Below are the Final 2021 Top 25 FCS rankings based on the Sagarin rankings after all postseason games have been completed in Division I play. These rankings include all FBS Bowl games and the entire FCS playoffs, including both the FCS and CFP National Championship games. North Dakota State remains in the top spot following […]
FRISCO, Tex. — North Dakota State, who was the #2 seed in this year’s Division I FCS Playoffs, scored on its first three drives to really finish off the 2022 National Championship game. The Bison also scored the first 35 points of the game to dominate #8 seeded Montana State to a 38-10 final in […]
After hiring head coach Brent Vigen in January – and opting out the the spring season – they find themselves with a 12-2 record and this time facing North Dakota State in Frisco to possibly win their first National Championship in in 37 years. How did they do it?
These two border state schools in the northern part of the country head south to Texas to see who is the best in the FCS this year when Montana State and North Dakota State meet this Saturday.
For the Bison, this is old hat. This is NDSU’s ninth trip to Frisco in the last 11 years. The two missing years were this past spring’s contest–held then due to the COVID-19 pandemic and in 2016 when James Madison upset NDSU in the semi-final round. And all prior eight trips to north Texas have resulted in the Bison capturing the crown.
For Montana State, this is the first trip to the national title game since 1984 when the Bobcats won the title over Louisiana Tech in a game played in Charleston, S.C. MSU has been a contender in the playoffs though as the last season this team played it made it to the FCS semifinals in 2019 to the same team it will playing this year in the title game in NDSU.
Montana State has spent nearly half a century panning for another national title in football and it’s taken a graduate of North Dakota State to lead the Bobcats to the threshold of achieving that goal.
FCS SEMIFINAL PLAYOFF MATCHUP: SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT MONTANA STATEWHERE: BOBCAT STADIUM, BOZEMAN, MONT.WHEN: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 12:00 PM MSTTV/STREAMING: ESPN2 / WATCHESPN The other semifinal game between James Madison and North Dakota State will rightfully get its attention as those are the top seeds left in the final four but the South Dakota State-Montana State […]
GAME PREVIEW: # 8 Montana State vs. #1 Sam HoustonWhen: Saturday, December 11 at 7:30PM CSTWhere: Bowers Stadium; Huntsville, TexasTV/Streaming: ESPN+ Sam Houston’s defense came up with a clutch stop on fourth and goal to hold off a late rally in a 49-42 victory over Incarnate Word in the second round of the FCS playoffs […]
Last week was a real thriller with a lot of FCS Playoff implications. Montana State, Eastern Washington and North Dakota State had statement wins showing how they plan to be a part of these playoffs come Thanksgiving, while the SoCon’s title and autobid race seems as muddled as ever.
Montana State opted out of the Spring Season and chose to only do an inter-squad spring game. Despite being out of competition for a year the Bobcats are loading up and have a host of hungry seniors ready to have a last hurrah. Between Isiah Ifanse, Lewis Kidd, Troy Andersen, and North Carolina State transfer […]
This fall will be a chance to revamp the entire resume of the Big Sky as the craziness of opt-outs and forfeits should be behind us.
Playing a radically shortened season of six “regular-season” games would allow for most teams to only have a season that is marginally longer than what they would do for spring practices. And from those games, it is possible to come up with an FCS Championship.
On July 21st, 2020, when David Pollack went on air to suggest that FCS football should permanently become spring football, I cringed.
Of our preseason poll last year, only 6 of the top 10 teams made the playoffs. 13 of the full 25 played past Thanksgiving. Its 2020, the year of complete chaos.
FARGO, N.D.—WR Christian Watson scored touchdowns on back-to-back touches early in the second quarter and top playoff seeded North Dakota State defeated fifth seeded Montana State 42-14 in a Division I FCS semifinal matchup for its 36th straight victory in front of 18,077 in attendance inside the Fargodome. QB Trey Lance found Watson behind the […]
It’s the next-to-last weekend of FCS football action, and it’s going to be a jam-packed Saturday with three games to showcase the best of FCS football. The unofficial HBCU National Championship is on the line, while the FCS Playoff Final Four see who advances to Frisco.
FCS Semifinal Round Playoff Matchup: Montana State at North Dakota State Where: Fargodome, Fargo, N.D. When: Saturday, December 21st, 1:00PM CST TV/Streaming: ESPN2/Watch ESPN #5 Montana State Bobcats Coach: Jeff Choate – 4th Year at Montana State – 4 Years Total as a Head Coach Record at Montana State: 28-21 Overall Record: 28-21 Big Sky Championships: […]
The irresistible force met the immovable object and on this night the force prevailed.
We’re down to the final eight teams in the FCS Playoffs, as an unprecedented six of those teams face off on Friday evening in an intriguing tripleheader that includes three Big Sky teams. All three games played after sundown could be deeply affected by the weather.
After winning the Ohio Valley Conference championship for just the second time in school history and the first since 1977, the Governors won their second straight playoff game with a resounding win over Sacramento State last weekend. APSU has a chance to knock off another Big Sky Conference foe when the Govs travel to Bozeman, Montana, to take on Montana State in a Friday night clash.
With the second round of the FCS Playoffs now complete, we give you links to all our recaps and our writers’ impression of the games.
Montana State used a balanced offense and solid defense to easily defeat Albany 47-21 in their second round matchup in the FCS playoffs. Even though Albany did get the scoring starting on an excellent 58 yard pitch and catch from Jeff Undercuffler to Juwan Green, From there, it was all Bobcats.
Albany proved its eight win regular season was no fluke as they cruised to a 42-14 win over Central Connecticut State behind a huge second half where they score three times in the opening seven and a half minutes of the third quarter.
