FCS CONFERENCE · 2026 SEASON

Big Sky

#13 overall#2 in FCSRR50 +10.7Upper strength +13.613 teamsTop 25 teams 0

VERDICT BEGINS · 2026

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.

FCS13 teamsRace: FCS PlayoffLeader: Montana State

Big Sky · 2026 Season

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 · 2026

Standings

#	Team	Conf	Overall	Pwr
1	Montana State	1–0	4–0	+17.9
2	UC Davis	1–0	3–1	+14.6
3	Montana	2–0	3–1	+14.6
4	Northern Arizona	2–0	3–1	+11.6
5	Cal Poly	1–0	2–2	+9.0
6	Weber State	1–1	2–2	+8.6
7	Southern Utah	1–1	1–3	+11.5
8	Idaho State	0–0	3–0	+13.5
9	Eastern Washington	0–1	1–3	+11.0
10	Northern Colorado	0–1	1–3	+6.6
11	Idaho	0–1	0–4	+10.4
12	Portland State	0–1	0–4	+7.3
13	Utah Tech	0–3	0–4	+7.6

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

Projected Standings · Big Sky · 2026

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	≥9	≥8	≥7	≥6	≥5	≥4	≥3	≥2	≥1
Favorites
1	Montana State	6–3	+6.8	6.0	2	14	37	64	85	96	99	✓	✓
2	UC Davis	6–3	+3.5	5.6	1	9	27	53	78	92	98	✓	✓
3	Montana	6–3	+3.5	5.5	1	8	25	51	76	92	98	✓	✓
Challengers
4	Idaho State	5–4	+2.4	5.1	1	4	17	39	66	86	96	99	✓
5	Southern Utah	5–4	+0.4	4.7		3	12	31	57	80	94	99	✓
6	Northern Arizona	5–4	+0.5	4.5		2	9	26	51	76	92	98	✓
The Field
7	Eastern Washington	5–4	-0.1	4.5		2	9	26	51	76	92	98	✓
8	Idaho	4–5	-0.6	4.1		1	5	18	40	66	86	97	✓
9	Cal Poly	4–5	-2.1	4.0		1	4	15	36	63	85	96	✓
10	Weber State	4–5	-2.5	3.9		1	4	13	33	60	83	95	99
Rebuilding
11	Portland State	3–6	-3.8	3.6			2	9	26	51	77	93	99
12	Utah Tech	3–6	-3.5	3.6			2	9	26	51	77	93	99
13	Northern Colorado	3–6	-4.5	3.4			2	7	22	46	73	91	99

Conference Power · FCS

Where We Stand

#	Conference	Avg Power	vs Focal	Top Team
1	MVFC	+11.9	1–3	Illinois State
2	Big SkyYou are here	+10.7	—	Montana State
3	UAC	+10.7	0–1	Tarleton State
4	Southland	+10.6	2–1	Stephen F. Austin
5	MEAC	+10.1	—	South Carolina State
6	SWAC	+9.9	—	Jackson State
7	OVC	+9.8	—	Gardner-Webb
8	Southern	+9.8	1–0	Tennessee Tech
9	Coastal Athletic	+9.7	—	Rhode Island
10	Patriot	+9.4	—	Lehigh
11	Pioneer	+8.8	5–2	Butler
12	NEC	+8.6	1–0	Central Connecticut
13	Ivy	+8.4	—	Harvard

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.

Conference Snapshot

RR50+10.7

Upper Strength+13.6

Median Power+10.7

Resume Pulse56.9

Avg ATS48.1%

Wins vs Market-0.10

Top-to-Middle Gap6.9

Combined Record23-28

League Drivers

Power leader Montana State #77 overall | +17.9 pts vs avg Resume leader Idaho State #132 overall | 98 / 100 resume ATS leader Northern Arizona 75.0% cover rate Beat expectation Idaho State +0.85 wins vs market

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
#77	Montana State	4-0	+17.9	86	2-2	+0.33	4-0 over the last 4 (W1 W1 W2 W3)
#115	UC Davis	3-1	+14.6	78	1-3	+0.14	3-1 over the last 4 (W1 W1 L2 W3)
#116	Montana	3-1	+14.6	58	0-4	+0.03	3-1 over the last 4 (W1 W1 W2 L3)
#132	Idaho State	3-0	+13.5	98	2-1	+0.85	3-0 over the last 3 (W1 W1 W2)
#159	Northern Arizona	3-1	+11.6	74	3-1	+0.78	3-1 over the last 4 (W1 L1 W2 W3)
#162	Southern Utah	1-3	+11.5	32	1-3	-0.89	1-3 over the last 4 (L1 W1 L2 L3)
#171	Eastern Washington	1-3	+11.0	43	2-2	-0.15	1-3 over the last 4 (L1 W1 L2 L3)
#178	Idaho	0-4	+10.4	36	0-4	-1.77	0-4 over the last 4 (L1 L1 L2 L3)
#215	Cal Poly	2-2	+9.0	45	2-1	-0.29	2-2 over the last 4 (W1 W1 L2 L3)
#225	Weber State	2-2	+8.6	48	3-1	+0.48	2-2 over the last 4 (W1 L1 L2 W3)
#242	Utah Tech	0-4	+7.6	39	2-2	-0.10	0-4 over the last 4 (L1 L1 L2 L3)
#248	Portland State	0-4	+7.3	60	3-1	-0.04	0-4 over the last 4 (L1 L1 L2 L3)
#255	Northern Colorado	1-3	+6.6	44	2-1	-0.67	1-3 over the last 4 (L1 L1 L2 W3)

Active arcs our read

Developing3d ago

Oregon Ducks Set Program Record With 84-0 Win Over Portland State

Can Oregon maintain this level of dominance in upcoming conference games?

Portland State

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