MISSOULA — Reigning FCS national champion Montana State maintained its stranglehold on the No. 1 ranking in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 poll Monday, while Montana slipped one spot to No. 3.
The Bobcats routed Utah Tech 54-0 to kick off the 2026 season with a Big Sky Conference win. MSU is home this week to face Butler at 6:30 p.m. Saturday inside Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman. The game will be broadcast by Scripps Sports and air on CBS affiliates across Montana.
The Grizzlies, meanwhile, started the Bobby Kennedy era with a 28-21 win over Southern Utah. Despite the victory, UM fell from second in the Stats Perform rankings to third. South Dakota State, which ran past Stetson 70-7 last week, moved up to No. 2.
The Jackrabbits play at FBS Northwestern of the Big Ten Conference this week. The Griz are back inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula for a nonconference game versus Drake. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, and the game will air on The Spot – MTN.
Following Montana State, South Dakota State and Montana in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 are No. 4 Illinois State, which lost to MSU in last year's FCS championship game, and No. 5 Tarleton State. Rhode Island, UC Davis, North Dakota, Youngstown State and Lehigh occupy the Nos. 6-10 spots in the rankings.
UC Davis is the ranked the third-highest among Big Sky teams. The Aggies rallied for a 31-24 win over Portland State last week.
Northern Arizona at No. 22 and Idaho State at No. 23 are the other Big Sky teams in the top 25. Like Davis, NAU overcame a double-digit deficit to win last week, coming from behind to beat Eastern Washington 34-27. Idaho State was the only Big Sky team not to play a conference game last week; the Bengals defeated Virginia Military Institute 38-10.
Southern Utah also received votes in the poll after its narrow loss to UM.
