College Football Stories

The 48th Football Championship Subdivision National Championship is set for January 5th, 2026. The Montana State Bobcats (13-2) will face off with the Illinois State Redbirds (12-4) for the chance to hoist a trophy and claim a title. At the end of the regular season, the Bobcats were ranked No. 2 overall, while the Redbirds were No. 17.

Montana State looks to avenge last season’s 35-32 title game loss against the North Dakota State Bison. This will be the Bobcats’ fourth overall appearance in the championship game. Their lone win in the title game came in 1984 against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. Illinois State’s only championship game appearance was a 29-27 loss to the Bison in 2014.

History

The inaugural FCS (or Division I-AA, as it was known until 2005) title game was held in 1978. That year, the Florida A&M Rattlers defeated the Massachusetts Minutemen 35-28. The earliest FCS dynasty belonged to the Georgia Southern Eagles. Under legendary coaches Erk Russell and Paul Johnson, the Eagles won six national championships from 1985 to 2000.

Around the same time, Jim Tressel and the Youngstown State Penguins were building their own juggernaut, winning four championships in the 1990’s. The Penguins were runners-up in 1992 and 1999. From 2005 to 2007, the Appalachian State Mountaineers won three consecutive titles. Georgia Southern and Appalachian State, formerly of the Southern Conference, moved to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in 2014 as members of the Sun Belt Conference.

The Great Plains Dynasty

Shows like Longmire and Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone have captured America’s attention towards the vast, magnificent landscape of the Great Plains states. The tourism industry in these areas has exploded in recent years as Americans long for the great outdoors. People yearn to leave the crowded, bustling cities and suburban towns that they live in for an adventurous week-long vacation. Some folks even fancy themselves “cowboys” and try their hands at ranching or starting a new life in the American West. Eventually, they find their way back to the train station, choosing the comforts of Eastern living over the harsh realities of life in the mountains or the valley.

Football is a way of life in these states. “Snow Bowls” are just regularly scheduled programming. There are very few major college football teams or professional sports franchises in the Great Plains. The FCS is the kingdom, and the North Dakota State Bison are the kings.

Over the last 47 years, the Bison have accounted for 10 championships. The Montana Grizzlies and the South Dakota State Jackrabbits have each won two championships. Including Montana State’s 2014 title, the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana are responsible for nearly one-third of the FCS’ total championships. The three states have also combined for 25 of the 94 total participants in the title game over the years.

From 2021 to 2024, every team in the championship game was from Montana or the Dakotas. Since 2011, there has only been one season in which there was not at least one team from the Great Plains in the final game. That was in 2016, when James Madison beat Youngstown State for the championship. The Bobcats and the Grizzles play in the Big Sky Conference. The Bison and the Jackrabbits are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, formerly known as the Gateway Football Conference. The road to claiming the FCS crown runs through the Great Plains.

North Dakota State Bison

The Bison have been the Goliath in the FCS for the last 15 years. The Boys from Fargo, North Dakota, are 10-1 all-time in the championship game, with the lone loss coming in 2022 to South Dakota State. From 2011 to 2021, the Bison won nine of the eleven championships, including five in a row from 2011-2015 and three in a row from 2017-2019. The Bison were upset by Illinois State in the first round of the 2025 playoffs, ending their chances to repeat as champions.

The Bison are a combined 186-21 in the regular season and playoffs since 2011. During this run, the Bison have had four different head coaches win national championships. Craig Bohl won the first three, from 2011 to 2013. Chris Klieman won four more in his five seasons at the helm from 2014 to 2018. Matt Entz brought home titles in 2019 and 2021 during his five-year run in Fargo. Tim Polasek won it all in 2024, his first year as the Bison head coach.

Since 2014, the Bison have produced 13 NFL Draft picks, including three first-round picks. Quarterbacks Carson Wentz and Trey Lance were drafted second and third overall in 2016 and 2021, respectively. In the 2025 Draft, offensive tackle Grey Zabel was drafted 18th overall by the Seattle Seahawks. The Bison have also had three second-round picks, most notably Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson.

Coaching Turnover and Continuity

The coaching turnover and transfer portal have not affected the Bison in any meaningful, noticeable way. NDSU has only had 15 players leave Fargo via the transfer portal from 2021 to 2025. The Bison have been to three championship games during that time. The head coaches that left Fargo did so for higher-profile (see, higher-paying) jobs at the FBS level. Craig Bohl left for Wyoming, where he took the Cowboys to seven winning seasons and six bowl appearances in his 10-year tenure.

