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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.
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.
The Skyline Conference was a college athletic conference based in the Western United States that was active from December 1937 to June 1962. The conference's formal name was the Mountain States Athletic Conference, although it was also known as the Mountain States Conference along with informal but popular nicknames. It is unrelated to the contemporary Skyline Conference that is active in NCAA Division III in the New York City area.
The Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament is the conference championship tournament in men's basketball for the Big Sky Conference. The event has been held annually since 1976, the conference's thirteenth year.
The Montana Grizzlies football program represents the University of Montana in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of college football. The Grizzlies have competed in the Big Sky Conference since 1963, where it is a founding member. They play their home games on campus in Missoula at Washington–Grizzly Stadium, where they had an average attendance of 26,978 in 2023.
Portland State Vikings is the nickname of the NCAA-affiliated, intercollegiate athletic teams representing Portland State University of Portland, Oregon. The Vikings compete at the NCAA Division I level in basketball, soccer, volleyball, golf, tennis, softball, indoor and outdoor track and field, and cross country. The university has been a member of the Big Sky Conference since 1996. Along with the other Big Sky football programs, Viking football takes-part in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as NCAA Division I-AA.
The Montana State Bobcats are the varsity athletic teams representing Montana State University in Bozeman in intercollegiate athletics. The university sponsors thirteen teams including men and women's basketball, cross country, skiing, tennis, and track and field; women's-only golf and volleyball; and men's-only football. The Bobcats compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Big Sky Conference with the exception of the men's and women's skiing teams which belong to the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association. Their main rivals are the Grizzlies of the University of Montana in Missoula. Both schools are charter members of the Big Sky Conference, which began competition 61 years ago in the fall of 1963.
The Sacramento State Hornets football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the California State University, Sacramento located in Sacramento, California. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Big Sky Conference. The school's first football team was fielded in 1954. The team plays its home games at the 21,195-seat Hornet Stadium.
The 1970 Montana Grizzlies football team represented the University of Montana in the 1970 NCAA College Division football season as a member of the Big Sky Conference. The Grizzlies were led by fourth-year head coach Jack Swarthout and played their home games at Dornblaser Field.
The 2012–13 Montana State Bobcats men's basketball team represented Montana State University during the 2012–13 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bobcats, led by seventh year head coach Brad Huse, played their home games at Worthington Arena and were members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 13–17, 10–10 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for fourth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament where they lost to Northern Colorado.
The 2015 Montana Grizzlies football team represented the University of Montana in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Grizzlies were led by first-year coach Bob Stitt who took over after 15 years coaching the NCAA Division II Colorado Mines Orediggers. The Grizzlies played their home games on campus at Washington–Grizzly Stadium. Montana participated as a member of the Big Sky Conference, of which they are a charter member. They finished the season 8–5, 6–2 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for second place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated South Dakota State in the first round before losing in the second round to North Dakota State.
The 2015 Big Sky Conference women's basketball tournament was held March 11–14, 2015. The champion of the tournament received an automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA tournament.
The 2017 Big Sky Conference women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Big Sky Conference held from November 1 to 5, 2017. The five-match tournament took place at EWU Soccer Complex, home of the regular-season champions Eastern Washington Eagles. The six-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The Eastern Washington Eagles were the defending champions and successfully defended their title, defeating the Northern Colorado Bears 3–0 in the final. This was the second Big Sky tournament title for the Eastern Washington women's soccer program, both of which have come under the direction of head coach Chad Bodnar.
The 2017–18 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team represented the University of Northern Colorado during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears were led by second-year head coach Jeff Linder and played their home games at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley, Colorado as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 26–12, 11–7 in Big Sky play to finish in fifth place. They defeated Northern Arizona and Weber State to advance to the semifinals of the Big Sky tournament to Montana. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they defeated Drake, San Diego, Sam Houston State and UIC to become CIT champions.
The 2018 Big Sky Conference women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Big Sky Conference held from October 31 to November 4, 2018. The five-match tournament took place at Wildcat Soccer Field, home of the regular-season champions Weber State Wildcats. The six-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The Eastern Washington Eagles were the defending champions and did not successfully defend their title, losing to the Northern Colorado Bears in the quarterfinals. The fifth seeded Montana Grizzlies upset three teams along their way to a championship, beating Northern Colorado 1–0 in the final.
The 2020 Eastern Washington Eagles football team represented Eastern Washington University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Aaron Best, the Eagles played their home games at Roos Field in Cheney, Washington.
The 2020–21 Big Sky Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2020, followed by the start of the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play begins in January 2021 and will conclude in March 2021.
The 2021–22 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball team represented Southern Utah University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Thunderbirds, led by sixth-year head coach Todd Simon, played their home games at the America First Event Center in Cedar City, Utah as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 23–12, 14–6 in Big Sky play to finish in second place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament to Portland State. They received an invitation to The Basketball Classic tournament where they defeated Kent State, UTEP, and Portland to advance to the tournament semifinals. There they lost to Fresno State.
The 2021 Big Sky Conference women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Big Sky Conference held from November 3 to November 7, 2021. The five-match tournament took place at Jackson Stadium, home of the regular-season champions Northern Colorado. The six-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The Montana Grizzlies were the defending champions and successfully defended their title by defeating Weber State in the Finals. This was the sixth overall title for Montana, and the third title for coach Chris Citowicki. Montana and coach Citowicki have won three of the last four Big Sky Conference Tournaments. As tournament champions, Montana earned the Big Sky's automatic berth into the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament.
The 2022 Northern Colorado Bears football team represented the University of Northern Colorado as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Ed McCaffrey and played their home games at Nottingham Field. McCaffrey was fired on November 21, 2022, two days after the Bears completed their season with a 3–8 record, repeating the win-loss record of the prior season.