The Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2014 was the SEC West of the FCS ranks. Over the course of the year, including the FCS playoffs, Valley teams played 34 non-conference games against non-FBS competition. Their last such loss was Indiana State's second-round playoff loss to eighth-ranked Tennessee-Chattanooga, and Indiana State had been literally the last at-large team into the playoff field.
The first was on September 13, when South Dakota fought hard but lost 28-20 on the road at Montana. Montana was ranked #4 at the time, and would go on finish the season 9-5, entering the playoffs as the 12th ranked team in FCS.