Brawl of the Wild week is officially here. The Montana Grizzlies and Montana State Bobcats are set to meet for the 121st time on Saturday at noon in Bozeman. And for the third straight meeting, it'll be a Top-15 matchup between the two rivals.
Montana State (9-1, 7-0 Big Sky Conference) held at No. 3 in the latest Stats Perform FCS Top 25 poll, which was released on Monday. The Bobcats blew past Cal Poly 72-28 on Saturday evening to remain undefeated in conference play, and it'll be the second straight year MSU enters their game against UM perfect in Big Sky play.
Montana (7-3, 4-3) rose three spots to No. 13 in the latest poll. The Grizzlies defeated Eastern Washington 63-7 on Saturday in Missoula to win their second straight game.
The latest rankings add another layer to the rivalry game that has seen the two programs among the tops in the FCS over the last few years. UM was ranked No. 3 in 2019 while MSU was ranked No. 8 when the two teams met in Bozeman, and in 2021, the Bobcats were No. 3 while the Grizzlies were ranked No. 7 when they played each other in Missoula.
Last year Montana won 29-10. Prior to that, the Bobcats had won four straight meetings between the two Treasure State schools.
This week, the Big Sky Conference had six teams in the Top-25 rankings. Sacramento State (10-0, 7-0) sits at No. 2, right behind South Dakota State (10-1, 8-0 Missouri Valley Football Conference). SDSU received 47 first-place votes while Sac State received seven. The Hornets defeated Portland State 45-17 last Friday.
Weber State (8-2, 5-2) defeated Idaho State 45-7 on Saturday and remains at No. 7 in the poll.
UC Davis (6-4, 5-2) topped Idaho 44-26 on Saturday and moved into the rankings this week at No. 24. The Vandals (6-4, 5-2) fell from No. 15 into a tie for No. 21 after the loss.
Kick-off for "Brawl of the Wild" is at noon on Saturday, November 19, and it will be broadcast on KRTV. And before the game, watch our special Big Sky Showdown on Friday, November 18, at 6pm, or on Saturday morning at 11am right before the game.
