No. 1 Montana State will face No. 2 North Dakota State in the 2025 Division I FCS National Championship game. Kickoff is scheduled for Jan. 6 at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.

It would be Montana State’s first FCS national championship since 1984 when the Bobcats defeated Louisiana Tech in Charleston, South Carolina. North Dakota State is seeking its tenth FCS national championship, but the Bison have not won it all since 2021 when they defeated the Bobcats.

2024 FCS Playoff Bracket

2024 Prediction Record: 175-46
2022-23 Record: 207-75

Kickoff: 6 p.m. CT (ESPN)
Line: Montana State (-3.5)
Series History: Montana State leads 21-17

Key Players: Montana State

Tommy Mellott (QB): 190-for-276 (68.8%), 2,564 Passing Yards, 29 Passing TDs, 2 INTs, 915 Rushing Yards, 14 Rushing TDs

Scottre Humphrey (RB): 188 Carries, 1,360 Rushing Yards, 7.2 YPC, 15 Rushing TDs

Adam Jones (RB): 173 Carries, 1,134 Rushing Yards, 6.6 YPC, 14 Rushing TDs

Brody Grebe (DL): 35 Total Tackles, 10 TFLs, 8.5 Sacks, 5 PBUs, 8 QBHs, 1 FF, 2 FRs

Kenneth Eiden IV (DL): 26 Total Tackles, 9.5 TFLs, 8 Sacks, 5 QBHs, 1 FR

Key Players: North Dakota State

Cam Miller (QB): 239-for-329 (72.6%), 3,052 Passing Yards, 31 Passing TDs, 4 INTs, 510 Rushing Yards, 10 Rushing TDs

CharMar Brown (RB): 227 Carries, 1,104 Rushing Yards, 4.9 YPC, 14 Rushing TDs

Bryce Lance (WR): 66 Receptions, 964 Receiving Yards, 14.6 YPC, 16 Receiving TDs

Logan Kopp (LB): 69 Total Tackles, 8 TFLs, 3 Sacks, 3 INTs, 6 PBUs, 1 FF, 1 FR

Eli Mostaert (DL): 56 Total Tackles, 11.5 TFLs, 6 Sacks, 4 QBHs

Montana State has a chance to make history, becoming only the third team in college football history to finish 16-0, joining 2019 North Dakota State and 1894 Yale. The Bobcats have been the most dominant team in the nation all season, winning by an average of 24 points per game.

It starts with the most electric player at the FCS level, quarterback Tommy Mellott. Mellott is completing over 68% of his passes for 2,564 yards, 29 touchdowns, and only two interceptions. He leads the nation in passing efficiency while being dangerous outside the pocket with his legs. Averaging over 8.4 yards per carry, Mellott has recorded over 900 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns for the Bobcats. His playmaking ability will test North Dakota State’s linebackers and safeties in space.

The Bobcats are averaging 301 rushing yards per game this season, ranking No. 2 nationally. The dynamic duo of Scottre Humphrey and Adam Jones have combined for over 1,500 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns. Montana State’s offensive line is the catalyst for its dominance on the ground, headlined by All-American Marcus Wehr.

The Bison defense has done an excellent job of generating negative plays, which will be a huge key in this game. North Dakota State led all playoff teams with a tackle-for-loss rate of over 10%, led by Eli Mostaert (11.5 TFLs) and Kody Huisman (7.5 TFLs). The interior of the Bison defensive line has continued to be dominant, which will be something to watch against an impressive Montana State offensive line.

North Dakota State’s linebackers will be in the spotlight against this dynamic Montana State offense. Logan Kopp leads the unit with 69 total tackles, eight tackles for loss, three sacks, and three interceptions. The Bison rank No. 116 nationally in tackling this season, which will be a point of emphasis on Monday night.

While Mellott will challenge the Bison defense, North Dakota State has its own dynamic weapon in quarterback Cam Miller. Miller has completed 72.6% of his passes for 3,052 yards, 31 touchdowns, and only four interceptions. In multiple games this season, Miller has shown an elite ability to make a play when the Bison need it most, leading game-winning drives in key moments. His connection with wide receiver Bryce Lance is dangerous, leading to a single-season record 16 receiving touchdowns.

Montana State’s secondary will be tested in this game, but the Bobcats have been outstanding against the pass, holding opponents to 190.2 passing yards per game. A key aspect of this Montana State defense is the pass rush, led by Brody Grebe and Kenneth Eiden IV. The duo has combined for 19.5 tackles for loss and 16.5 sacks. North Dakota State’s offensive line allows pressure on less than 20% of all dropbacks, anchored by All-Americans Grey Zabel and Mason Miller. Will the Bobcats be able to make Miller uncomfortable in the pocket on Monday night? It will be one of the biggest keys of the game.

North Dakota State has ended Montana State’s postseason journey four times since 2018, including a dominant win over the Bobcats in the FCS National Championship game three seasons ago. Will the Bobcats finally find a way past the Bison in the postseason?

