Bozeman — As college football is set to return, the Montana Television Network is proud to announce the broadcast team that will bring Montana State University Bobcat Football to viewers across the state.
With exclusive rights with the Big Sky Conference, MTN Sports will broadcast 13 conference football games featuring Montana State and Montana, as well as up to eight women's or men's basketball games involving the two schools.
Ashley Washburn will provide sideline coverage for all Bobcat football games this season with former MSU coach Ty Gregorak adding color commentary. Gregorak, the longtime defensive football coach at both Montana and Montana State, has also filled in as a TV analyst on ROOT Sports. The two are joined in the booth by Ben Creighton, who will provide play-by-play. Creighton has been a play-by-play broadcaster for ESPN+ and Pac-12 Networks. Tom Wylie, Sports Director at KRTV, will round out the team.
“I am proud of the team we have assembled to bring Bobcat football to Montanans on broadcast television for the first time in 10 years,” said Quinn Pacini, Vice President and General Manager of KBZK/KXLF. “Ben, Ty, Ashley and Tom are the best in the state, and I am excited to see them on air this season.”
Bobcat fans will recognize Ashley Washburn through her work as a sports reporter and anchor at KBZK/KXLF in Bozeman and Butte.
“It’s been an absolute privilege covering Montana State Athletics the past two years, and I couldn’t be more excited to serve on the sidelines this fall covering Bobcat Football and the Big Sky Conference as a whole,” Washburn said. “Ty, Ben, and Tom are three of the best in the business, and I can’t wait to get to work with this talented team starting in September.”
Washburn joined MTN as a sports reporter in October 2020, relocating from San Diego, California where she was born and raised.
Before moving to Bozeman, she studied journalism at San Diego State University, which included stints at KUSI News, NBC 7 San Diego, and ESPN (Los Angeles). Last fall, she covered the Bobcats every step of the way during their historic run to the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision title game.
Ty Gregorak is no stranger to Bobcat fans. Gregorak, the longtime defensive coordinator at both Montana and Montana State, will provide color commentary for the games MTN Sports will broadcast across the state.
Gregorak is a familiar face in Bozeman, where he lives with his family -- wife Kandice and children, Gabby and Jax.
Gregorak, who spent the 2003-09 and 2011-15 seasons at the University of Montana, plus the 2016-18 seasons at Montana State, now spends his days as a medical sales representative for the Stryker Corporation, a medical technology company based in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Ben Creighton currently serves as a play-by-play broadcaster for Pac-12 Networks and ESPN+ where he has called a variety of sports including men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball, and many others since 2020. Previously, the Portland, Oregon native has also served as the TV Play-By-Play voice of University of Arkansas-Little Rock Men’s Basketball between 2018-20 as well as called high school football state championship games in 2017 and 2018. He also provided both TV and fill-in radio play-by-play for the University of Portland men’s basketball team after graduating from Washington State University in 2014. Outside of calling games, Creighton has also been a TV Sports Anchor in Little Rock as well as Eugene, Oregon.
“I cannot even begin to describe how thrilled I am to call Bobcat Football this fall,” Creighton said. “To be the TV play-by-play voice of a program who just played in the FCS national championship game is an opportunity I do not take lightly. I want to help bring a network quality broadcast that features passion and energy to MTN Montana State telecasts that not only Bobcat fans, but also other Big Sky fans will enjoy and deserve. I’m really looking forward to not only working with Ashley, Ty, Tom, and everyone else in Bozeman but to experiencing Big Sky Football in the biggest way and on the biggest stage. I cannot wait to get started.”
Tom Wylie rounds out the broadcast team serving as a spotter in the booth and providing an on-air presence, as needed.
Tom grew up in Bozeman and attended nearly every Bobcat home game for most of his life. He’s spent the last decade working in local news, working his way from bureau reporter to executive producer. He lives in Great Falls with his wife Tianna and three-year-old daughter Cece.
During his career, Tom has been nominated for two regional Emmy awards. He’s also won and been nominated for several E.B. Craney Awards given out by the Montana Broadcasters Association. He traveled to Frisco, TX to cover the FCS National Title game in January, where he provided coverage and stories for MTN stations across the state.
“Having the opportunity to be a part of the Montana State football broadcasts gives me goosebumps,” Wylie said. “I’ve spent my entire life following and covering Bobcat football and the chance to work alongside this incredible MTN team on game day is a dream come true.”
The first broadcast for this team happens Saturday, September 24 when the Bobcats travel to Eastern Washington. That game can be seen on your local CBS channel (CW in Missoula-Kalispell) viewers can check their local listings for the MTN channel in their area.
The Bobcats are coming into 2022 off a run to the FCS national championship game in 2021. MSU went 12-3 in 2021 and 7-1 in conference play. MSU advanced to the title game in Frisco, Texas where they eventually fell to FCS powerhouse North Dakota State.
This is one of the final pieces of an exciting, new partnership between the Big Sky Conference and Scripps, owner of the Montana Television Network. Throughout the 2022 season, thirteen Montana State and Montana conference football games will be broadcast free to television viewers over the air. This lineup includes the 121st Brawl of the Wild on Saturday, November 19, pitting the Bobcats against the Grizzlies
About the Montana Television Network (MTN): MTN is the largest group of broadcast television stations in Montana. It includes KTVQ Billings, KBZK Bozeman, KXLF Butte, KRTV & KTGF Great Falls, KTVH & KXLH Helena, KAJ Kalispell, and KPAX Missoula. MTN is the official broadcast partner of the Big Sky Conference and delivers complete coverage of the Grizzlies on air and online at MontanaSports.com.
About Scripps: The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) is a diversified media company focused on creating a better-informed world. As one of the nation’s largest local TV broadcasters, Scripps serves communities with quality, objective local journalism and operates a portfolio of 61 stations in 41 markets. The Scripps Networks reach nearly every American through the national news outlets Court TV and Newsy and popular entertainment brands ION, Bounce, Defy TV, Grit, ION Mystery, Laff, and TrueReal. Scripps is the nation’s largest holder of broadcast spectrum. Scripps runs an award-winning investigative reporting newsroom in Washington, D.C., and is the longtime steward of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Founded in 1878, Scripps has held for decades to the motto, “Give light and the people will find their own way.”
About the Big Sky Conference: Founded in 1963, the Big Sky Conference [bigskyconf.com] is an NCAA Division I conference competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. With 165 teams representing 15 institutions in 16 sports (seven men’s, nine women’s), the Big Sky prides itself on its “#ExperienceElevated” platform that emphasizes the unique traits and lifelong benefits that the conference and its member institutions provide to around 4,000 student-athletes each year. The conference has 11 full members (Eastern Washington University; the University of Idaho; Idaho State University; the University of Montana; Montana State University; Northern Arizona University; the University of Northern Colorado; Portland State University; California State University, Sacramento; and Weber State University) located in eight states across the western United States, plus two football affiliate members (California Polytechnic State University and the University of California, Davis) and two men’s golf affiliate members (Binghamton University and the University of Hartford). Conference members have won 12 NCAA championships, including seven in football by five different members as well as five of the last six men’s cross country titles by NAU.
