Most of Montana was watching the action on Saturday at Bobcat Stadium as Montana State handily defeated South Dakota State University 31 - 17, clinching their spot to the NCAA Division I-AA championship game. This marks the first time the Cat's have made it to the championship game since 1984 when they defeated Louisiana Tech 19 - 6.

Montana State v Minnesota
Photo by: Jeff Gross/Getty Images
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The commentators were loving their trip to Big Sky Country.

Watching the game on TV, it was clear the commentators were enjoying their visit to Bozeman. They gave a shoutout to McKenzie River Pizza while sampling slices of The Rancher pie on live TV. One of the sportscasters mentioned he was looking forward to taking his family skiing "about an hour south of here tomorrow", clearly meaning Big Sky. Late in the 4th quarter, when they started mentioning that the Cats are going to Frisco, I thought they were talking about San Fransico, CA. Silly me; it's Frisco TEXAS.

It's a long drive to Frisco.

Frisco, TX is a suburb of Dallas/Fort Worth. Google Maps says it's a 19+ hour drive from Billings, covering 1,339 miles. If your vehicle gets 22 miles-per-gallon and fuel averages $3.35 per gallon, you'll spend about $400 in gas for the round-trip drive to Toyota Stadium. You'll probably require a hotel there and back to break up the long drive, so tack on another $300 or so for accommodations. Of course, you run the risk of hitting really crappy winter weather through Wyoming and Colorado which could easily add hours to your trip.

Google Maps
Google Maps
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Bust out your credit card for airfare.

Since the championship game is just 3 weeks away, prepare to pay "last-minute" ticket prices when booking your airfare. At the time of this writing (12/19), flights from Billings Logan International Airport started at $692, with a quick stop in Phoenix. A three-hour, non-stop flight will set you back $1,190.  You'll save substantially if you choose to fly out of Bozeman, with prices starting at $385.

Photo by Evelyn Liow on Unsplash
Photo by Evelyn Liow on Unsplash
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Bust out the card again for those Championship Game tickets.

Tickets prices run from $350 to $1,250 each. As of this time, there appeared to be a handful of the "cheap seats" still available. For many die-hard Bobcat fans, price is irrelevant when it comes to an opportunity to see the team win their first national title in nearly 40 years.

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