The 1997 Manhattan Bowl was the final game of the 1996-97 Division I college football season, pitting the No. 1 Michigan Wolverines against the No. 2 Montana State Bobcats. In the last game hosted by the old Hudson River Dome prior to its demolition in the early summer of 1997, Michigan defeated the surprising and non-traditional power of Montana State 34-27 to win its first national championship since 1950, a drought of 46 years for the program with the most titles in college football history.