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 2024, ten 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 University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado, United States. It was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education.
The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as California or Cal, the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s Division I primarily as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and for a limited number of sports as a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). In 2014, Cal instituted a strict academic standard for an athlete's admission to the university. By the 2017 academic year 80 percent of incoming student athletes were required to comply with the University of California general student requirement of having a 3.0 or higher high school grade point average.
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 Sacramento State Hornets is the team that represents California State University, Sacramento in intercollegiate athletics.
The Northern Arizona Lumberjacks men's basketball team represents Northern Arizona University, located in Flagstaff, Arizona, in NCAA Division I men's competition. The school's team has competed in the Big Sky Conference since 1970. The team's most recent appearance in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was in 2000. Northern Arizona also appeared in the NCAA tournament in 1998. In 2023, the Lumberjacks have reached the Big Sky conference tournament title game as a Cinderella team as they were the 9th seed in the tournament. The Lumberjacks are currently led by head coach Shane Burcar who replaced Jack Murphy in June 2019. NAU Lumberjack basketball games are broadcast on KAFF Country Legends 93.5/AM 930 in Flagstaff, Fun Oldies 1450 AM/100.9 in Prescott and KDUS AM 1060 in Phoenix, with commentary provided by the "Voice of the Lumberjacks" Mitch Strohman, Coach Dave Brown with the play-by-play and Dave Zorn, host of the NAU Halftime Report. All games can be also heard online at KAFFLegends.com
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.
Mary Camille "Kamie" Ethridge is an American former basketball player and current basketball coach. She was an All-American point guard at the University of Texas at Austin and won a gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics. She is considered one of the best women's basketball players in history and was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. Ethridge is currently the head coach at Washington State University.
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. Northern Colorado made its first and to date only NCAA tournament appearance in 2011.
Northern Colorado Bears baseball is the varsity intercollegiate team representing University of Northern Colorado in the sport of college baseball in NCAA Division I. The team is led by Mike Anderson, and plays its home games at Jackson Field on campus in Greeley, Colorado. The Bears are baseball members of the Summit League, having joined in July 2021 after spending the previous eight years as baseball members of the Western Athletic Conference.
The UNC Greensboro Spartans women's basketball team represents the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in NCAA Division I. The school's team currently competes in the Southern Conference.
The North Dakota Fighting Sioux women's basketball team is part of the athletic program at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It is a member of the NCAA Division I Summit League; the 2019–2020 season was their first in the new conference. Previously they played in Division I's Big Sky Conference and Division I's Great West Conference.
The Portland State Vikings women's basketball team represents Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. The school's team competes in the Big Sky Conference, and plays its games in the Viking Pavilion, a 3,094-seat arena that opened for the 2018–19 season. Portland State are currently the defending conference tournament champions.
The Idaho Vandals women's basketball team represents the University of Idaho in women's basketball in the Big Sky Conference in NCAA Division I. Home games are played on campus at Idaho Central Credit Union Arena in Moscow, Idaho.
The Eastern Washington Eagles women's basketball team represents Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington. The team competes in the Big Sky Conference.
The Mercer Bears women's basketball team represents Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Southern Conference.
The 2015–16 Northern Colorado Bears women's basketball team represented the University of Northern Colorado during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bears are led by second year head coach Kamie Ethridge and played their home games at the Bank of Colorado Arena. They were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 13–16, 8–10 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for eighth place. They lost in the first round of the Big Sky women's tournament to Idaho State.
The Utah State Aggies women’s basketball team represents Utah State University in NCAA Division I competition. The Aggies compete in the Mountain West Conference. They play their home games at the Smith Spectrum. As of the end of the 2023–24 regular season, the Aggies have an all-time record of 234 wins and 440 losses.
The UC Davis Aggies Women's Basketball team represent the University of California, Davis in Davis, California, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Big West Conference.
The Longwood Lancers women's basketball team is the Division I basketball team that represents Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. The school's team currently competes in the Big South Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