I expect an extremely competitive game on Monday night at Toyota Stadium. This North Dakota State team has silenced the doubters all season long, but there is a special feeling around this Montana State squad. From Week 0 until now, the Bobcats have been the nation’s most dominant and consistent team. Mellott leads Montana State on a game-winning drive late, securing the program’s first national championship since 1984.

Prediction: Montana State (38-31)

Behind The Numbers: FCS National Championship Preview
FCS National Championship: Offensive Spotlight
FCS National Championship: Defensive Spotlight
History Of The FCS National Championship Game
2024 FCS Playoffs: Official Bracket, Schedule, Scores

Follow FCS Football Central on social media for ongoing coverage of FCS football, including on X, Facebook, and YouTube.

In a years-long fight to stop a power plant near Laurel from releasing the pollution equivalent of 167,000 cars per year, the Montana Supreme Court decided unanimously that both the state’s Department of Environmental Quality as well as NorthWestern Energy had skirted the state’s environmental law by refusing to acknowledge or take action on the greenhouse gases released by the power plant. But the decision will do little to stop the already-operational power plant.

The ruling will now force the DEQ to go back and fully analyze the pollution impacts of the 18 methane-combustion generators, and report the effects that greenhouse gases and industrial lighting will have on the environment.

However, the Montana Supreme Court orders will do nothing to stop or change the operations — at least not immediately — or halt any of the pollution the two environmental groups proved will happen.

Owing to a unique set of circumstances and unconstitutional laws passed by the Montana Legislature and struck down later, the Montana Supreme Court said that because the DEQ was following the law at the time, and because the environmental groups did not ask the district court judge to halt the operational permit for the Laurel Generation Station, it will be allowed to operate under its current permit, even though the justices acknowledged that state government, including the DEQ and the governor, have a constitutionally mandated obligation to protect the environment from harm.

The ruling was cheered by NorthWestern Energy, the state largest public utility company, as it noted the plant was running to provide energy to customers in the state’s largest county even as the forecast called for as much as 10 inches of snow during the weekend.

“Today’s Montana Supreme Court’s decision reinstating the Yellowstone County Generating Station permit will help ensure reliable energy service and keep bills as low as possible for our customers. This is good news for Montanans already relying on the critical, cost-saving capacity of the 175-megawatt Yellowstone County Generating Station, including for power during this first winter storm of 2025,” said NWE spokeswoman Jo Dee Black.

The successful environmental groups cheered the ruling as a reinforcement of the Montana Constitutional mandate that requires a “clean and healthful environment,” but noted the ruling will have little effect on the substantial air pollution that neither NorthWestern or DEQ denies the plant will produce.

“We are pleased that the Montana Supreme Court has ruled that Montanans deserve to know the full harm that the 770,000 tons of annual climate pollution NorthWestern Energy’s power plant will impose on our farmers, ranchers, economy, and health,” said Edward Barta, chair of Northern Plains Resource Council, one of the two groups that brought the lawsuit. “However, we are disappointed that NorthWestern’s dangerous plant is allowed to continue operations without any accountability for the state ignoring our constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment. It’s time for DEQ to take its job seriously so that everyday Montanans are not sacrificing their health and livelihoods for one corporation’s profits.”

The Sierra Club was the other organization that challenged the Laurel Generation Station.

The Supreme Court order, authored by Justice Beth Baker, said that despite the Legislature’s attempt to gut the Montana Environmental Policy Act, it can’t avoid the constitution’s mandate. Furthermore, it said that even though the plant is operational, the DEQ must go through and analyze, and even possibly require mitigation in the future.

What was not in dispute is the amount of greenhouse gases and other pollutants the Laurel Generation State will produce, and the court outlined those:

• 75 tons of Particulate Matter 10
• 28 tons of Particulate Matter 2.5
• 222 tons per year of nitrogen oxides
• 246 tons per year of carbon monoxide
• 215 tons per year of volatile organic compounds
• 14 tons per year of sulfur dioxide
• 93 tons of hazardous air pollutants
• The equivalent of 769,706 of carbon dioxide

The Montana Supreme Court also said that while the Montana Environmental Policy Act does not allow the DEQ to necessarily stop the construction of a power plant like the one in Laurel, it said that a thorough analysis of its effects must be studied and disclosed to the public. Moreover, depending on the results of those analyses, the DEQ could require changes to design or apply other parts of state law to stop or mitigate pollution:

The Supreme Court also said that the DEQ or other state officials cannot rely solely on federal standards for pollution because of the state’s constitutional requirement of a clean and healthful environment.

“Federal standards tell the people of Montana little or nothing about any potential impact of the greenhouse gas emissions of the Laurel Generation State specifically, and do not satisfy the Montana Environmental Policy Act’s role in fulling ‘the strongest environmental protection provision found in any state constitution,’” the ruling said.

It also said that even if the state DEQ will not stop a proposed project like the Laurel Generation Station, that it has an obligation to “identify impacts and acknowledge their significance.”

The court’s opinion also faulted the DEQ for failing to address or respond to hundreds of comments raising concerns about the environmental impact of the plant, noting that the vast majority of the public response to the project was negative, and criticized the department’s silence on the subject of air pollution.

