The Big Sky Conference (BSC) 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. Four affiliate members each participate in one sport: two from California are football–only participants and two from the Northeast participate only in men's golf.
The Frontier Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference was founded in 1934. Member institutions are located in the northwestern United States, in the states of Idaho, Montana, and Oregon.
Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 68 fields, and doctoral degrees in 35 fields through its nine colleges. More than 16,700 students attended MSU in fall 2019, taught by 796 full-time and 547 part-time faculty.
Montana State University Billings (or MSU Billings) is a public university in Billings, Montana. It is the state's third largest university. Its campus is located on 110 acres in downtown Billings. Formerly Eastern Montana Normal School at its founding in 1927, the Normal School changed its name to Eastern Montana College of Education in 1949. It was again renamed in 1965 as Eastern Montana College (EMC). It merged into the Montana University System in 1994 under its present name. Currently, the university offers over 100 specialized programs for certificates, associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees through the university's five colleges. The five colleges of Montana State University Billings are Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, Business, Health Professions and Science, Education, and City College.
The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and white. The university participates in the NCAA's Division I and the Football Bowl Subdivision for football. The Spartans participate as members of the Big Ten Conference in all varsity sports. Michigan State offers 11 varsity sports for men and 12 for women.
Mississippi State Bulldogs is the name given to the athletic teams of Mississippi State University, in Mississippi State, Mississippi. The university is a founding member of the Southeastern Conference and competes in NCAA Division I.
The Montana–Montana State football rivalry is an annual college football rivalry game between the University of Montana Grizzlies and the Montana State University Bobcats. The game is most historically and commonly known as the Cat-Griz game, and sometimes as the Griz-Cat game. Since 1997, the match has been advertised as the Brawl of the Wild. The winner receives the massive Great Divide Trophy, as the universities are on opposite sides of the continental divide.
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 25,377 in 2016.
The Minot State Beavers are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Minot State University (MSU), located in Minot, North Dakota. The Beavers compete at the NCAA Division II level. The university was previously a member of the NAIA's Dakota Athletic Conference (DAC) and competed as an independent as a provisional member for the 2011–12 academic year before joining the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) in 2012. Minot State Beavers men's and women's ice hockey teams currently play in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA), the men's team plays as is an independent team at the ACHA Men's Division I level and women's team at the ACHA Women's Division II level.
The Montana State Bobcats football program competes in the Big Sky Conference of the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision for Montana State University. The program began in 1897 and has won three national championships. It is the only college football program in the nation to win national championships on three different levels of competition, NAIA, NCAA Division II, and NCAA Division I-AA. Through the 2022 season, the Bobcats had played in 1,049 games with an all-time record of 525–492–32.
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 60 years ago in the fall of 1963.
The Montana State Bobcats men's basketball team represents Montana State University in the Big Sky Conference in NCAA Division I. The Bobcats are currently without a head coach and play their home games on campus at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman, Montana. MSU has appeared in the NCAA tournament five times, most recently with consecutive bids in 2022 and 2023.
The MSU Denver Roadrunners are the athletic teams that represent Metropolitan State University of Denver. The Roadrunners participate in 15 intercollegiate sports and compete in the Division II Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
The Montana State Billings Yellowjackets are the athletic teams that represent Montana State University Billings, located in Billings, Montana, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division II ranks, primarily competing in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) since the 2007–08 academic year. The Yellowjackets previously competed in the D-II Heartland Conference from 2005–06 to 2006–07; in the D-II Pacific West Conference from 1982–83 to 2004–05; as an NCAA D-II Independent from 1980–81 to 1981–82; and in the Frontier Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1933–34 to 1979–80.
The 2015–16 Montana State Bobcats women's basketball team represented Montana State University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bobcats, led by tenth year head coach Tricia Binford, played their home games at Worthington Arena and were members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 21–10, 14–4 in Big Sky play to win the Big Sky regular season championship. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky women's tournament where they lost to Idaho State. As champs of the Big Sky Conference who failed to win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament where they lost to Utah in the first round.
The Montana State Bobcats women's basketball team represents Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Big Sky Conference. They play their home games at Worthington Arena.
The 2022–23 Montana State Bobcats men's basketball team represented Montana State University in the Big Sky Conference during the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by fourth-year head coach Danny Sprinkle, the Bobcats played their home games on campus at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman, Montana. They finished the season at 25–10, 15–3 in Big Sky play to finish in second place. In the Big Sky tournament, MSU defeated Northern Colorado, Weber State, and Northern Arizona to win the tournament championship. As a result, the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 2 seed in the East regions. They lost in the first round to Kansas State.
