Harman Patil (Editor)

Big Sky Conference

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Established
  
1963, 54 years ago

Division
  
Division I FCS

Association
  
NCAA

Region
  
Western United States

Big Sky Conference

Members
  
12 full-time(2 football affiliates)(2 men's golf affiliates)

Sports fielded
  
16 (men's: 7; women's: 9)

The Big Sky Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I, with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the nine states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Four affiliate members each participate in one sport. Two schools from California are football-only participants, and two schools from the Northeast participate only in men's golf.

Contents

Initially conceived for basketball, the Big Sky was founded 54 years ago in 1963 with six members in four states; four of the charter members have been in the league from its founding, and a fifth returned in 2014 after an 18-year absence.

The name "Big Sky" came from the popular 1947 western novel by A. B. Guthrie Jr.; it was proposed by Harry Missildine, a sports columnist of the Spokesman-Review just prior to the founding meetings of the conference in Spokane in February 1963, and was adopted with the announcement of the new conference five days later.

50th anniversary

The 2012-13 season marked the completion of 50 years of athletic competition and 25 years sponsoring women’s collegiate athletics. Before the season the league introduced a new logo to celebrate this.

The 25th season of women’s athletics also marked a first for the league, as Portland State won the league’s inaugural softball championship. Women's sports were formerly conducted in the Mountain West Athletic Conference.

The Big Sky sponsors championships in 16 sports, including men’s and women’s cross country, golf, indoor and outdoor track and field, basketball, and tennis. In addition, there are also championships in football, and women’s volleyball, soccer, and softball.

Full members

All 12 of the Big Sky's full members will play football in the conference once Idaho drops from the FBS to FCS in 2018.

North Dakota will leave the non-football side of the Big Sky in 2018 to join the Summit League. The football team will remain in the Big Sky until 2020, when it will join the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

Former members

Notes
  • Gonzaga, which has not fielded a football team since 1941, was a charter member in 1963.

    • Membership timeline

    Full members Assoc. members (football only) Full members (except football) Assoc. members (other sports) Other Conference Other Conference

    Sports

    As of the 2016–17 school year, the Big Sky sponsors championships in seven men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Each core member institution is required to participate in all of the 13 core sports. Men's core sports are basketball, cross country, football, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, and tennis. Women's core sports are basketball, cross country, golf, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, tennis, and volleyball. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and UC Davis participate as football-only affiliates, otherwise participating in the Big West Conference. Binghamton and Hartford are affiliates in men's golf only, otherwise participating in the America East Conference. Before the 2014–15 school year, the latter two schools had participated in men's golf alongside five full Big Sky members in the single-sport America Sky Conference. The return of Idaho brought the number of members participating in men's golf to six, which led to the Big Sky adding men's golf and absorbing the America Sky Conference.

    Baseball

    The Big Sky is unusual among Division I all-sports conferences in not sponsoring baseball. The conference originally sponsored baseball, with all members participating. When Boise State and Northern Arizona arrived for the 1971 season, competition was split into two divisions of four teams each, with the winners in a best-of-three championship series. Montana State and Montana soon dropped the sport and by the 1973 season, only six teams remained but the divisions were kept, and Boise State moved over to the North Division for two years. In May 1974, the Big Sky announced its intention to discontinue five of its ten sponsored sports. It retained football, basketball, cross-county, track, and wrestling, and dropped conference competition in baseball, golf, tennis, swimming, and skiing. Of the eleven Big Sky baseball titles, four each went to Idaho (1964,'66,'67,'69) and Gonzaga (1965,'71,'73,'74), and three to Weber State (1968,'70,'72). Gonzaga won the final title in 1974 over Idaho State in three games, after losing the first game in Pocatello. Southern division champion Idaho State chose to end its baseball program weeks following the conference's announcement, and Gonzaga, Idaho, and Boise State joined the new Northern Pacific League (NorPac) for baseball in 1975. Boise State and Idaho competed in the NorPac for six seasons, then discontinued baseball after the 1980 season. North Dakota announced on April 12, 2016 that it would discontinue its baseball program, effective following the 2015-16 season. Currently, two Big Sky members sponsor baseball: Northern Colorado and Sacramento State. Both compete in the Western Athletic Conference.

