Big Sky names Eli Gillman and Caden Dowler preseason MVPs

The Big Sky Conference handed its first real preseason signal to the rest of the FCS on July 26 in Spokane, naming Montana’s Eli Gillman the league’s offensive MVP and Montana State’s Caden Dowler its defensive MVP. The awards, unveiled during the expanded 2026 Big Sky Football Kickoff Weekend, immediately placed the two Treasure State powers at the front of the conference conversation and set the early pecking order for a league that expects its title race to reach into the playoff picture again.

Gillman’s selection gave Montana the offensive headline in the conference’s annual summer honors, a notable repeat after he had already been named the Big Sky preseason offensive MVP in 2025. The University of Montana Athletics release on the same day, titled “Gillman named preseason MVP; three Griz earn Big Sky honors,” made clear that the Grizzlies were among the biggest beneficiaries of the preseason voting and that Gillman remains the player most associated with Montana’s hopes of controlling the league’s offensive standard.

Dowler’s honor was just as revealing for Montana State. The Bobcats’ athletics department pointed to his preseason defensive MVP award as part of a broader showing that saw Montana State pace preseason All-Big Sky voting. The Big Sky had already reported that Montana State received 35 first-place votes from the media and 11 from coaches in the preseason polls, a number that underscores how firmly the Bobcats sit at or near the top of the conference’s projected race before a snap has been played.

That combination matters because Big Sky preseason honors are voted on by conference media members and often line up with the teams most likely to shape the national FCS conversation. Dowler’s recognition also matches his recent production, after he won the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year award in 2025 postseason honors. Gillman and Dowler now enter 2026 not just as individual standouts, but as the clearest preseason markers of which programs the league is signaling as standard-bearers.

The timing sharpened the impact. The expanded Big Sky Football Kickoff Weekend ran July 24-27 in Spokane and was sponsored by Northern Quest Resort & Casino, giving the conference a larger stage to frame its preseason narrative. By putting Gillman and Dowler at the top of the announcement, the Big Sky did more than distribute awards. It showed exactly where the league expects the title race, the playoff chase and the national attention to run through this fall.