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.
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 Boise State Broncos are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Boise State University, located in Boise, Idaho. The Broncos compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Mountain West Conference (MW). The Broncos have a successful athletic program overall, winning the WAC commissioner's cup for the 2005–06 and 2009–10 years. Boise State joined the MW on July 1, 2011.
The University of Wyoming men's basketball program, which competes in the Mountain West Conference, with the schools first recorded game dating back to 1905. Wyoming won the 1943 NCAA championship under Hall of Fame coach Everett Shelton and behind star guard Ken Sailors, who pioneered the jump shot that is now the standard in basketball. Wyoming has made a total of 16 appearances in the NCAA tournament. Since the Mountain West was formed in 1999, Wyoming has won two conference titles, including an outright championship in 2002. Prior to that, Wyoming won five championships in the Western Athletic Conference, eight championships in the Skyline Conference, and one championship in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
The Boise State Broncos men's basketball team represents Boise State University in the Mountain West Conference. The Broncos are led by head coach Leon Rice, hired in March 2010, and play their home games on campus at ExtraMile Arena in Boise, Idaho. BSU's most recent appearance in the NCAA tournament was in 2023.
The Colorado State Rams men's basketball team represents Colorado State University, located in Fort Collins, in the U.S. state of Colorado, in NCAA Division I basketball competition. They play their home games at the Moby Arena and are members of the Mountain West Conference. They are led by head coach Niko Medved.
The San Jose State Spartans men's basketball team represents San José State University in NCAA Division I college basketball as a member of the Mountain West Conference.
The Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team is the basketball team that represents University of Northern Colorado (UNC) in Greeley, Colorado, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Big Sky Conference.
Eugene Anthony Bleymaier is an American university administrator who was most recently special advisor to the president at San Jose State University. Bleymaier was previously an athletic director, first at Boise State University from 1982 to 2011 and San Jose State from 2012 to 2017.
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 2016–17 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 2017–18 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 2018–19 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team represented the University of Northern Colorado during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears were led by third-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 21–11, 15–5 in Big Sky play to finish in second place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament to Southern Utah.
The 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 5, 2019. The first tournament was the 2K Sports Classic and the season concluded prematurely on March 12, 2020. The 2020 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was scheduled to end in Atlanta on April 6, 2020, but was ultimately canceled. All other postseason tournaments were canceled as well. Practices officially began in late September.
The 2019–20 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team represented the University of Northern Colorado during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears were led by fourth-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 22–9, 15–5 Big Sky play to finish in second place. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, all postseason tournaments were canceled including the Big Sky tournament.
Sundance "Sunny" Wicks is an American collegiate basketball coach, currently men's head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Prior to that, he served 2 years as the head coach for the Missouri Western Men's Basketball Team. Wicks played at Northern State in college, then played in Sweden for the Södertälje Kings for one year, then spent eleven non-consecutive years as an assistant at four different colleges including Northern State, Colorado, Northern Illinois, and San Francisco. He also launched the Arizona Power Basketball Academy and worked as a skill-instructor and director from 2011 to 2015. Prior to that, he spent five months training NBA pre-draft prospects at the Impact Basketball Academy in Las Vegas. He trained athletes such as Kawhi Leonard, Marvin Bagley, Isaiah Thomas, Xavier Silas, and Alec Burks.
Stephen Christopher Smiley is an American basketball coach who is the current head coach of the Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team.
The 2020–21 Wyoming Cowboys basketball team represented the University of Wyoming during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by Jeff Linder in his first year as head coach at Wyoming. The Cowboys played their home games at the Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyoming as members of the Mountain West Conference. In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Cowboys finished the season 14–11, 7–9 in Mountain West play to finish in seventh place. They defeated San Jose State in the first round of the Mountain West tournament before losing to San Diego State in the quarterfinals.
The 2020–21 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team represented the University of Northern Colorado in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears, led by first-year head coach Steve Smiley, played their home games at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley, Colorado as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 11-11, 6-8 in Big Sky Play to finish a tie for 7th place. They defeated Sacramento State in the first round before losing in the quarterfinals to Southern Utah.
The 2021–22 Wyoming Cowboys basketball team represented the University of Wyoming during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by Jeff Linder in his second year as head coach at Wyoming. The Cowboys played their home games at the Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyoming as members of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 25–9, 13–5 in MWC play to finish in fourth place. They defeated UNLV in the quarterfinals of the MWC tournament before losing to Boise State in the semifinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 12 seed in the East region where they lost in the First Four to Indiana.