    Men's sponsored sports by school

    Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Big Sky Conference which are played by Big Sky schools:

    Women's sponsored sports by school

    Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Big Sky Conference which are played by Big Sky schools:

    Facilities

    Note: The Idaho Vandals men's basketball team plays early season home games at Memorial Gym, home of the Vandals volleyball team.

  • Joel Bolomboy, Weber State
  • Damian Lillard, Weber State
  • Rodney Stuckey, Eastern Washington

    • Conference rivalies

  • Eastern Washington and Portland State
  • Idaho and Idaho State
  • Idaho and Montana
  • Idaho State and Weber State
  • Idaho State and Montana
  • Montana and Montana State
  • Portland State and Sacramento State
  • Weber State and Southern Utah
  • Eastern Washington and Montana
  • Weber State and Montana

    • Non-conference rivalries

  • Weber State and Utah State/Utah/BYU/Utah Valley
  • Eastern Washington and Gonzaga
  • Idaho and Boise State
  • Idaho State and Wyoming
  • Montana and Wyoming
  • Montana State and Wyoming
  • Sacramento State and UC Davis
  • Portland State and Portland
  • Northern Colorado and Colorado State
  • Northern Colorado and Denver
  • North Dakota and North Dakota State
  • North Dakota and South Dakota

    • Commissioners

  • Jack Friel (1963–71)
  • John Roning (1971–77)
  • Steve Belko (1977–81)
  • Ron Stephenson (1981–95)
  • Doug Fullerton (1995–2016)
  • Andrea Williams (2016–present)

    • Headquarters

  • 1963 – Pullman, Washington
  • 1971 – Boise, Idaho
  • 1996 – Ogden, Utah

    • NCAA Tournament

    The best finish by a Big Sky team in the men's NCAA Tournament came in 1977, when the Idaho State Bengals advanced to the Elite Eight, with a one-point upset of UCLA in the Sweet Sixteen in Provo, Utah. The highest seed granted a Big Sky team was in 1982: the Idaho Vandals under Don Monson were seeded third in the west regional. They beat Lute Olson's Iowa Hawkeyes in nearby Pullman in overtime, but lost to second-seeded Oregon State in the regional semifinals (Sweet Sixteen), also played in Provo. Other Big Sky teams that advanced to regional semifinals include the Weber State Wildcats in 1969 and 1972, and the Montana Grizzlies under Jud Heathcote in 1975. They fell to UCLA by just three points, who went on to win another title in John Wooden's final year as head coach.

