While much of the spotlight fell on unseeded Illinois State as a Cinderella for Monday’s Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) championship game, the No. 2-seeded Montana State Bobcats had faced their own major hurdles in their journey to the game, which they ultimately overcame.
Montana State faced massive changes to its roster and coaching staff ahead of the 2025 season, and the Bobcats started the season 0–2 after losses to Oregon and South Dakota State. In addition, the Bobcats had never made the FCS championship game in back-to-back seasons, and it initially looked like a dominant 10-time champion North Dakota State team would be waiting on the other side of the bracket again, as was the case a year ago for the Bobcats.
