FCS CONFERENCE · 2026 SEASON

Big Sky

#14 overall#3 in FCSRR50 -2.2Upper strength +0.613 teamsTop 25 teams 0

HOPE-DOPING · 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.

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

FCS13 teamsRace: FCS Playoff

Big Sky · Where They Stand · 2026

Power Map

FCS power landscape heading into 2026. Bracket implications begin Week 10.

Favorites
Montana State+3.9—Montana+3.3—UC Davis+1.2—
Challengers
Southern Utah-0.8—Idaho State-1.3—Northern Arizona-1.4—
The Field
Idaho-2.2—Eastern Washington-2.7—Cal Poly-3.3—Utah Tech-5.1—
Rebuilding
Weber State-5.2—Portland State-6.3—Northern Colorado-6.5—

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 · 2026

Standings

# Team Conf Overall Pwr Last 5
1Montana State0–00–0+3.9—
2Montana0–00–0+3.3—
3UC Davis0–00–0+1.2—
4Southern Utah0–00–0-0.8—
5Idaho State0–00–0-1.3—
6Northern Arizona0–00–0-1.4—
7Idaho0–00–0-2.2—
8Eastern Washington0–00–0-2.7—
9Cal Poly0–00–0-3.3—
10Utah Tech0–00–0-5.1—
11Weber State0–00–0-5.2—
12Portland State0–00–0-6.3—
13Northern Colorado0–00–0-6.5—

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

Conference Power · FCS

Where We Stand

# Conference Avg Power vs Focal Top Team
1MVFC
-1.7
—South Dakota State
2UAC
-2.2
—Tarleton State
3Big SkyYou are here
-2.2
—Montana State
4SWAC
-2.5
—Prairie View A&M
5Southland
-2.7
—Stephen F. Austin
6Southern
-3.0
—Tennessee Tech
7MEAC
-3.0
—South Carolina State
8Patriot
-3.3
—Villanova
9CAA
-3.4
—Rhode Island
10Pioneer
-3.4
—San Diego
11Big South-OVC
-3.6
—UT Martin
12NEC
-3.6
—Long Island University

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.

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.

Conference Snapshot

RR50-2.2
Upper Strength+0.6
Median Power-2.5
Resume Pulse39.3
Avg ATS--
Wins vs Market+0.00
Top-to-Middle Gap6.2
Combined Record0-0

`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
#89 Montana State 0-0 +3.9 70 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#93 Montana 0-0 +3.3 68 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#123 UC Davis 0-0 +1.2 58 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#150 Southern Utah 0-0 -0.8 48 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#156 Idaho State 0-0 -1.3 46 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#158 Northern Arizona 0-0 -1.4 46 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#172 Idaho 0-0 -2.2 41 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#187 Eastern Washington 0-0 -2.7 36 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#201 Cal Poly 0-0 -3.3 31 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#234 Utah Tech 0-0 -5.1 19 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#235 Weber State 0-0 -5.2 19 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#246 Portland State 0-0 -6.3 15 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#250 Northern Colorado 0-0 -6.5 14 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.