November 17, 2024

FRONTIER FCS CENTRAL I NAIA ANNOUNCEMENT I FCS SCHEDULE

HELENA, Mont. – The NAIA announced on Sunday evening that Montana Western and Montana Tech have each been selected for the 2024 NAIA Football Championship Series. Both UMW and MT were announced as the top 12 teams, receiving an opening round bye and will play their first postseason game on Nov. 30.

This is the second straight year that NAIA FCS playoff field features 20 teams with 12 receiving a first round bye, the remaining eight teams will open the FCS on Saturday, Nov. 23 at four campus sites across the country.

Back-to-back Frontier conference champion Montana Western (9-1 overall record) received a bye into the second round and were guaranteed a home game on Nov. 30 in Dillon as No. 4 seed overall. This is the sixth postseason bid in the Bulldogs history.

Montana Tech (9-2 overall record) also received an at-large bid as a No. 7 seed, earning a home field advantage in the second round on Nov. 30.  It was the second straight year that the Orediggers that qualified for the NAIA FCS playoffs, their 11^th time in school history.
Both Montana Western and Montana Tech will wait for a winner from this Saturday’s first-round contests.  It will be determined following that round’s completion.

This is the 13^th time the Frontier has received multiple bids, their second straight year that Frontier Conference had received at least two bids to the playoffs.

The full field features 13 automatic qualifiers and seven at-large berths. In order to qualify for an automatic bid, teams must win their conference regular season or division title. At-large berths were determined by the NAIA Football National Selection Committee. Teams earning an at-large berth must be ranked in the Top 25 of the final NAIA Coaches' Top 25 poll.

The 69^th Annual NAIA Football National Championship will culminate on Dec. 21 at Durham County Memorial Stadium in Durham, N.C.