1986 Montana State Bobcats football team

The 1986 Montana State Bobcats football team was an American football team that represented Montana State University in the Big Sky Conference (Big Sky) during the 1986 NCAA Division I-AA football season. In their fourth and final season under head coach Dave Arnold, the Bobcats compiled a 3–8 record (2–5 against Big Sky opponents) and tied for sixth out of eight teams in the Big Sky.

1986 Montana State Bobcats football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	3–8 (2–5 Big Sky)
Head coach	Dave Arnold (4th season)
Home stadium	Sales Stadium

1986 Big Sky Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Nevada $^	7	–	0	–	0			13	–	1	–	0
No. 16 Idaho ^	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Northern Arizona	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Montana*	4	–	4	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Boise State	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Weber State	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Montana State	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Idaho State*	1	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant * – Montana and Idaho State played twice. Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 6	at Fresno State*	Bulldog Stadium Fresno, CA	L 2–55	34,512
September 13	at Sam Houston State*	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	L 6–23	11,500
September 20	Idaho State	Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	W 50–27
September 27	No. 1 Nevada	Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	L 10–61
October 4	Boise State	Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	L 14–31	7,027
October 11	at Weber State	Wildcat Stadium Ogden, UT	L 3–24
October 18	Northern Arizona	Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	W 27–19
October 25	at Montana	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (rivalry)	L 28–59
November 1	Northern Iowa*	Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	W 46–25	5,227
November 8	at Idaho	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	L 17–44
November 15	at Eastern Washington	Roos Field Cheney, WA	L 14–27
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee Poll released prior to the game