The Grizzlies are the football team of the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana. They compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of the NCAA and play in the Big Sky Conference.
📜 Montana Grizzlies Football History
Montana fielded its first football team in 1897. For the program's first 5 years, the Grizzlies only faced teams within their own state, but in 1902 the school was one of several to found the Northwest Intercollegiate Athletic Association (NWIAA).
In 1924, Montana joined the Pacific Coast Conference, where the Grizzlies remained until the end of the 1949 season. After a year as an independent school in 1950, Montana moved to the Mountain States Conference in 1951, and this membership lasted a decade.
Following another single independent season, the Grizzlies joined the Big Sky Conference in 1963 as a founding member.
Between 1986 and 2011, Montana enjoyed 25 consecutive winning seasons and claimed the Big Sky championship 15 times.