The Big Sky Conference is riding high. It can once again claim that it’s home to the FCS national champions as Montana State defeated Illinois State in a Nashville thriller. The league also sent three teams to the quarterfinals and two teams to the semis when Montana and Montana State squared off, delivering an FCS playoff record TV viewership of 2.8 million.
That spotlight continues into 2026.
A league-record five conference games will air nationally on ESPN linear networks. And at least four of the five are not on ESPNU, which doesn’t usually deliver strong numbers.
Friday, Aug. 28: Idaho at Cal Poly (8 p.m. MT, ESPN)
Saturday, Sept. 26: NAU at Montana State (8:30 p.m. MT, ESPN2)
Friday, Oct. 2: Montana State at Idaho (8:30 p.m. MT, ESPN)
Saturday, Oct. 3: EWU at UC Davis (8:30 p.m. MT, ESPN2)
Saturday, Nov. 14: Idaho State at Montana (8:30 p.m. MT, TBD)
The Big Sky will likely have three teams preseason ranked in the Top 10: Montana State, Montana, and UC Davis. Northern Arizona and Idaho State have strong arguments to receive votes, while Idaho looks for a return to the postseason after quarterfinal runs in 2023 and 2024.
Quarterback play should be especially strong as the league returns four of its five All-Big Sky selections: Montana’s Keali’i Ah Yat, Montana State’s Justin Lamson, Northern Arizona’s Ty Pennington, and Idaho State’s Jordan Cooke.
The Big Sky’s partnership with ESPN began in 2021, and the league has had 17 conference games air on ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPNU.
