The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participate in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The 14 member institutions of the Sun Belt are distributed across the Southern United States.
The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington.
The Great West Conference (GWC) was an NCAA college athletic conference in the continental United States. Originally a football-only league, it became an all-sports entity during the 2008–09 season. The GWC stopped sponsoring football following the 2011 season. The conference became defunct when four of the remaining five full member schools became members of other conferences on July 1, 2013.
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic powers, with large budgets, more elaborate facilities and more athletic scholarships than Division II and Division III as well as many smaller schools committed to the highest level of intercollegiate competition.
NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment offered in Division III.
The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As of the 2024 season, there are 10 conferences and 134 schools in FBS.
The Utah Valley Wolverines represent Utah Valley University in NCAA DI collegiate athletics and sponsor 16 sporting programs. The Wolverines participate in the Western Athletic Conference. The school mascot is the Wolverine, and the colors are green and white. The UVU student section is called The Den. A name change from The Mawl, the student section's previous name, was enacted in 2017. All UVU students can get their Den pass, which includes free admission to all athletic events.
The Southern Utah Thunderbirds are the varsity athletic teams representing Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah in intercollegiate athletics. The university sponsors thirteen teams including five men's sports: basketball, cross country, football, golf, and track and field and eight women's sports: basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, soccer, softball, track and field, and volleyball. The baseball program was dropped after the 2011–12 season. The Thunderbirds compete in NCAA Division I and joined the Big Sky Conference on July 1, 2012, after departing from The Summit League.
The NAU Lumberjacks football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the Northern Arizona University located in Flagstaff, Arizona. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and is a member of the Big Sky Conference. The school's first football team was fielded in 1915. The team plays its home games at the 10,500 seat Walkup Skydome. Brian Wright was hired as the Head Football Coach on December 3, 2023.
The Southern Utah Thunderbirds football program is a college football team that represents Southern Utah University (SUU). With a history dating back to 1963, SUU currently competes in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision as a member of the United Athletic Conference.
The 2009 Utah State Aggies football team represented Utah State University as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Aggies were led by first-year head coach Gary Andersen and played their home games at Romney Stadium. Utah State finished the season with a record of 4–8 overall and 3–5 in WAC play.
The 2010–2014 NCAA conference realignment was a set of extensive changes in conference membership at all three levels of NCAA competition—Division I, Division II, and Division III—beginning in the 2010–11 academic year.
The 2011 UTSA Roadrunners football team represented the University of Texas at San Antonio in the 2011 NCAA Division I FCS football season. It was the first year of play for UTSA. The team was coached by veteran head football coach Larry Coker. The team played its home games at the Alamodome and competed as an independent in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. It was UTSA's only season as a Division I FCS team, as the Roadrunners moved to the Western Athletic Conference for the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Because UTSA was transitioning to the FBS, the NCAA declared the team ineligible for the FCS playoffs.
The 2012 UNLV Rebels football team represented the University of Nevada, Las Vegas during the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Rebels were led by third year head coach Bobby Hauck and played their home games at Sam Boyd Stadium. They were members of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 2–11, 2–6 in Mountain West play to finish in eighth place. This is the third straight year and seventh time in the last nine years that UNLV has finished with only 2 wins.
The 2010–13 Western Athletic Conference realignment refers to the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) dealing with several proposed and actual conference expansion and reduction plans among various NCAA conferences and institutions from 2010 to 2013. Moves involving the WAC were a significant part of a much larger NCAA conference realignment in which it was one of the most impacted conferences. Of the nine members of the WAC in 2010, only two—the University of Idaho and New Mexico State University—remained in the conference beyond the 2012–13 school year, and Idaho departed for the Big Sky Conference after the 2013–14 school year. Five pre-2010 members are now all-sports members of the Mountain West Conference (MW), and another joined the MW for football only while placing most of its other sports in the Big West Conference. Another pre-2010 member joined Conference USA (C-USA) in July 2013.
The 2013 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team represented Southern Utah University in the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by sixth year head coach Ed Lamb and played their home games at Eccles Coliseum. This was their second year as a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 8–5, 5–3 in Big Sky play to finish in a four way tie for fourth place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they lost in the first round to Sam Houston State.
The 2015 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team represented Southern Utah University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by eighth-year head coach Ed Lamb and played their home games at Eccles Coliseum. This was their fourth year as a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 8–4, 7–1 in Big Sky play to be crowned Big Sky champion for the first time. They received the Big Sky's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs where they lost in the first round to Sam Houston State.
The Grand Canyon Trophy Game (also known as the Grand Canyon Rivalry is a series of American college football games, described by some as a rivalry, between the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks and the Southern Utah Thunderbirds. The Grand Canyon Trophy is presented to the winner of the game. The Lumberjacks are the current holder of the trophy.
The 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on August 26, 2016, and ended on December 10, 2016. The postseason concluded on January 9, 2017, with the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship, where the Clemson Tigers defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide to claim their second national title in school history. The championship game was a rematch of the 2016 edition won by Alabama.
The 2016 Utah State Aggies football team represented Utah State University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Aggies were led by fourth-year head coach Matt Wells and played their home games at Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium. This was Utah State's fourth season as members of the Mountain West Conference in the Mountain Division. They finished the season 3–9, 1–7 in Mountain West play to finish in last place in the Mountain Division.