    Big Sky women's basketball

  • Mountain West Athletic Conference (MWAC) through 1988 season

    • Big Sky football titles

    Season, conference record, and champion

  • 1963 - (3–1) - Idaho State
  • 1964 - (3–0) - Montana State - won Camellia Bowl
  • 1965 - (3–1) - Weber State^ and Idaho
  • 1966 - (4–0) - Montana State
  • 1967 - (4–0) - Montana State
  • 1968 - (3–1) - Idaho, Montana State, and Weber State
  • 1969 - (4–0) - Montana
  • 1970 - (5–0) - Montana
  • 1971 - (4–1) - Idaho - (Boise State won Camellia Bowl, UI was Div. I)
  • 1972 - (5–1) - Montana State
  • 1973 - (6–0) - Boise State - Div. II semifinalist
  • 1974 - (6–0) - Boise State
  • 1975 - (5–0–1) - Boise State
  • 1976 - (6–0) - Montana State - won Div. II national championship
  • 1977 - (6–0) - Boise State - had late regular season game, runner-up Northern Arizona invited to Div. II playoffs
  • 1978 - (6–0) - Northern Arizona - not invited to inaugural four-team I-AA playoffs - (independent Nevada selected from West)
  • 1979 - (6–1) - Montana State - (Boise State (7–0) ineligible) - Nevada (5–2) to four-team I-AA playoffs
  • 1980 - (6–1) - Boise State - won I-AA national championship
  • 1981 - (6–1) - Idaho State^ - (also 6-1 - Boise State - both to eight-team I-AA playoffs) - ISU won I-AA national championship
  • 1982 - (5–2) - Montana^, Idaho, and Montana State (UM @ UI in twelve-team I-AA playoffs, MSU excluded)
  • 1983 - (6–1) - Nevada - I-AA semifinalist
  • 1984 - (6–1) - Montana State - won I-AA national championship
  • 1985 - (6–1) - Idaho^ - (also 6-1 - Nevada - both to I-AA playoffs)
  • 1986 - (7–0) - Nevada - I-AA semi-finalist
  • 1987 - (7–1) - Idaho^ - (also 7-1 - Weber State - both to I-AA playoffs)
  • 1988 - (7–1) - Idaho - I-AA semifinalist
  • 1989 - (8–0) - Idaho - (Montana - I-AA semifinalist)
  • 1990 - (7–1) - Nevada - I-AA runner-up, defeated Boise State in I-AA semifinals in 3OT
  • 1991 - (8–0) - Nevada
  • 1992 - (6–1) - Idaho^ and Eastern Washington - (both to I-AA playoffs)
  • 1993 - (7–0) - Montana - (Idaho - I-AA semifinalist)
  • 1994 - (6–1) - Boise State - I-AA runner-up - (Montana - I-AA semifinalist)
  • 1995 - (6–1) - Montana - won I-AA national championship
  • 1996 - (8–0) - Montana - I-AA runner-up
  • 1997 - (7–1) - Eastern Washington - I-AA semifinalist
  • 1998 - (6–2) - Montana
  • 1999 - (7–1) - Montana
  • 2000 - (8–0) - Montana - I-AA runner-up
  • 2001 - (7–0) - Montana - won I-AA national championship
  • 2002 - (5–2) - Montana, Montana State, and Idaho State - (UM, MSU to I-AA playoffs, ISU excluded)
  • 2003 - (5–2) - Montana State^, Montana, and Northern Arizona - (all three to I-AA playoffs)
  • 2004 - (6–1) - Montana^ and Eastern Washington - (both to I-AA playoffs) - UM - I-AA runner-up
  • 2005 - (5–2) - Eastern Washington^, Montana State, and Montana - (EWU, UM to I-AA playoffs, MSU excluded)
  • 2006 - (8–0) - Montana - FCS semifinalist
  • 2007 - (8–0) - Montana
  • 2008 - (7–1) - Weber State^ and Montana - (both to FCS playoffs) - UM - FCS runner-up
  • 2009 - (8–0) - Montana - FCS runner-up
  • 2010 - (7–1) - Montana State^ and Eastern Washington - (both to FCS playoffs) - EWU won FCS national championship
  • 2011 - (7–1) - Montana State and Montana^^
  • 2012 - (7–1) - Eastern Washington^, Montana State, and Cal Poly SLO - (all three to FCS playoffs)
  • 2013 - (8–0) - Eastern Washington - FCS semifinalist
  • 2014 - (7–1) - Eastern Washington
  • 2015 - (7–1) - Southern Utah
  • 2016 - (8–0) - Eastern Washington - FCS semifinalist and North Dakota

    • ^ - winner of head-to-head matchup(s) in conference game(s) during the regular season. ^^ - vacated due to NCAA violations

    All-time school records by wins for current teams

    This list goes through the 2013 season.

    Football

  • Eastern Washington Eagles football
  • Montana Grizzlies football
  • Idaho State Bengals football
  • 2016 Big Sky Conference football season

    • Basketball

  • Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
  • Big Sky Conference Women's Basketball Tournament

    • References

    Big Sky Conference Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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