Illinois State got off to a 3–1 start in non-conference play, losing only to FBS opponent Oklahoma. They began Missouri Valley Football Conference play with a home game versus No. 1 North Dakota State and were trounced 33–16. A loss to Youngstown State two weeks later saw them drop to No. 18 in the polls but the Redbirds responded with victories over No. 21 South Dakota and No. 16 South Dakota State before closing out the regular season with a loss to No. 24 Southern Illinois. With a conference record of 5–3 and finishing 8–4 overall, the Redbirds were among the last teams to get into the FCS playoffs, being one of six MVFC teams in the bracket but were also unseeded. They defeated No. 17 Southeastern Louisiana 21–3 to set up a matchup with No. 1 North Dakota State. They pulled off a last-minute upset to win 29–28 and reach the quarterfinals. They then defeated No. 11 UC Davis 42–31 and then beat No. 9 Villanova 30–14 (the largest semifinal win by a road team in the last 30 years) to reach the championship game. They are the first FCS team to win four straight playoff games on the road.[7]
This was the 15th consecutive FCS championship game with a team from the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Illinois State's last championship appearance came in 2014 when they lost to North Dakota State 29–27. They were attempting to win their first Division I championship as a program. They were attempting to become the first unseeded team to win the FCS championship since Western Kentucky in 2002.[8]
Ranked No. 4 in the polls to start the year, Montana State got off to a rough start for the season, losing 59–13 to FBS opponent Oregon before falling to No. 2 South Dakota State 30–24 in double overtime. However, the Bobcats did not lose another game for the rest of the regular season, winning nine games in a row to set up a pivotal matchup for the Big Sky championship versus in-state rival Montana; with Montana State ranked No. 3 and Montana ranked No. 2, it was the first top-3 matchup in rivalry history.[9] Playing on the road, the Bobcats won 31–28. Both teams received a first round bye, with Montana State being ranked No. 2 only to North Dakota State. The Bobcats defeated No. 24 Yale 21–13, No. 10 Stephen F. Austin 44–28 to set up the first-ever December rivalry game with No. 3 Montana. They trounced them 48–23 to reach the FCS championship game.
This was the third FCS championship game for Montana State in the past six seasons, as they previously lost to North Dakota State in 2021 and 2024. The most recent time that Montana State won the FCS title had been in 1984 against Louisiana Tech with a 19–6 win in Charleston, South Carolina, while the most recent Big Sky team to win the national championship had been Eastern Washington in 2010.[10]
