BOZEMAN — The Bobcats are facing a new foe at Saturday’s playoff game: the Yale Bulldogs. Yale fans from across the country are flying in to Bozeman, and on Friday, Hotel Baxter will host 175 of those Yale alumni ahead of the game.
“It’s going to be a full house,” said venue manager Grace Ware.
Ware and Chris Van Bockel work at Hotel Baxter, which is owned by David Loseff, a 1978 Yale graduate.
“The Yale Association is going to be in town because of the game, and because one of our owners happens to be an alum, they invited them over here to have a nice pregame party,” said Van Bockel.
Yale alumni invade Bozeman - 175+ grads gather for historic MSU playoff game
Van Bockel and Ware say for the event, they’ll be reserving the Hotel Baxter lobby and the Bacchus Pub and having a custom menu.
“It’s not super common that we host these large events in our pub and lobby,” said Ware.
“We’re doing, like, some shrimp cocktails. We’re going to do some Korean beanballs, maybe some spring rolls, mac and cheese bites,” said Van Bockel.
As far as the atmosphere for the event:
“Some people haven’t seen each other in years or haven’t seen each other since graduation, so I think it's going to really be just focused on that,” said Ware.
“The invites went out to over 200 Yale alumni members who are flying in from all over the country to be here,” she added.
In fact, Scott Strobel, a Bozeman native who is a provost and professor at Yale, says he’s flying out to Bozeman to see the game.
“It is unbelievable that the Bobcats and Bulldogs are playing each other this weekend, and I have to be there for it,” said Strobel.
Given his ties to both teams, MTN asked Strobel who he’s rooting for.
“If the Bobcats were playing anyone but Yale, I’d be rooting for the Bobcats,” said Strobel. “I mean, come on, I’ve been at Yale for thirty years.”
With this year being the first time in history the Bobcats will take on Yale in football, Strobel says it’s an especially exciting game.
“It never even occurred to me; in fact, I thought it was an impossibility,” he said.
Strobel says one big difference between the two teams is the stadium atmosphere. At Yale:
“It feels a little bit like going to a high school game,” said Strobel. “It’s a stadium that holds 65,000 people, and usually less than 5,000 people show up.
Whereas at MSU:
“I imagine that the Bobcats on a pretty regular basis sell out the stadium,” said Strobel.
The Bobcats are favored to win Saturday’s playoff game, with a spread of 27 points, according to Sports Bet Montana.
“My fingers are crossed that it’s an exciting game on Saturday, that we’re at least hopefully competitive,” said Strobel. “Let’s hope that Yale beats the spread.”
“The good news is no matter what happens, my home team is going to win,” he added.