After Chris Klieman’s incredible success with the Bison, he was hired away at Kansas State to replace Bill Snyder. Klieman led the Wildcats to a 54-34 record in seven seasons, including a Big 12 championship in 2022. Matt Entz, the most recent head coaching departure from Fargo, left to take an assistant coaching job at USC in 2024. One year after serving as the Trojans’ associate head coach for Lincoln Riley, Entz was hired as the head coach for the Fresno State Bulldogs. The Bulldogs went 9-4 in his first season, capped by a win in the Arizona Bowl.

Current NDSU head coach Tim Polasek is 26-3 overall, including a 2024 national championship. The early exit in the 2025 playoffs was unexpected by Bison faithful, but Polasek is set up for success in 2026 and beyond. Polasek has spent a total of 12 years in Fargo, coaching under both Bohl and Klieman. Entz was the defensive coordinator for Klieman for five seasons before claiming the head coaching role. Klieman was a defensive assistant and/or coordinator under Bohl for three seasons.

The continuity has helped to offset the inevitability of the Bison head coach getting hired away at a better job. Whoever is in charge of the program in Fargo will succeed, and their success breeds interest from higher-paying schools in warmer climates. Alas, if history has shown us anything, there will be a successor already on staff prepared to hold the ship steady.

Division II Success

Prior to becoming an FCS power, North Dakota State was dominant at the Division II level. The Bison had a .779 winning percentage and won eight national championships from 1964 to 2003. In 1965, the Bison finished with a school-record 11 wins and were ranked No. 1 in D-II. They were led by head coach Darrell Mudra, who would eventually be named head coach at Florida State University in 1974. Mudra was fired by the Seminoles in 1975 and replaced by a guy by the name of Bobby Bowden.

South Dakota State Jackrabbits

North Dakota State’s only defeat in an FCS championship game was to the South Dakota State Jackrabbits on January 8th, 2023. The Jackrabbits beat the Bison 45-21. SDSU repeated as champions the following year, taking down the Montana Grizzlies 23-3. After losing to Iowa 7-3 in Week 1 of 2022, the Jackrabbits reeled off 29 consecutive victories. Their next loss against an FCS opponent would not come until October 19th, 2024, when they lost 13-9 to the Bison in Fargo.

QB Mark Gronowski led the Jackrabbits 49-6 during his four seasons in Brookings, South Dakota. In 2025, Gronowski transferred to Iowa, where he led the Hawkeyes to a 9-4 record and a ReliaQuest Bowl win over the Vanderbilt Commodores. He will enter the NFL Draft with the most wins as a starting quarterback in college football history.

After his 2022 national championship win, head coach John Stiegelmeier retired after spending 36 years in Brookings as an assistant and/or head coach. Stiegelmeier won four conference titles and led the Jacks to 12 playoff appearances. Long-time Jackrabbits assistant Jimmy Rogers took over for Stiegelmeier after the 2022 season. After the SDSU loss in the 2024 semifinals to the Bison, Rogers accepted the head coaching job at Washington State. He went 6-6 with the Cougars before being hired in December of 2025 at Iowa State.

SDSU started out 7-0 in 2025, climbing up to No. 2 in the country. The Jacks lost four in a row, starting with a 38-7 drubbing from the Bison. Led by first-year head coach Dan Jackson, the Jacks finished 9-5 after suffering a 59-20 loss to the Montana Grizzles in the second round of the playoffs.

Montana Grizzlies

Speaking of those boys from Missoula, Montana, the Griz finished 13-2 in 2025. Montana’s only two losses came to the same team, albeit the wrong team: the Montana State Bobcats. The Griz lost the “Brawl of the Wild” rivalry game to the Bobcats 31-28 in the regular season finale. In the playoff semifinals, State won 48-23 to punch their ticket to the championship game.

The Griz won their first Division I-AA championship in 1995, under head coach Don Read. The Griz defeated Jim Donnan’s Marshall Thundering Herd 22-20. The Grizzlies’ second title came in 2001 under head coach Joe Glenn. The Griz finished 14-1 that season, with their lone loss coming against Hawaii, an FBS opponent.

