BOISE, Idaho — The brackets are officially set for the 2026 Starch Madness tournament, and there's a chance for a third Brawl of the Wild matchup early between the Montana State Bobcats and Montana Lady Griz.
The eighth-seeded Lady Griz will face No. 7 Northern Arizona in the first round at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Idaho Central Arena.
Montana beat NAU in the semifinals at last year's tournament, but both teams are in the midst of rebuilding years with first-year head coaches. The Lady Griz and Jacks split the season series.
The winner of that matchup will face the second-seeded Bobcats on Sunday. MSU, which won last year's tournament championship, swept both teams in the regular season.
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But Bobcats head coach Tricia Binford knows it'll require a full team effort in Boise.
"We're going to rely heavily on playing through our bench," Binford said. "When our bench is great, we're great, and we need all of them."
"They're here for a reason," the 21st-year coach added. "They bring a lot to the table, and that's going to be really important going 1-0."
Bobcat sophomore guard Tayle Chirrick is coming off of her sixth Big Sky Conference player of the week honor after scoring 52 points and grabbing 23 rebounds across the three games.
Chirrick also tied the single-season steal record for Montana State and the Big Sky, and will have a chance to take sole possession of the No. 1 spot in Boise.
The Montana State men also earned the No. 2 seed and will face the winner of Idaho versus Sacramento State. The Bobcats split both series with the Vandals and the Hornets this season.
Jed Miller has stepped up as the leader of this year's Montana State squad, becoming a reliable scorer for the Bobcats, who will play at 8 p.m. Sunday.
The Montana men's team earned the No. 4 seed and will face No. 5 Northern Colorado on Monday at 5:30 p.m.
The Griz split the season series with the Bears, with the loss coming in the final game of the regular season on Monday.
Montana head coach Travis DeCuire believes the teams that attack the rim the best in their first games find the most success in the tournament.
"If you can get to the second night, third night, then you probably start shooting the ball a little better," said DeCuire, who led the Griz to last year's tournament title. "You become accustomed to the environment, the atmosphere. ... And then once everybody's played a game and it's gotten comfortable, the shooters start shooting."
It has been almost a decade since a team from Montana wasn't in the men's championship. The last time was 2017 when North Dakota faced Weber State.
