The Big Sky Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. As of 2023, full member institutions are located in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Two affiliate members from California are football–only participants.
Golden West College (GWC) is a public community college in Huntington Beach, California.
Jacksonville State University is a public university in Jacksonville, Alabama. Founded in 1883, Jacksonville State offers programs of study in six academic schools leading to bachelor's, master's, education specialist, and doctorate degrees in addition to certificate programs and continuing education opportunities.
Central Connecticut State University is a public university in New Britain, Connecticut. Founded in 1849 as the State Normal School, CCSU is Connecticut's oldest publicly-funded university. It is made up of four schools: the Ammon College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences; the School of Business; the School of Education and Professional Studies; and the School of Engineering, Science, and Technology. As of Spring 2022, the university was attended by 8,898 students: 7,054 undergraduate students and 1,844 graduate students. More than half of students live off campus and 96 percent are Connecticut residents. The school is part of the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities system (CSCU), which also oversees Eastern, Western, and Southern Connecticut State Universities.
Weber State University is a public university in Ogden, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy and earned its current name in 1991.
Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium is an outdoor football stadium in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium has been the home stadium of the Jackson State Tigers football team since 1970. Originally known as War Veterans Memorial Stadium, it was later known as Hinds County War Memorial Stadium. It was redesigned and enlarged in 1960 and Ole Miss vs. Arkansas dedicated Mississippi Memorial Stadium in 1961 before a capacity crowd of 46,000. With political support from Ole Miss and Mississippi State and leadership from Ole Miss Athletics Director Warner Alford, Mississippi Memorial Stadium was enlarged to 62,500 in 1981 and on September 26, 1981 Ole Miss and Arkansas again dedicated the facility before 63,522.
The Missouri State Bears and Lady Bears are the athletic teams representing Missouri State University. Missouri State's athletics programs date back to 1908. Missouri State competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, but will start a transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision on July 1, 2024. The majority of sports play in the Division I Missouri Valley Conference. Missouri State football competes in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and the women's beach volleyball team, nicknamed Beach Bears instead of "Bears" or "Lady Bears", competes in Conference USA (CUSA), having moved from the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association after the spring 2023 season. Men's swimming & diving had competed in the Mid-American Conference through the 2023–24 season, but sponsorship of that sport transferred from that conference to the MVC in July 2024. Missouri State will become a full member of CUSA on July 1, 2025.
Leon "Pop" Bright, Jr. is a former Gridiron football player in the Canadian Football League for four years and in the National Football League for five years.
The 1981 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1981 Big Ten Conference football season. In their third year under head coach Joe Salem, the Golden Gophers compiled a 6–5 record and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 274 to 264. It was the final season in Memorial Stadium.
The 1981 Clemson Tigers football team represented Clemson University in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Tigers were led by head coach Danny Ford and played their home games in Memorial Stadium. Clemson finished their undefeated 1981 season with a 22–15 victory over the #4 Nebraska Cornhuskers in the 1982 Orange Bowl, and were voted #1 in the Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI) polls.
Sarkis "Sark" Arslanian was an American college football coach. He served as the head coach at Weber State College from 1965 to 1972 and at Colorado State University from 1973 to 1981, compiling a career college football head coaching record of 95–73–6 (.563).
Walter J. Weber was an American football player and coach at the University of Michigan. He played halfback and fullback for the Wolverines in 1925 and 1926 on the same teams as Benny Friedman and Bennie Oosterbaan. He later became an assistant football coach at Michigan for 28 years from 1931 to 1958. He continued to work for the University of Michigan in recruiting and alumni relations and as an instructor of physical education until his retirement in 1972. He also provided color commentary on WPAG radio's broadcasts of Michigan football games with Bob Ufer. From 1927 to 1930, he was football coach at Benton Harbor High School, leading the Tigers to the state championship in 1929. He was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1981 as part of the fourth group of inductees. Only seven football players were inducted into the Hall of Honor before Weber.
The 2002 Iowa State Cyclones football team represented the Iowa State University in the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team captains were Zach Butler, Jordan Carstens, Seneca Wallace, and Chris Whitaker. The Cyclones were quarterbacked by Seneca Wallace. Seneca is among many former Cyclones from the 2002 team to make it to the NFL. Others were Ellis Hobbs, Jordan Carstens, Jeremy Loyd. Iowa State would conclude its season by playing in the 2002 Humanitarian Bowl. It was Iowa State's third consecutive bowl appearance—the two previous bowls were the 2000 Insight.com Bowl and the 2001 Independence Bowl.
Dave Arslanian is an American former college football coach and player. He served as the head football coach at Weber State University from 1989 to 1997 and Utah State University from 1998 to 1999, compiling a career college football coaching record of 60–62.
The Idaho State Bengals football program represents Idaho State University in college football. The Bengals play their home games at the ICCU Dome, an indoor facility on campus in Pocatello, Idaho. Idaho State is a charter member of the Big Sky Conference in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Through the 2022 season, the Bengals have an all-time record of 478–545–20 (.468). Idaho State's current head coach is Cody Hawkins, who was hired on December 11, 2022.
The Indiana State Sycamores football team is the NCAA Division I football program of Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana. They compete in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The team last played in the NCAA Playoffs in the 2014 NCAA Division I Football Championship. Their first season was 1896. The Sycamore's greatest season was 1983, when coach Dennis Raetz led them to the 2nd round of the 1983 NCAA Division I Football Championship and ended the season with a record of 9–4. The Sycamores also appeared in 1984 NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs. The Indiana State Sycamores play their home games at Memorial Stadium, which seats 12,764.
The Pittsburg State Gorillas football team represents Pittsburg State University in collegiate level football. The Pittsburg State football team was formed in 1908, competes in NCAA Division II and is affiliated with the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA). The Gorillas play their home games at Carnie Smith Stadium, more commonly referred to as "The Jungle", in Pittsburg, Kansas. Pittsburg State has won more games than any other program in NCAA Division II history. It has won four national championships and 27 conference championships, including 13 conference titles in 20 seasons under former head coach Chuck Broyles.
The 1981 Idaho State Bengals football team represented Idaho State University in the Big Sky Conference during the 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Bengals were led by second-year head coach Dave Kragthorpe and played their home games at the ASISU Minidome, an indoor venue on campus in Pocatello, Idaho.
The 1981 Louisville Cardinals football team was an American football team that represented the University of Louisville as an independent during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their second season under head coach Bob Weber, the Cardinals compiled a 5–6 record and were outscored by a total of 212 to 180.
The 1981 Montana State Bobcats football team represented the Montana State University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by Sonny Lubick in his fourth and final year as head coach, the Bobcats compiled an overall record of 3–7 and a mark of 1–6 in conference play, placing seventh in the Big Sky.
