We’ve heard it before. Win or go home.

The Montana Grizzlies and the Montana Lady Griz took very different paths to the semifinals of their respective Big Sky Conference tournaments this week.

The Grizzlies, at times playing like the best team in the conference, wound up with only a No. 4 seed due to some bumps in the road at Bozeman, Pocatello and Cheney along with their home beating at the hands of Montana State to wind up the regular season.

But they blasted Northern Arizona in a home-game quarterfinal Saturday and, thanks to the Cats losing at home to Portland State, will face Northern Colorado Tuesday evening in the semifinals rather than regular-season champ Weber State on its home court.

Portland State gets that pleasure, and the Wildcats had better be ready. But then, so had the Grizzlies.

The Lady Griz needed a lot of help, but thanks to the tie-breaker system wound up with a second seed despite a 10-6 league record.

That put them in a three-way tie for second with surprising Sacramento State and Idaho State, while Portland State, the pre-season favorite, struggled to a 9-7 conference mark and wound up tied for fifth with Montana State.

While the Grizzlies know who they will face Tuesday because the men play quarterfinal games on home courts rather than at the tourney site, the Lady Griz won’t know until Thursday’s quarterfinals at Cheney, Wash., are complete.

They will get the highest remaining seed out of match-ups between No. 3 Sac State and No. 6 seed Montana State, or No. 4 Idaho State and No. 5 Portland State. Given the season Montana has had, there are no guarantees of success or failure regardless of which team it draws.

For the Griz and Lady Griz it will come down to whether or not they’re just happy to be there, and some breaks. Based on overall talent level and how the regular season went, the men seem to have the best chance.

But after all, this is March Madness.

- Bill Schwanke