching the fewest number of native letterwinners to suit up for UW since 1973.

Oddly enough, an examination of the hometowns of UW’s letterwinners over the past 50 years reveals an interesting trend: The Cowboys’ recruitment of homegrown talent has basically no effect on the team’s win-loss record.

Wyoming fans will trade success on the field for fewer homegrown players – the 1967 Sugar Bowl team, one of the most beloved in UW history, only had one letterwinner from the state of Wyoming. But Cowboy fans within Wyoming’s borders have been frustrated recently by the combination of two factors: The lack of Wyoming players coupled with the lack of consistent success on the field.

That made Bohl’s promise that much more powerful. To a proud but frustrated fan base, Bohl’s success, or failure, at recruiting Wyoming’s best high school football talent may end up being just as important as his ability to win games.

The facts

In the past 50 years of Wyoming Cowboy football, about 12.5 percent of the Cowboys’ letterwinners have been homegrown. But in the past 10 years, only once (in 2010) has UW topped that 12.5-percent mark, having more than an average number of letterwinners come from the state of Wyoming.

In 2013, only two players from Wyoming (Gillette’s Spencer Bruce and Laramie’s Josh Teeter) earned letters for the Cowboys.

Wyoming hasn’t paired the two elements Wyoming fans love most — a winning record and an above-average number of letterwinners coming from Wyoming high schools — in more than a decade. Actually, Wyoming hasn’t had the best of both worlds since 1999; that season, UW finished 7-4 and had 13.1 percent (eight of 61) of its letterwinners come from Wyoming.

That double-dip has happened often enough for Wyoming fans to know it’s possible.

In the past 50 years, Wyoming has notched a winning season with an above-average number of homegrown players 12 times. But UW has actually had more winning seasons come from seasons when the number of homegrown letterwinners was below average:

UW football, since 1964	Record above .500	Record below .500
Above average # of Wyo letterwinners	12 seasons	14 seasons
Below average # of Wyo letterwinners	14 seasons	10 seasons

Here’s a season-by-season breakdown of the number of letterwinners, the number of letterwinners from Wyoming, Wyoming’s winning percentage and the correlation therein, with cells in green signifying above-average seasons:

Season	Letterwinners	Letterwinners from Wyoming	% Letterwinners from Wyoming	UW win %
1964	40	7	17.50%	0.700
1965	42	2	4.76%	0.600
1966	42	2	4.76%	0.909
1967	46	1	2.17%	0.909
1968	46	2	4.35%	0.700
1969	39	2	5.13%	0.600
1970	44	7	15.91%	0.100
1971	51	9	17.65%	0.455
1972	41	8	19.51%	0.364
1973	40	2	5.00%	0.364
1974	48	5	10.42%	0.182
1975	47	7	14.89%	0.182
1976	52	9	17.31%	0.667
1977	48	9	18.75%	0.409
1978	50	7	14.00%	0.417
1979	55	8	14.55%	0.417
1980	54	8	14.81%	0.545
1981	51	11	21.57%	0.727
1982	52	12	23.08%	0.417
1983	51	12	23.53%	0.583
1984	54	9	16.67%	0.500
1985	52	11	21.15%	0.273
1986	56	12	21.43%	0.500
1987	57	9	15.79%	0.769
1988	58	9	15.52%	0.846
1989	52	6	11.54%	0.455
1990	53	8	15.09%	0.692
1991	55	5	9.09%	0.409
1992	52	3	5.77%	0.417
1993	50	4	8.00%	0.667
1994	53	4	7.55%	0.500
1995	42	4	9.52%	0.545
1996	57	7	12.28%	0.833
1997	66	5	7.58%	0.615
1998	61	7	11.48%	0.727
1999	61	8	13.11%	0.636
2000	62	10	16.13%	0.091
2001	59	8	13.56%	0.182
2002	64	8	12.50%	0.167
2003	54	9	16.67%	0.333
2004	60	4	6.67%	0.583
2005	67	6	8.96%	0.364
2006	62	5	8.06%	0.500
2007	54	6	11.11%	0.417
2008	59	6	10.17%	0.333
2009	54	4	7.41%	0.538
2010	53	7	13.21%	0.250
2011	55	3	5.45%	0.615
2012	54	3	5.56%	0.333
2013	51	2	3.92%	0.417
TOTAL	2626	322	12.26%	0.497

In years where UW had a higher number than average of its letterwinners come from Wyoming, the Cowboys finished a combined 140-158-3; in years where UW had a lower number of Wyoming letterwinners than average, the Cowboys went a combined 145-130-1.

