Montana

For 30 years, Montana football defined what consistency meant in the FCS. The Grizzlies won 25 consecutive games with at least one victory (1986–2011), made the playoff tournament 17 straight years (1993–2009), and claimed two national championships (1995 over Marshall, 2001 over Furman). Under Don Read and then Joe Glenn, the program became a fixture in title games—seven appearances in 15 seasons.

Bobby Hauck took over in 2003 and rebuilt the program twice, compiling 151 wins over 14 seasons (two stints) and matching Hauck's standard as the blue-blood of the Big Sky Conference. The 2025 season saw Montana finish 13–2 and earn the No. 3 playoff seed, but a 48–23 loss to in-state rival Montana State in the FCS semifinals ended the year. Three weeks earlier, Montana State had defeated Montana 31–28 in the regular-season Brawl of the Wild, winning the Big Sky Conference championship. The back-to-back losses to its fiercest rival—combined with Hauck's retirement on February 4, 2026, citing the unenjoyable state of modern college football—marked the end of an era.

Montana now faces a critical question heading into 2026: Can the winning culture that survived 25 consecutive seasons, two championships, and four decades of playoff football sustain under new leadership in the transfer portal and NIL era? The program has the foundation, the stadium in Missoula that holds 25,000, and a fanbase that treats the Grizzlies as the civic heartbeat. What it needs to prove is that elite FCS football is not one coach away from mediocrity.