Last year Montana State took home its first FCS national title in over four decades in one of the more dramatic football games you’ll ever see. A gutsy 35-34 overtime victory against Illinois State vaulted the Bobcats to the mountain top and now they enter the 2026 season as the odds on favorites to do it again. Between North Dakota State heading off for the FBS, the ‘Cats themselves returning most of the talent and several of the other realistic contenders facing big uncertainties, it’s not a long
shot to say it’s MSU versus the field this season. Just how far ahead of the pack are the Bobcats, though, and who… if anyone… can catch them?
Montana State brings back many big names this year but the biggest is head coach Brent Vigen. Vigen will on the sidelines for his sixth season leading the program despite his return being in jeopardy for each of the last two years. Naturally, his name was tossed about during the coach hiring cycles in 2024 and 2025 but nothing ultimately came of it either time and Vigen opted to remain with MSU. He boasts a 61-12 overall record since he got the job in 2021, has gotten the Bobcats to the playoffs every year, won the 2024 Eddie Robinson Award and had his team finish inside the Top 10 of the FCS national polls each season. The resume speaks for itself and having him continue running the ship certainly should keep the standard as is in Bozeman.
There will be plenty of familiar faces on the field, too, for the defending champs this year. Quarterback Justin Lamson, who transferred in from Stanford prior to last season, was one of the more efficient passers in the country last year, completing 71.6% of his throws and tossing just three interceptions all season. His top receiver Taco Dowler is also back. Dowler was often a one-man highlight reel in both the pass and the return game. He caught 77 passes for over 1,000 yards and seven scores last season. He also returned 24 punts for 323 yards and a touchdown.
Those are just to name a few. Dowler’s twin brother Caden, the 2025 Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year, will also be back in the secondary after logging 90 tackles and six picks last fall and running back Adam Jones returns after rushing for 1,093 yards and 15 touchdowns. In all three phases, Montana State looks to be just as talented as they were a year ago and that could be a problem for the rest of the subdivision. There are a few teams within shouting distance, though, and they will certainly have something to say about the idea of a MSU repeat.
The first squad on that list will be the one just 2oo miles to the north. Montana went up against their in-state rivals twice last season and fell short both times, most notably in a 48-23 loss in the semifinals. In many aspects, the Grizzlies were on the doorstep of Nashville themselves a year ago but, at the same time, it seems there is a sizeable gap between them and MSU right now. UM only lost two games in 2025 but both were to Montana State.
The Griz are now in the midst of a coaching change after longtime head man Bobby Hauck retired them almost immediately unretired to take the defensive coordinator position at Illinois. Bobby Kennedy was promoted to the gig from within and will be tasked with leading Montana. The good news for UM is that it retains two of its biggest stars in All-American running back Eli Gillman and quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat. Ah Yat was the top FCS passer last year with 4,070 passing yards and Gillman notched his second consecutive 1,000-yard season. While there are a fair amount of uncertainties around the Grizzlies, they should still easily be a playoff team and one that will look to dethrone the Bobcats.
Another will be the only FCS unit that actually bested Montana State last year; South Dakota State. Yes, it took double overtime and it was as healthy as the Jacks were all season, but SDSU did prove it can beat MSU and in its own building no less. Dan Jackson enters his second season as head coach and with guys like Chase Mason and Lofton O’Groske coming back, the Jackrabbits should be right there near the top once more. If they can avoid the injury bug that bit them last fall, then SDSU could very likely find itself meeting the ‘Cats somewhere in the postseason.
Then, of course, there is the defending runner-ups in Illinois State. The Redbirds were realistically a play away from toppling MSU in the big game and a fair amount of that roster comes back too. Receiver Dylan Lord, who went off against the Bobcats for 161 yards and two scores in that national title game, withdrew his name from the transfer portal and came back. Ty and Dexter Niekamp were studs at linebacker and also both return as does running back Victor Dawson. The big loss is signal caller Tommy Rittenhouse who graduated. Illinois State will be looking to replace him with ex-USC transfer Gage Roy. If he works out and the rest of the team can play to the same level it did last year, then there’s no counting out the Redbirds either.
All that being said, though, Montana State will be the champions until they are not. Someone will have to prove that they can knock the ’Cats from their perch atop the subdivision and, right now, there really doesn’t seem to be a lot of reason to think that anyone will do it. MSU is practically untouchable at home over the last five years and will be playing a schedule that is quite a bit easier than last year’s. The one squad that consistently could stave them off in NDSU is now gone to the Mountain West. Of course the games still need to be played but as it lines up right now, the likelihood of an MSU repeat seems pretty high.
Montana State will kick off its 2026 season on the road against new Big Sky foe Utah Tech on August 29.