UW has had its best success both with and without homegrown recruits. Wyoming had just two homegrown letterwinners in 1966 and only one — the lowest total in 50 years — in 1967; those two years, the Cowboys had back-to-back 10-1 seasons. However, in back-to-back double-digit victory seasons in 1987 (10-3) and 1988 (11-2), Wyoming had nine homegrown letter winners each season, and in the 10-2 1996 season, UW had seven homegrown letterwinners, above the average for the past 50 years.

However, in Wyoming’s only double-digit loss seasons the past 50 years (2000 and 2002), the Cowboys had a higher-than-average number of homegrown letterwinners. And, of course, in the past two seasons under Christensen (4-8 and 5-7), the Cowboys have had a dearth of in-state talent.

It’s not like UW is missing out on in-state recruits. In fact, a recent analysis of the hometowns of college football players by Benn Stancil of Mode Analytics showed a fact even Christensen’s biggest detractors can’t ignore — every single FBS football player from the state of Wyoming in 2013 played for the Wyoming Cowboys.

The new course

Even so, Bohl’s promise struck a chord with in-state fans. In examining the numbers, we can see why.

In the past 50 years, Wyoming has had a below-average number of homegrown recruits AND finished with a losing record only 10 times. But five of those 10 seasons have come since 2005.

Wyoming fans stomach losing easier when it’s homegrown players on the roster. But when it’s not? Wyoming fans react like you’d expect fans of the state’s only four-year institution to react: with frustration.

If Bohl follows through on his promise to recruit Wyoming high schools harder than his predecessors, then some of that frustration might fade.

History shows us, though, that UW’s success is much less dependent on where its players come from than what UW’s coaches do with the players once they get to Laramie.

A special thanks to Diane Dodson of the UW Sports Information office for providing the information on hometowns of Cowboy letterwinners. This work would not have been possible without her help.

Post updated Nov. 19, 2014, to fix HTML5 compatibility issues.

–patrick

What makes a championship-caliber team? Is it great coaching? A strong program? Tradition? Or is it something much more straightforward: athletes?

Ten times in Wyoming state history, one group of senior athletes has been so dominant that it has put a monopoly on that year’s football, basketball and track state championships. Winning any one of the three is difficult enough; winning all three in the same season takes a special group of athletes. Only one school (Snake River) has ever done it twice, and the Rattlers did that in back-to-back years.

Here are the 10 groups that have accomplished the football-basketball-track sweep in the same academic year:

1958-59 Sheridan (shared football championship)
1968-69 Laramie
1968-69 Byron (shared football championship)
1977-78 Cheyenne Central
1980-81 Kelly Walsh
1980-81 Southeast
1994-95 Burlington
1998-99 Gillette
2010-11 Snake River
2011-12 Snake River

It’s also possible the 1941-42 Cheyenne Central teams did the same — the Indians won football and basketball, but the track champion is unknown for that year. Anyone with an hour to spare and access to some microfilm want to look that one up for me?

None of these schools also won the state wrestling championship. Actually, it’s arguably more difficult to pull off the football-wrestling-track sweep — only three schools have done that in one year:

1965-66 Cheyenne Central
1982-83 Star Valley
2008-09 Gillette

If any of Wyoming’s five football champion schools (Cheyenne East, Powell, Big Horn, Cokeville and Meeteetse) want to join either list, they definitely have history against them. But the right mix of athletes could make such a sweep happen.

–patrick

Let’s go back to 1948 — a watershed year in Wyoming high school football.

