Big Sky's 2027 schedule opens with Montana State hosting Idaho State

The Big Sky Conference released its 2027 football schedule on October 27, setting Montana State's season opener at home against Idaho State in Bozeman on August 28 and leaving the Bobcats off Eastern Washington's nine-game conference slate. It will be Montana State's first season-opening league game since 1973, according to the university.

Montana State's five conference home games

Montana State will host five Big Sky opponents: Idaho State on August 28, Portland State on October 9, Utah Tech on October 23, Idaho on October 30 and Northern Colorado on November 13. The university said the Idaho State opener will also be its first Big Sky game played in Bozeman to begin a season. Idaho State and Idaho are its two longest-running out-of-state series, both scheduled to visit Bobcat Stadium in 2027.

The Bobcats' nonconference game against North Dakota State is scheduled for September 2, 3 or 4 in Las Vegas; the exact day remains unsettled on the university's schedule. Montana State said kickoff times and game designations will be assigned in the spring and summer.

Eastern Washington's schedule omits Montana State

Eastern Washington will not play Montana State in 2027, The Spokesman-Review reported, ending a run of five consecutive seasons in which the Eagles faced the Bobcats. Southern Utah is scheduled to visit Eastern Washington on October 23 for the first time since 2018, when the Thunderbirds previously belonged to the league.

The omission comes in the second season of a three-year scheduling cycle for the 13-team Big Sky, The Spokesman-Review reported. Most members now play nine conference games instead of the eight that had long been customary. Southern Utah is scheduled for eight in 2027 under an arrangement in which it and Utah Tech alternate eight-game seasons. The conference had not announced which opponents would meet every year rather than twice during the three-year cycle.