The Griz have finished as the national runner-up six times. Their most recent appearance in the championship game was a 23-3 loss in 2023 against South Dakota State. Bobby Hauck has been the Grizzlies’ head coach for 15 seasons. He has led the Griz to a 151-43 record in his time in Missoula. Hauck took over for Joe Glenn in 2003, posting an 80-17 record, with seven conference championships and a 5-2 record against Montana State.

Hauck left Montana after the 2009 season for the UNLV head coaching position. Hauck returned to the Grizzlies in 2018, and has added 71 more victories in those eight seasons. His record against the Bobcats has flipped, however, as the Griz have lost six of the last eight to MSU. Hauck is a Montana man through-and-through, earning his bachelor’s degree in Missoula as a member of the track and field team. Hauck started his coaching career with the Griz, spending 1988 and 1989 as a defensive assistant under Don Read.

Montana State Bobcats

The other half of the Cat-Griz/Brawl of the Wild rivalry are the Montana State Bobcats. The Cats play in Bozeman, Montana, 200 miles southeast of their rivals in Missoula. The Bobcats started 0-2 in 2025. They lost 59-13 to the Oregon Ducks, an FBS College Football Playoff semifinal participant. The next week, State dropped a heart breaker to South Dakota State in double overtime. Entering the national championship game on January 5th, 2026, the Cats have won 13 in a row. MSU beat six ranked teams along the way, including defeating the rival Grizzlies twice.

The Cats are coached by Brent Vigen, who played tight end at North Dakota State in the 1990’s. Vigen got his coaching career started in Fargo, spending 13 seasons as an offensive assistant and/or coordinator with the Bison. Vigen left NDSU to go with Craig Bohl to Wyoming, where he stayed until landing the job in Bozeman in 2021.

Vigen has led the Cats to a 60-12 record in his five seasons at the helm, including three Big Sky conference titles. The Bobcats lost a close game to the Bison last season in the championship game. Vigen and the Cats are seeking the school’s first championship since 1984. The Cats have made it to the semifinals of the FCS playoffs in five of the last six seasons.

The Bobcats are currently a double-digit favorite against the Illinois State Redbirds in the title game. MSU’s junior wide receiver Taco Dowler has over 1,000 rushing/receiving yards and six touchdowns. Dowler is dangerous as a punt returner, averaging over 13 yards per return. He took one 90-yards for a touchdown against Northern Arizona on October 4th, 2025.

His brother, defensive back Caden Dowler, was the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year for 2025. Caden has 90 tackles, including 6.5 for loss, and 6 interceptions. Caden was banged up in the semifinals against Montana and his status for the game against Illinois State is unlcear.

Power Four Upsets

Since 2010, NDSU has beaten five Power Four teams on the road: Kansas in 2010, Minnesota in 2011, Kansas State in 2013, Iowa State in 2014, and Iowa in 2016. The Bison also fought to one-score losses on the road against Arizona in 2022 and Colorado in 2024. The 2016 victory on the road in Iowa was against a 13th-ranked Hawkeyes team.

In 2021, Montana defeated the 20th-ranked Washington Huskies 13-7 on the road in Seattle. The Grizzlies became just the sixth FCS team to ever beat a ranked FBS team. The Griz were the first to accomplish this feat since North Dakota State beat Iowa in 2016.

Montana also beat the Oregon State Beavers 35-14 in 1996 and 22-15 in 1990. South Dakota State took down the Kansas Jayhawks 41-38 in 2015 for their first-ever win over a Power Conference team. Montana State upset the Colorado Buffaloes 19-10 in Boulder in 2006.

NFL Success

In 2022, the Great Plains schools accounted for 7 of the 20 overall NFL Draft picks from the FCS level, including two top-60 overall picks. There have been 19 draft picks from Montana or the Dakotas since 2020.

Former Bison QB Carson Wentz has had arguably the most successful professional career of anyone to come out of the Great Plains. Wentz was the second overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. He was a second-team All-Pro selection in 2017, and led the Eagles to a Super Bowl championship; although he was injured and unable to participate in the playoffs.

Another Eagles Super Bowl champion is South Dakota State’s Dallas Goedert, who was a two-time first-team All-American for the Jackrabbits in 2016 and 2017. Former Montana State linebacker Troy Andersen was a 2022 second-round pick by the Atlanta Falcons. MSU’s Tommy Mellott, who won the Walter Payton Award and was a first-team All-American in 2024, was drafted as a receiver for the Las Vegas Raiders in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.