That year, the Wyoming High School Activities Association voted to implement a playoff for Wyoming’s Class A and B schools.

But what if the WHSAA had decided against playoffs and maintained a postseason invitational, much like what had existed in 1946 and 1947 in Wyoming and much like what the NCAA’s Football Bowl Subdivision uses now?

Well, clearly, the bowl system — which was basically one championship game for Wyoming schools in 1946 and 1947 — would have had to expand. And the challenge system and the polls of the sportswriters that existed to set up previous championships would have been replaced, maybe by some sort of mathematical power ranking.

And if that system existed in 2013, it probably would have generated some interesting results.

The model shown below is based on a few assumptions: first, teams gain eligibility by finishing above .500, no matter their classification; second, a power rating weights schools by classification; third, matchups are set by projected power rating, plus, in the case of “lower tier” bowls, rematches from the regular season are avoided whenever possible. Records and matchups below represent regular-season results only, of course.

In 2013, the big controversy, of course, would have been Sheridan’s placement in the championship game over both Powell and Douglas. Commenters on this blog would have either derided a broken system or praised a system that allows for losses to teams with “tougher” strength of schedule ratings. It would have been messy, and imperfect, and unsatisfying — kind of like the NCAA’s bowl system.

Would you have liked the postseason to look like this?

State Farm WHSAA State Championship: Gillette (9-0) vs. Sheridan (7-2)

Rio Tinto Cloud Peak Energy Rose Bowl: Powell (9-0) vs. Cheyenne East (7-2)

Taco John’s Fiesta Bowl: Natrona (6-3) vs. Douglas (10-1)

First Interstate Bank Sugar Bowl: Star Valley (5-4) (5-3) vs. Kelly Walsh (5-4)

Wyoming Medical Center Orange Bowl: Lovell (8-0) vs. Cody (6-3)

Sierra Trading Post Cotton Bowl: Lander (4-4) vs. Jackson (5-4)

Key Energy Outback Bowl: Riverton (5-4) vs. Burns (8-0)

FMC Gator Bowl: Big Horn (7-1) vs. Mountain View (6-3)

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming Liberty Bowl: Newcastle (5-4) vs. Cokeville (7-1)

Peabody Energy Sun Bowl: Wheatland (5-3) vs. Lusk (7-0)

Loaf ‘n Jug Holiday Bowl: Glenrock (4-4) vs. Lyman (6-3)

Powder River Coal Co. Alamo Bowl: Thermopolis (5-3) vs. Upton-Sundance (4-4)

Encana Las Vegas Bowl: Lingle (4-4) vs. Rocky Mountain (6-2).

WHSAA FCS Championship Game: After a playoff bracket, Meeteetse (10-1) vs. Midwest (9-1)

–patrick

On Nov. 11, 1921, the Cowley Jaguars blasted the Basin Bobcats 69-0 in a game that was typical of most meetings in the first full season of Wyoming high school football in every way but one — the location.

The two teams played that game in Lovell, making it the first neutral-site game in Wyoming’s football history. Since then, about 200 neutral-site games have been played, including every state football championship game since 2009.

Some schools made an annual habit of playing at a neutral site, most out of geographic convenience — like Hulett and Ten Sleep playing in Buffalo, or Wright and Burns playing in Lusk. Sometimes, schools moved playoff games to bigger venues nearby to accommodate larger crowds. And in the case of tiebreaker playoffs, a neutral site is a necessity. But even close schools made neutral sites habit, like Big Horn and Tongue River often staging the annual Thunder Bowl in Sheridan.

With the neutral-site college football bowl season in full swing, here are 11 of the most memorable neutral-site games in Wyoming high school football’s history, excluding the Laramie title games:

1. Dec. 4, 1926: Worland 10, Cheyenne Central 0, at Casper: This game was the second of a two-game championship series. The game was quickly scheduled after the Warriors and Indians played the first championship game to a 7-7 tie in Cheyenne. One week later, the two schools met again, and this time the Warriors notched the shutout to win the title.

