Fly into Missoula and you land in a river basin ringed by mountains, copper and maroon everywhere. Drive over the Continental Divide and the landscape opens into the Gallatin Valley, blue and gold beneath the Bridger Range. In Montana, these aren’t just colors — they’re identities. The rivalry between Montana and Montana State has run since November 26, 1897. Montana leads the all-time series 74–45–5 through 125 total meetings. Both teams entered the 2025 Brawl ranked in the top three — the highest combined ranking in 128 years of rivalry. Montana State won 31–28, claimed the Big Sky title, then beat Montana again 48–23 in the FCS playoffs, and went on to win the FCS National Championship. This is the fourth-oldest FCS rivalry, the 11th-oldest west of the Mississippi, and the most important afternoon on the Montana sporting calendar.
The Origin and the Trophy
The first game was played on November 26, 1897, in Missoula. Montana won 18–6. The two schools have been arguing about it ever since.
The series was known for decades simply as the Cat-Griz game. The “Brawl of the Wild” branding arrived in 1997 — chosen to reflect the national profile both programs had reached as FCS powerhouses. Since 1993, both teams have scheduled the game as the final regular-season contest of the year, almost always with Big Sky Conference championship and FCS playoff seeding on the line.
The Great Divide Trophy was created in 2001 by artist Dave Samuelson, funded by community donations, and named for the Continental Divide that literally separates the two campuses on opposite sides of the Rocky Mountains. It weighs 306 pounds — among the heaviest trophies in college football. The winning school displays it for a year; the losing school spends that same year trying to take it back. As of after the 2025 Brawl, Montana State leads the trophy series 12–11.
Two Programs, One State
Montana Grizzlies wear copper/maroon and silver, play at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula (capacity 25,217), and hold the FCS record with 27 all-time playoff appearances. UM is the state’s flagship liberal arts institution — known for environmental journalism, law, creative writing, and wildlife biology. Montana’s Olympic sports programs reflect this character: track, cross country, and tennis athletes routinely make postseason appearances while UM’s cross country and skiing programs lean into the surrounding wilderness as a competitive asset. Coach Bobby Hauck, in his second stint leading the program, has rebuilt the Grizzlies into a consistent FCS top-10 presence.
Montana State Bobcats wear blue and gold, play at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman (capacity 20,020), and are the reigning FCS national champions — winning the 2025-26 title with a 35–34 overtime victory over Illinois State on January 5, 2026. Coach Brent Vigen, in five seasons, has not lost a regular-season home game. MSU is a land-grant institution — built to serve the practical needs of a growing frontier state through agriculture, engineering, and the sciences — and has leaned into that identity to become one of the FCS’s most dominant programs of the 2020s.
Both schools compete as charter members of the Big Sky Conference, which has been the premier FCS conference in the American West since its founding in 1963.
The Defining Moments
1968 — The Original Comeback: Montana State trailed 24–9 entering the fourth quarter. Quarterback Dennis Erickson — later a Pac-10 national championship coach — led the Bobcats to 20 points in the final nine minutes. Running back Paul Schafer, who finished with 234 yards on 58 carries, dove into the end zone with 12 seconds remaining for a 29–24 win. Schafer was stopped at the Montana 13-yard line as time expired — the game’s final miracle nearly became the Grizzlies’ instead.
1986 — The Streak Begins: Montana opened its new Washington-Grizzly Stadium by beating Montana State 59–28 on October 25. That win launched “The Streak” — 16 consecutive Grizzly victories from 1986 through 2001, the longest consecutive winning run in series history. During those 16 games, UM won two FCS national championships. Most games weren’t close.
1997 — The Last-Second Field Goal: Montana trailed 25–24 with 22 seconds left, after MSU quarterback Rob Compson drove the Bobcats to a game-winning score. A kickoff sailed out of bounds, giving UM the ball at its own 35 with no time expired. Brian Ah Yat found Justin Olson for 46 yards. Then Kris Heppner kicked a 38-yard field goal as time expired — Montana 27, Montana State 25. The Streak reached 12.
2002 — The Streak Ends: On a snowy, windy day in Missoula, true freshman quarterback Travis Lulay connected with Junior Adams for a 53-yard touchdown in the third quarter. MSU’s defense held Montana’s John Edwards to 8-for-32 passing. Montana State won 10–7, ending the 16-game streak at last. Lulay went on to win multiple Grey Cup championships in the CFL.
2011 — Humiliating the No. 1 Team: Montana State entered the 111th Cat-Griz game ranked #1 in the nation for the first time since 1985. Montana responded with a 36–10 demolition in front of the largest crowd (20,247) ever to attend a Brawl in Bozeman. UM cornerback Trumaine Johnson’s safety set up a go-ahead fourth-down touchdown pass in the first half; the Grizzlies added a 79-yard bomb in the second half and cruised. Montana finished with 309 yards rushing. Note: The NCAA later vacated this win due to booster benefit violations, though it remains in UM’s official program history.