As part of the case, the Supreme Court also found that the DEQ had properly considered the noise impacts of the plant, and reversed District Court Judge Michael Moses’ portion of the ruling, which said the agency had not properly considered it. However, the state’s highest court affirmed that the DEQ did not conduct an adequate review of the possible light pollution from the plant, and its effects on the property owners around it.

The justices ordered the DEQ to conduct an analysis, which could mean the NWE would have to change some lighting around the plant, which sits approximately 300 feet from the banks of the Yellowstone River and nearby the CHS refinery.

Justice Laurie McKinnon along with Justice Ingrid Gustafson, agreed with the fellow justices, making it unanimous that the Supreme Court found that the state had failed to conduct a proper review under the Montana Environmental Policy Act, and acknowledged the impacts the power plant could have on the environment.

However, they dissented in part, saying that the court’s rationale and findings were undermined by its conclusion to let the plant continue ahead with operations, despite the fact that none of the parties disputed the pollution it would create.

“Alarmingly, and in contravention of clear precedent, the remedy the court chooses to do is nothing. The court allows the Laurel Generation Station to continue with its environmental harm and remands so that public may be informed of what it already knew — the consequential impact on its community from LGS’s emission of greenhouse gases,” the dissent said. “The only relief that can ensure the public is not irreparably harmed is to prevent the Laurel Generation Station from becoming operational until adequate Montana Environmental Policy Act review is completed. Our decision is empty and will be meaningless to the Montanans who want and believe the plant should be evaluated for its greenhouse gases before it becomes operational.”

LGS plant SupCo 010325

HELENA — On Friday, with just three days to go before the start of the Montana Legislature’s 69^th session, lawmakers were already at the State Capitol – some going through trainings on state law and the budget, others laying out their priorities for the session.

However, the real work starts on Monday. Legislators will have 90 working days to make decisions on key issues for people across the state, from taxes to health care to housing.

Republicans again hold the majority in both the House and Senate – as they have for every session since 2011. Sen.-elect Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, the incoming Senate president, says he’s expecting a “conservative bent” to the session, especially in light of the Republican victories at the federal level.

Regier says he believes it’s not a matter of whether lawmakers will approve tax relief this session, but of how much relief they’ll approve and how it will be done. During the 2023 session, Republican leaders endorsed a package of six tax- and budget-related bills that moved quickly through the process. Regier said it may be different this time around.

“I don’t picture it going through fast and unanimous at all,” he said. “Everybody’s got an idea of where they want to cut taxes: The governor obviously wants income tax, I know the Senate wants property tax, they’re talking about vehicle license fees – that goes to the general fund and it doesn’t need to – whether it’s child tax credit, veterans’ pensions, Social Security exemption – there’s been a lot of ideas floated around in the Senate.”

Regier said he believes his caucus wants to take a harder look at the state budget, to find areas where they can address spending.

Democrats in the Legislature have said tackling what they call a “crisis of affordability” in Montana is their top goal. They want to prioritize property tax relief as well, though they’ve argued their own proposals will be focused on targeting that relief to lower- and middle-income Montanans. They want to see more state investment in child care and in public schools, and to increase support for affordable housing.

House Minority Leader Rep. Katie Sullivan, D-Missoula, believes, despite differences, there are still areas where Democrats can find common ground with Republicans.

“I think the people of Montana have made it quite clear what we need to do when we get to Helena in January, and that includes property tax relief, housing costs, affordability of our everyday-to-day lives,” she said. “I think those are all big areas for bipartisan support, and I do expect that we work together to get those things done as quickly as possible.”

Sullivan also said she hopes the Legislature will act quickly to extend Montana’s Medicaid expansion program, so it doesn’t hang over the entire session. Republicans in the Legislature remain split on whether to continue the program.

One area GOP leaders are putting special emphasis on this session is proposed legislation to reform Montana’s judicial branch. Regier and House Speaker Rep. Brandon Ler, R-Savage, held a news conference at the Capitol Friday morning to highlight some of the 27 draft bills that came out of a Republican-led committee during the interim.

During the last two sessions – dating back to a 2021 dispute – Republicans have accused judges of systemic bias against conservatives and of issuing rulings that overstepped their proper authority. Those arguments have continued after more rulings this year – notably the Held v. Montana climate change lawsuit.

“With the egregious overreach of our judicial branch. I believe it is our job as the Legislature to do our due diligence in being their check and balance on government,” said Ler Friday.

Some of the most notable proposals include making judicial elections partisan, creating a new “Court of Chancery” appointed by the governor to handle business and constitutional cases, and changing the procedures for evaluating and disciplining judges.

Democrats have consistently pushed back against what they call “attacks on the judiciary,” and they refused to participate in the committee that proposed the 27 bills. Senate Minority Leader Sen. Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade, said he believed judges are doing their jobs properly, but that legislative leadership simply didn’t like the rulings.

“If you weaken the judicial branch, you are in effect weakening the power of our constitution,” he said. “We know Montanans love their constitution, and we want to make sure that our judges have the ability, in an impartial way, to uphold the integrity of that constitution. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure that we can deliver that for Montanans.”

The 2025 legislative session will officially get underway on Monday, Jan. 6, at noon, when House and Senate members take the oath of office.