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 Northern Colorado Bears are the athletic teams representing the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado in intercollegiate athletics. The university sponsors seventeen teams including men and women's basketball, cross country, golf, tennis, and track and field; women's-only soccer, softball, swimming and diving, and volleyball; and men's-only baseball, football, and wrestling. The Bears compete in NCAA Division I, with the football team competing at the FCS level, and most teams are members of the Big Sky Conference. Three Northern Colorado teams have separate affiliations in sports that the Big Sky does not sponsor. The baseball team competes in the Summit League, the women's swimming and diving team is an affiliate member of the Western Athletic Conference, and the wrestling team is a member of the Big 12 Conference.
The Northern Colorado Bears football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of Northern Colorado located in Greeley, Colorado. The team competes in the Big Sky Conference at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The university's first football team was fielded in 1893. The team plays its home games at the 8,533 seat Nottingham Field on campus. The Bears announced the hiring of Ed Lamb on December 6, 2022, replacing Ed McCaffrey, who went 6–16 in two seasons.
The 2012 Northern Colorado Bears football team represented the University of Northern Colorado in the 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Earnest Collins Jr. and played their home games at Nottingham Field. They are a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 5–6, 4–4 in Big Sky play to finish in a three way tie for fifth place.
The 2012 Sacramento State Hornets football team represented California State University, Sacramento as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by sixth-year head coach Marshall Sperbeck, Sacramento State compiled an overall record of 6–5 with a mark of 4–4 in conference play, placing in a three-way tie for fifth in the Big Sky. The Hornets played home games at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, California.
The 2013 Northern Colorado Bears football team represented the University of Northern Colorado in the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by third-year head coach Earnest Collins Jr. and played their home games at Nottingham Field. They were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 1–11, 0–8 in Big Sky play to finish in last place.
The 2014 Northern Colorado Bears football team represented the University of Northern Colorado in the 2014 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Earnest Collins Jr. and played their home games at Nottingham Field. They were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 3–8, 2–6 in Big Sky play to finish in a three-way tie for tenth place.
The 2015 Northern Colorado Bears football team represented the University of Northern Colorado in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fifth-year head coach Earnest Collins Jr. and played their home games at Nottingham Field. They were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 6–5, 3–5 in Big Sky play to finish in a three way tie for eighth place.
The 2015–16 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team represented the University of Northern Colorado during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears were led by sixth-year head coach B. J. Hill and played their home games at Bank of Colorado Arena. They were a member of the Big Sky Conference. The Bears finished the season 10–21, 7–11 in Big Sky play to finish in ninth place. They lost to Portland State in the first round of the Big Sky tournament.
The 2016 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team represented Northern Arizona University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 19th-year head coach Jerome Souers and played their home games at the Walkup Skydome. They were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 5–6, 4–4 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for sixth place.
The 2016–17 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team represented the University of Northern Colorado during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears were led by first-year head coach Jeff Linder and played their home games at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley, Colorado. They were members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 11–18, 7–11 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for eighth place. On October 8, 2016, the school self-imposed a postseason ban amid an ongoing NCAA investigation.
The 2017 Northern Colorado Bears football team represented the University of Northern Colorado in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by seventh-year head coach Earnest Collins Jr. and played their home games at Nottingham Field. They were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 3–7, 2–6 in Big Sky play to finish in a three-way tie for ninth place.
The 2017–18 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks men's basketball team represented Northern Arizona University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Lumberjacks were led by sixth-year head coach Jack Murphy and played their home games at the Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, Arizona as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 5–27, 2–16 in Big Sky play to finish in last place. They lost in the first round of the Big Sky tournament to Northern Colorado.
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 2019 Northern Colorado Bears football team represented the University of Northern Colorado in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by ninth-year head coach Earnest Collins Jr. and played their home games at Nottingham Field. They were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 2–10, 2–6 in Big Sky play to finish in a five-way tie for ninth place. On November 24, 2019, Earnest Collins Jr. was let go after nine seasons, he finished at Northern Colorado with a record of 28–72.
The 2019 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team represented Northern Arizona University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 1st-year head coach Chris Ball and played their home games at the Walkup Skydome. They were members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 4–8, 2–6 in Big Sky play to finish in a five-way tie for ninth place.
The 2010 Northern Colorado Bears football team represented the University of Northern Colorado in the 2010 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bears were led by fifth-year head coach Scott Downing and played their home games at Nottingham Field. They were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 3–8 overall and 2–6 in Big Sky play place seventh.
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 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.