2018 — The Miracle in Missoula: The greatest comeback in series history. MSU trailed 22–0 and rallied behind quarterback Troy Andersen (107 rushing yards, 3 TDs) to take a 29–25 lead with under two minutes left. Montana drove to inside the one-yard line with 14 seconds remaining. MSU coach Jeff Choate called timeout to study UM’s formation. On the play, linemen Tucker Yates and Chase Benson drove their blockers back, linebacker Grant Collins dove into running back Adam Eastwood, and Yates jarred the ball loose — defensive end Derek Marks recovered the fumble to send the MSU bench into chaos. Montana State 29, Montana 25.
2022 — College GameDay Comes to Bozeman: ESPN College GameDay set up on the Montana State campus for the first time. Lee Corso donned the Bobcat mascot head. Then MSU ran the ball on its first 17 plays before attempting a pass, finished with 439 yards rushing, and won 55–21. Montana came in ranked #13; MSU was #3.
2023 — Top-5 Meets Top-5: For the first time in Brawl history, both teams entered ranked in the top 5 of the FCS Stats poll. Montana won 37–7 in Missoula, claimed the Big Sky title outright, and earned the #2 national seed.
2024 — MSU Goes 12-0: #9 Montana came to Bozeman as potential spoilers. #2 Montana State responded with Adam Jones rushing for 197 yards and two touchdowns, including an 88-yard burst to break the game open in the third quarter. MSU won 34–11, completed the first unbeaten regular season (12-0) in program history, and won the outright Big Sky title.
2025 — The Two Brawls:
November 22, Missoula: #2 Montana (11-0) vs #3 Montana State (10-1). First time both teams entered the top 3. The game was tied 21–21 heading into the fourth quarter. With just over a minute left in the third, Montana QB Keali’i Ah Yat’s pass bounced off Michael Wortham’s hands — Bobcat defensive back Caden Dowler snagged the deflection and returned it 34 yards for a touchdown, giving MSU a 24–21 lead. Minutes later, Missoula native Zac Crews blocked a Montana field goal attempt. Justin Lamson then capped a 65-yard scoring drive with a 23-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 31–21. Montana added a late score; final: MSU 31, Montana 28. First road win in the Brawl since 2018. Lamson finished 18-of-20 for 175 yards, adding 80 rushing yards and a touchdown.
December 20, Bozeman — FCS Playoffs: The first-ever playoff meeting, the 125th all-time. Montana had rallied from 20 down to take a 23–20 lead in the third quarter. MSU answered with Taco Dowler catching an 87-yard touchdown pass from Lamson on third-and-20 — the longest play in series history — then Lamson scored twice on the ground. Jones added 131 yards and two touchdowns. Final: MSU 48, Montana 23. Montana State advanced to Nashville, where they beat Illinois State 35–34 in overtime for the FCS national championship — MSU’s second all-time title.
NIL in the Treasure State
Both programs compete in the Big Sky Conference. Montana’s NIL laws operate under a framework built around NCAA baseline rules and institutional disclosure requirements, as Montana does not have a separate comprehensive state NIL statute. Athletes at both schools disclose deals to their athletic compliance offices and ensure no conflict with existing institutional sponsorships — but there is no additional state-mandated waiting period or disclosure timeline beyond what the NCAA requires. The result is a relatively flexible operating environment where athletes can structure endorsements and appearance deals efficiently.
For both programs, the NIL market is primarily community-driven rather than metropolitan-scale. Missoula’s businesses are deeply tied to the university; Bozeman’s fast-growing tech and outdoor recreation economy creates brand partnership opportunities unusual for an FCS program. Montana’s Olympic sports landscape — cross country, skiing, track, and tennis — adds athlete NIL infrastructure across multiple sports, not just football.
Grizzly fans and Bobcat fans can back athletes from both programs directly through RallyFuel. In a state of 1.1 million people with two nationally ranked football programs, fan-powered platforms carry outsized weight — both stadiums pack beyond 20,000 fans regardless of weather, and that intensity translates directly into athlete support. RallyFuel’s weekly college football predictions game lets fans earn points and direct them toward NIL support. The schools leaderboard tracks total fan-driven contributions. The Trophy Case tracks award contenders — with Keali’i Ah Yat (UM) and Adam Jones (MSU) both entering 2026 as legitimate FCS All-American candidates.
Why a 306-Pound Trophy Travels 200 Miles Every November
The state of Montana has about 1.1 million people. Two of its universities produce perennial FCS national championship contenders, fill their stadiums regardless of weather or mid-week scheduling, and generate the most-discussed sporting event in the state every November. The Brawl of the Wild is a cultural institution — the game that determines which half of Montana gets to be smug for the next calendar year.
Montana leads the all-time series 74–45–5 through 125 total meetings. Montana State leads the trophy series 12–11 and holds the FCS national championship. The Grizzlies are the program with more total wins and more playoff appearances. Neither side is satisfied.
Next game: November 21, 2026, in Bozeman.
