Montana State Football’s Entrance Is One Of The Coolest Traditions In Sports, Will Give You Goosebumps

• When Montana State football takes the field in front of a sold-out crowd with snowy mountains in the background, it is absolute scenes.
• The Bobcats’ rodeo team leads the way on horseback and it is one of the coolest things in football.
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Montana State football is headed to its second-ever FCS national championship. The Bobcats are on an absolute tear through the playoffs and knocked off the No. 1 seed and defending runners-up en route to the final in Frisco, Texas.

After beating top-seeded Sam Houston State in the quarterfinals, MSU hosted the semifinals matchup against South Dakota State on Saturday. The Bobcats, of the Big Sky Conference, play at Bobcat Stadium. Situated in the foothills of the beautiful mountain range, it holds an official capacity just short of 18,000 people.

However, 20,457 faithful fans packed into the stands for Saturday’s historic game.

It was the first time in school history that Montana State hosted a semifinal bout and the scene couldn’t have been better. Temperatures were in the 20s, a snowstorm blew in less than 48 hours prior, and it made for a gorgeous setting.

Prior to the game, the Bobcats took the field as they always do. It’s one of the coolest traditions in the sport. The sold-out crowd and snow-dusted backdrop made it even that much more special on Saturday.

Montana State, as one might guess, is a big Western school.

The university’s women’s rodeo team captured its third national championship in June and was led by the overall individual champion, Paige Rasmussen. Paige is the daughter of Professional Bull Riding’s official entertainer, Flint Rasmussen.

I spent the day with Flint back in July and he is a down to earth, genuinely hilarious person. His daughter is sick at rodeo.

Before the team runs out every game, Rasmussen and her teammates leads the way. Seven ladies on horseback, holding flags that spell out B-O-B-C-A-T-S, canter between two rows of band members as fire and fireworks go off around them.

The team then follows their escort. It’s so cool.

Here is another entrance from a couple of years back:

Saturday’s game was made even better by the result.

After the regular season came to a close, head coach Brent Vigen made a difficult decision at quarterback. He chose to bench his quarterback that had started all season in favor of a freshman, nicknamed “Touchdown Tommy” Mellott.

It ended up being the right decision. His stats in the playoffs have been exceptional:

• Round 2 (the Bobcats got a bye in Rd. 1): 231 total yards, two touchdowns
• Quarterfinals: 245 total yards, five touchdowns
• Semifinals 388 total yards, four touchdowns

In large part due to Mellott’s performance, Montana State beat South Dakota State to reach the FCS national championship against North Dakota State.

After the game, the fans stormed the field and it was an absolutely incredible scene.

The Bobcats will face the Bison in Frisco, Texas on January 8th.