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FCS CONFERENCE · 2025 SEASON

Big Sky

#13 overall#2 in FCSRR50 +9.6Upper strength +12.512 teamsTop 25 teams 0

THE LONG WAIT · 2025

The Brawl Is the Conference

The Brawl of the Wild between Montana and Montana State drew 25,437 fans to a sold-out Bobcat Stadium in December 2025 — an FCS semifinal crowd that rivals Power Four mid-tier regular-season attendance. Montana State won in Nashville to claim the 2025 national title, making the Big Sky the first conference to produce back-to-back champions since the MVFC's NDSU run ended.

Does Montana State repeat, or does the Montana rivalry produce a different champion when they inevitably meet again in the bracket?

FCS12 teamsRace: FCS Playoff

Big Sky · 2026 Season Preview

Three Things to Watch

The ChampionMontana State: Back-to-Back Territory

Montana State won the FCS title in Nashville in 2025, sending 25,000 fans to a sold-out Brawl of the Wild semifinal along the way. Brent Vigen's program has the coaching continuity and the recruiting pipeline to defend. Back-to-back FCS titles is rare — only NDSU has done it in the modern era. The Bobcats enter 2026 as the clearest candidate to join that list.

The RivalMontana Won't Let It Be Easy

Montana went 9-3 in 2025 and reached the FCS quarterfinals before losing to SDSU. They recruit the same Montana talent pool as the Bobcats, they've beaten Montana State in the Brawl three of the last six years, and they believe they have the roster to end the run. The Brawl decides the conference. It usually decides more than that.

The Wild CardEastern Washington's Offensive System

EWU plays one of the most explosive offensive systems in FCS — red turf, fast tempo, QBs who put up Heisman-level FCS numbers. They've reached the FCS semifinals three times in the last decade. If their line holds, they're capable of beating anyone in the bracket on a given Saturday.

Conference Standings · Big Sky · 2025

Standings

# Team Conf Overall Pwr Last 5
1Montana State9–014–2+16.8
2Montana7–213–2+13.9
3UC Davis6–29–4+11.1
4Sacramento State5–37–5+11.8
5Idaho State5–36–6+11.3
6Northern Arizona4–47–5+9.4
7Eastern Washington4–45–7+8.5
8Idaho2–64–8+9.3
9Cal Poly2–64–8+8.7
10Weber State2–64–8+7.0
11Northern Colorado2–64–8+6.7
12Portland State1–71–11+4.2

Conference record determines standing. Power = neutral-field pts vs. all-level average. Last 5 = most recent game results.

Projected Standings · Big Sky · 2025

Win Projection

Odds of winning at least N conference games from current power ratings — full slate played out, not locked to results. AVG = expected wins; W–L = most-likely record.

# Team W–L PWR AVG ≥8≥7≥6≥5≥4≥3≥2≥1
Favorites
1Montana State5–3+7.05.341846749198✓✓
2Montana5–3+4.04.81103059829599✓
Challengers
3Sacramento State5–3+1.94.6182553789399✓
4UC Davis4–4+1.34.241742698998✓
5Idaho State4–4+1.44.241741698998✓
6Northern Arizona4–4-0.54.031436648697✓
The Field
7Idaho4–4-0.63.931334628596✓
8Eastern Washington4–4-1.43.821030588296✓
9Cal Poly4–4-1.23.6282552789499
10Weber State3–5-2.93.3151944729199
Rebuilding
11Northern Colorado3–5-3.23.3162044729199
12Portland State3–5-5.63.1141536658898

Conference Power · FCS

Where We Stand

# Conference Avg Power vs Focal Top Team
1MVFC
+10.2
5–6North Dakota State
2Big SkyYou are here
+9.6
—Montana State
3MEAC
+9.4
—South Carolina State
4UAC
+9.3
6–2Tarleton State
5SWAC
+9.1
—Alabama State
6Southland
+9.1
4–2Stephen F. Austin
7CAA
+8.9
1–0Villanova
8Patriot
+8.7
—Lehigh
9Big South-OVC
+8.6
1–0Tennessee Tech
10Pioneer
+8.5
4–0Presbyterian
11Southern
+8.4
—Mercer
12NEC
+8.2
2–0Central Connecticut
13Ivy
+7.7
1–0Yale

Round-robin power = strength of schedule-adjusted conference average, points vs. all-level average team. Record = Big Sky's record vs. that conference across all games this season.

Big Sky is outperforming its raw power profile. The league body of work is stronger than the market would expect.

Conference Snapshot

RR50+9.6
Upper Strength+12.5
Median Power+9.3
Resume Pulse58.2
Avg ATS48.5%
Wins vs Market+0.08
Top-to-Middle Gap7.5
Combined Record78-74

`RR50`, `Upper Strength`, and `Median Power` are shown on the same public power scale as the rest of the site: points on a neutral field versus the average all-level NCAA team. Very small affiliations are gently regressed toward their subdivision baseline so a one-team outlier does not hijack the entire conference board.

Big Sky Team Board

The league stack, sorted by predictive strength. Power is shown as neutral-field points versus the all-level average team, while resume is shown on a 0-100 season score.

Rank Team Record Power Resume ATS Wins vs Market Recent Form
#30 Montana State 14-2 +16.8 98 9-6 +1.34 4-0 over the last 4 (W15 W16 W17 W19)
#69 Montana 13-2 +13.9 97 8-5 +1.23 2-2 over the last 4 (L13 W15 W16 L17)
#116 Sacramento State 7-5 +11.8 77 6-6 -0.81 3-1 over the last 4 (W10 W11 W12 L13)
#126 Idaho State 6-6 +11.3 63 8-3 +1.01 4-0 over the last 4 (W10 W11 W12 W13)
#129 UC Davis 9-4 +11.1 89 5-6 +0.42 2-2 over the last 4 (L12 W13 W15 L16)
#184 Northern Arizona 7-5 +9.4 60 4-8 -0.38 2-2 over the last 4 (L10 W11 W12 L13)
#187 Idaho 4-8 +9.3 43 5-7 -2.64 1-3 over the last 4 (W10 L11 L12 L13)
#200 Cal Poly 4-8 +8.7 41 5-5 +0.04 1-3 over the last 4 (L10 L11 L12 W13)
#202 Eastern Washington 5-7 +8.5 45 6-5 +0.47 1-3 over the last 4 (L10 L11 W12 L13)
#227 Weber State 4-8 +7.0 30 2-10 +0.48 1-3 over the last 4 (L10 L11 L12 W13)
#232 Northern Colorado 4-8 +6.7 41 6-5 +0.10 1-3 over the last 4 (L10 L11 L12 W13)
#262 Portland State 1-11 +4.2 16 5-7 -0.31 1-3 over the last 4 (W10 L11 L12 L13)