Montana pulled the upset so things could get messy in the Big Sky as to who is or is not a champion. The rare, but special three way tie is a very realistic possibility for the Big Sky. Montana needs to survive “Brawl of the Wild”, Weber surviving Idaho State, and Sacramento State surviving UC […]
The Big Sky is a pendulum of normal games to chaotic endings many would not have suspected. What will we get Saturday? Despite the Northern Colorado betting line being the highest at 12.5 underdog, I think every team this week has a legitimate shot of winning their perspective game.
The non-conference portion of the schedule is mostly over for the Big Sky with a few exceptions such as UNI vs, Weber this week, Idaho State travels to BYU in November, and a few North Dakota games. So far, the Big Sky is not off to as hot a start as many believed they would […]
Week 4 is upon us and the last of the intriguing non-conference play will be wrapping up for the majority this week. The Big Sky – Missouri Valley games will see several games this week of varying degrees of competitiveness to be observed. Missouri Valley fans will likely be harassing Big Sky fans after this week as the matchups are lopsided even when seemingly close. Despite the spreads, this week will feature two marquee matchups, even if the Big Sky is favored in neither.
Marquee: Jacksonville State def. Eastern Washington 49-45 A tidal wave of shock was sent across the FCS landscape as Jacksonville State pulled off a momentous upset. After the first quarter it seemed as if the fate of the game was going to be easily determined with a 28-7 EWU lead. Things would even out much […]
The non-conference gauntlet continues in Week 3 with PAC 12 and Mountain West FBS matches, long distance FCS games, and one D-II game. Weber State has the best chance to make a “Fear the FCS” moment, but all of the FBS games this week have the potential to be ugly. Looking ahead at the FCS games is a different story, as Big Sky teams have the talent to win big. NAU versus Western New Mexico will be an obvious win barring a strong Lumberjack performance.
Marquee: Montana State def. SEMO 38-17 The Redhawks gave their best effort, but the Bobcats prevailed dominant. A close halftime score did not define the game as Montana State went on a 28-7 run to win. Casey Bauman performed adequately, while the running game established itself as a deciding factor. Bauman passed for 136 yards […]
Most years, it’s FCS teams stunning FBS teams, but this week, it was non-scholarship FCS and sub-Division-I teams stunning FCS squads instead. In their home opener, non-scholarship Dayton (1-0) stunned Indiana State (0-2) 42-35. Flyer QB Jack Cook accounted for four touchdowns, two rushing and two passing, while RB Sean Prophit scored on a 13-yard […]
The Big Sky schedule in general switches from an uphill FBS heavy schedule to a now D2 and interesting FCS matches week. With the schedule almost evenly in thirds of D2 (or lower), FCS, and FBS games will show variety of strengths and weaknesses of the Big Sky teams. Considering the hodgepodge of games available the game of the week is centered on SEMO vs. Montana State. Both are last year playoff teams and have a strong depth of players. This could be hard hitting and high-intensity game that gets decided in the fourth quarter.
A Dalton Sneed-led Montana team went on the offensive and never looked back. It took a Coyote field goal in the second quarter for the Grizzlies to jump back from hibernation. That South Dakota field goal would be the only led Austin Simmons and company would enjoy all game long.
The Big Sky Conference is one of the Power 3 conferences in FCS football and will continue that tradition this year too. In our College Sports Journal Top 25 four Big Sky teams placed in the top ten, including Eastern Washington and UC Davis within the top five. A strong year is in store for […]
The Bobcats took a big step forward by reaching the second round of the playoffs. Along the way there was only three bad losses during the season. Included in those losses were blowouts from top ten NDSU and SDSU, and getting outplayed by a scrappy Idaho State team.
Big Sky Predicted Order of Finish, Big Conference Games To Watch, And Ten Players to watch.
FARGO, N.D. —Lance Dunn scored four touchdowns all in the first half and top playoff seeded North Dakota State overwhelmed Montana State 52-10 in a second-round Division I FCS playoff game in front of 17,007 fans at at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome. MSU hit an explosive play on the first snap of the […]
Montana State at (1) North Dakota State When: Saturday, December 1, 2:00 PM CST Where: Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome, Fargo, ND TV/Streaming: ESPN College Extra, ESPN3 Montana State Bobcats (8-4) Location: Bozeman, Mont. Big Sky Conference Enrollment: 1 0,177 FCS Sagarin Rating: 132 (19 in FCS) How They Got Here: The Bobcats won its opening round game […]
Montana State 35, Incarnate Word 14 Video Highlights Courtesy NCAA.com BOZEMAN, Mont.—QB Troy Andersen ran for a touchdown and threw for another to lead Montana State to a 35-14 win over Incarnate Word in the first round of the Division I FCS playoffs. MSU (8-4) got the key touchdown early in the fourth quarter when […]
Incarnate Word at Montana State When: Saturday, November 24, 1:00 PM MST Where: Bobcat Stadium, Bozeman, MT TV/Streaming: ESPN3 Incarnate Word Cardinals (6-4, 6-2 Southland) San Antonio, Tex. Southland Conference Enrollment: 10,389 FCS Sagarin Rating: 173 (47 in FCS) Season Recap:In one season, UIW football Head Coach Eric Morris took the Cardinals from a 1-10 record (2017) to a 6-4 […]
What a weekend! Whatever you thought was true in regards to the qualified teams in the FCS Playoff field last week was almost certainly changed after an epic weekend of upsets. About the only outcomes that came out as expected were that the three remaining undefeated teams, 10-0 North Dakota State, 9-0 Colgate, and 9-0 […]
