The Montana–Montana State football rivalry is an annual college football rivalry game between the University of Montana Grizzlies and the Montana State University Bobcats. The game is most historically and commonly known as the Cat-Griz game, and sometimes as the Griz-Cat game. Since 1997, the match has been advertised as the Brawl of the Wild. The winner receives the massive Great Divide Trophy, as the universities are on opposite sides of the continental divide.
The Montana Grizzlies football program represents the University of Montana in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of college football. The Grizzlies have competed in the Big Sky Conference since 1963, where it is a founding member. They play their home games on campus in Missoula at Washington–Grizzly Stadium, where they had an average attendance of 26,978 in 2023.
The Montana State Bobcats football program competes in the Big Sky Conference of the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision for Montana State University. The program began in 1897 and has won three national championships. It is the only college football program in the nation to win national championships on three different levels of competition, NAIA, NCAA Division II, and NCAA Division I-AA. Through the 2024 season, the Bobcats had played in 1,077 games with an all-time record of 548–497–32.
The 2015 Portland State Vikings football team represented Portland State University during the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Bruce Barnum and played their home games at Providence Park, with one home game at Hillsboro Stadium. They were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 9–3, 6–2 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for second place; this was the program's first winning season since 2011. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs, the Vikings first appearance in the FCS playoffs since 2000, where they lost in the second round to Northern Iowa.
The 2018 Montana State Bobcats football team represented Montana State University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by third-year head coach Jeff Choate, the Bobcats compiled an overall record of 8–5 with a mark of 5–3 in conference play, tying for fourth place in the Big Sky. Montana State received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where they defeated Incarnate Word in the first round before losing to the eventual national champion, North Dakota State, in the second round. The Bobcats played their home games at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Montana.
The 2018 Montana Grizzlies football team represented the University of Montana in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Grizzlies were led by first-year coach Bobby Hauck, 8th overall as he previously was head coach from 2003–2009, and played their home games on campus at Washington–Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, Montana as a charter member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 6–5, 4–4 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for sixth place.
The 2019 Montana State Bobcats football team represented Montana State University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Jeff Choate, the Bobcats compiled an overall record of 11–4 with a mark of 6–2 in conference play, placing in a three-way tie for third in the Big Sky. Montana State received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where, after a first round bye, the Bobcats defeated Albany in the second round and Austin Peay in the quarterfinals before losing in the semifinals to the eventual national champion, North Dakota State. The team played home games at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Montana.
The 2021 Montana Grizzlies football team represented the University of Montana as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Grizzlies were led by 11th-year head coach Bobby Hauck and played their home games at Washington–Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, Montana.
The 2021 Montana State Bobcats football team represented Montana State University in the Big Sky Conference during the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by first-year head coach Brent Vigen, the Bobcats played home games on campus at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Montana.
The 2022 Eastern Washington Eagles football team represented Eastern Washington University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by sixth-year head coach Aaron Best, the Eagles played their home games at Roos Field in Cheney, Washington.
The 2022 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho in the Big Sky Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by first-year head coach Jason Eck, the Vandals were 7–4 in the regular season and played their home games on campus at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho. It was the program's first winning season in six years.
The 2022 Cal Poly Mustangs football team represented California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo as member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by Beau Baldwin in his third and final season as head coach, the Mustangs compiled an overall record of 2–9 with a mark of 1–7 in conference play, tying for 11th place in the Big Sky. Cal poly played home games at Mustang Stadium in San Luis Obispo, California.
The 2022 Idaho State Bengals football team represented Idaho State University in the Big Sky Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. In their only season under head coach Charlie Ragle, the Bengals were 1–10 and played their home games on campus at Holt Arena in Pocatello, Idaho.
The 2022 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team represented Northern Arizona University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Chris Ball and played their home games at the Walkup Skydome.
The 2022 Northern Colorado Bears football team represented the University of Northern Colorado as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Ed McCaffrey and played their home games at Nottingham Field. McCaffrey was fired on November 21, 2022, two days after the Bears completed their season with a 3–8 record, repeating the win-loss record of the prior season.
The 2022 Portland State Vikings football team represented Portland State University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by eighth-year head coach Bruce Barnum, the Vikings played their home games off campus at Hillsboro Stadium in Hillsboro, Oregon, a suburb west of Portland.
The 2022 Sacramento State Hornets football team represented California State University, Sacramento as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by third-year head coach Troy Taylor, the Hornets played their home games on campus at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, California.
The 2022 UC Davis football team represented the University of California, Davis as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by sixth-year head coach Dan Hawkins, the Aggies played their home games at UC Davis Health Stadium in Davis, California.
The 2022 Weber State Wildcats football team represented Weber State University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Wildcats were led by ninth-year head coach Jay Hill and played their games at Stewart Stadium in Ogden, Utah. The Wildcats began the regular season ranked number 20 in the FCS rankings. On September 10, the Wildcats defeated the Utah State Aggies, their first win against the Aggies since 1978, and their first win against an FBS opponent since their victory against Nevada in 1993. The Wildcats finished the regular season with a record of 9–2, good enough to qualify for the NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs, their fifth appearance under Jay Hill. The Wildcats defeated North Dakota in the opening round, but were defeated by Montana State the following round. After the season, head coach Jay Hill announced he would step down as Weber State head coach to accept the Defensive Coordinator position at BYU. Offensive coordinator Mickey Mental was announced as Hill's successor.
The 2023 Montana State Bobcats football team represented Montana State University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bobcats were led by third-year head coach Brent Vigen and played home games at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Montana. The Montana State Bobcats football team drew an average home attendance of 21,610 in 2023.
