It’s been a while, but for at least one day, fans of the Montana State University-Northern football team will be able to see the Lights on television this fall, statewide.
As part of the new media package with the Frontier Conference, brought to fans by Lyons Productions, the Frontier Conference will have five football games this fall broadcast live on TV on local CW networks.
One of those five games will be when the Lights travel to Helena to take on the defending NAIA national champion Carroll College Fighting Saints on Oct. 1. The game will be able to be seen by fans statewide, in addition to every Frontier game being broadcast live on the internet through Lyon Productions this fall.
In all, five games will be broadcast this year on the CW. The first game to be televised will be on Sept. 17 when Montana Tech travels to Rocky Mountain College. The Sept. 24th game between Carroll and Tech in Butte will be the second telecast, followed by the Northern/Carroll matchup in Helena.
The fourth game on the schedule is set for Oct. 15 when RMC visits Carroll, and the final telecast will be Oct. 29 when Carroll travels to UM-Western in Dillon.
The Frontier season is getting ready to roll, and volleyball will be first up. The MSU-N volleyball team, under the direction of third-year head coach Bill Huebsch opened fall training last Thursday, and the Skylights are practicing twice a day, except on Friday. Northern opens its season with a tournament in Great Falls on Aug. 19-20. All of the other Frontier schools will also open their season the same weekend.
Most Frontier football teams will begin practicing over the weekend. The Lights are set to open camp on Sunday afternoon at the MSU-Northern practice fields. Northern players will report to camp on Friday.
The Frontier football season should be an interesting one, and if the NAIA Preseason Coaches’ Poll is any indication, the league isn’t getting the proper amount of respect in the polls. Aside from Carroll being ranked No. 1, no other Frontier school cracked the preseason Top 25, and RMC received just six votes, while Eastern Oregon and Tech received one vote each. Future Frontier member Dickinson State University is high in the polls however, as the Blue Hawks will start the season ranked No. 7 in the NAIA. Southern Oregon, which will also join the league next season, received a vote in the poll as well.
Speaking of the Blue Hawks and Red Raiders, there will be three matchups with Frontier teams that feature the two future members. DSU opens its season on the road at Rocky on Aug. 27 in Billings, while SOU opens the season on the same day at Tech in Butte. The Red Raiders also play rival Eastern Oregon on Oct. 8 at home.
Northern fans will have a chance to meet this year’s Lights and Skylight athletes as MSU-N is putting on the MSU-Northern Athlete Meet and Greet on Aug. 31. The event will be held at the Holiday Village Mall from 6-8 p.m., and fans are welcome to come in and meet, talk with and get autographs from their favorite Lights and Skylights, as well as coaches.