2. Dec. 3, 1927: Worland 19, Cheyenne Central 0, at Douglas: After playing in Cheyenne the previous year, the Warriors wanted the Indians to come to Worland for the state championship the following year when both schools won their semifinal games. The Indians balked at that idea, and after some haggling, the two schools agreed to meet in Douglas. And once again, the Warriors won the state title by shutout.

3. Jan. 1, 1931: Fort Collins, Colo., 69, Sheridan 14, at Denver: For the first — and last — time, the state champions from Wyoming and Colorado met at season’s end to determine the regional champion. The Broncs were blown out in Denver, putting a quick end to a tradition that never had the chance to actually be a tradition.

4. Nov. 20, 1941: Glenrock 22, Big Horn 20, at Sheridan: This game, which pitted the Southeast District champion against the Northeast District champion, was the first six-man “state championship” game. The large crowd helped give legitimacy to the game, and although it took seven more years for Wyoming to develop statewide playoffs, when it did, six-man was in the mix.

5. Nov. 28, 1946: Sheridan 20, Cody 19, at Casper: The first “Turkey Bowl” game went the way of Sheridan, which scored the winning touchdown in the third quarter and then held off Cody in the fourth in a cold day in Casper. The game was one of the most important in state history, helping pave the way for statewide playoffs two years later.

6. Nov. 14, 1953: Dayton 63, Glenrock 38, at Sheridan: This six-man state championship game is still the highest-scoring championship game in state history, 60 years later.

7. Nov. 12, 1957: Glendo 24, Glenrock 13, at Douglas: Glendo and Glenrock tied for the eight-man southeast district championship, prompting this tiebreaker game on the Monday before the state championship game. Glendo won, and then beat Tongue River 20-0 four days later to win its only state football championship

8. Sept. 9, 1972: Bow-Basin 36, Wyoming Indian 0, at Hanna: I’m still not sure if this was coincidence, or if the schedule-makers purposefully scheduled this game. Either way, this game was the first game for both programs. The twist of the neutral site came about because Bow-Basin’s field wasn’t ready; all of the Wranglers’ “home” games their first season were played 20 miles away in Hanna.

9. Oct. 31, 1992: Hulett 23, Dubois 21, at Riverton: Speaking of entire seasons spent on the road, Dubois didn’t have any home games in 1992. (I don’t remember specifically why, but I think the field/track were under construction.) So when the conference champion Rams made the playoffs, they had to find a place to play. Riverton’s field ended up being the place where Dubois’ dream ended; the next week, Hulett lost to Burlington, a team Dubois had beaten in the regular season, in the championship game.

10. Sept. 9, 1995: Lincoln Pius X, Neb., 27, Sheridan 20, at North Platte, Neb.: This was not the first such interstate mid-point game between large, powerful programs, and it wasn’t the last. But this one may have been the most memorable, as it was one of only a handful of losses for the Broncs in the early 1990s. Sheridan later won the 4A title this season.

11. Aug. 31, 2002: Guernsey-Sunrise 41, Riverside 14, at Casper: As a midpoint in the state, Casper has hosted many neutral-site games. This one between the Vikings and Rebels stands out, though, because it was the first time two Wyoming varsity teams played each other on a turf field — they broke in the new surface at Cheney Alumni Field even before the hometown Mustangs had the chance.

What was your favorite neutral-site game? Do you like the regular-season midpoint meetings? Have you ever participated in one? Feel free to add your thoughts below.

–patrick

An interesting question posed by my dad today: If Midwest wins the state championship, will the Oilers be the first team to win championships in three different styles of football (11-man, nine-man and six-man)?

The answer? Yes!

Six current schools have won state championships in two different styles of football: Glenrock (eight-man and 11-man), Hanna (six-man and nine-man), Tongue River (six-man and 11-man), Big Piney (eight-man and 11-man), Guernsey-Sunrise (six-man and 11-man) and Midwest (nine-man and 11-man). Byron (six-man and 11-man) also won titles in two different types.

A victory against Meeteetse on Saturday would give Midwest titles at six-man, nine-man and 11-man — a Wyoming first.

–patrick