The Big Sky Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. , eleven full member institutions are located in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Two affiliate members from California are football–only participants, and a South Carolina school joined for men's golf in July 2025.
History
Initially conceived for the Big Sky was founded on July 1, 1963, with six members in 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.
Starting in 1968, the conference competed at the highest level (university division) in all sports except football (college division). The sole exception was Idaho, in the university division for football through 1977 (except 1967, 1968). Football moved to the new Division I-AA in 1978, which was renamed Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in 2006.
In 1974, half of the Big Sky's ten included sports were dropped (baseball, skiing, swimming, golf, and tennis), leaving football, basketball, wrestling, track, and cross country skiing.
Women's sports were added in 1988, moving from the women's-only Mountain West Athletic Conference (1982–88).
Fiftieth anniversary The 2012–13 season marked the completion of a half century of athletic competition and a quarter century 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. From 1982 to 1988, women's sports were conducted in the Mountain West Athletic Conference.
The Big Sky sponsors championships in sixteen sports, including men's and women's cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field, basketball, golf, and tennis. There are also championships in football, and in women's volleyball, soccer, and softball. Men's golf was reinstated in 2025–26 after having been discontinued in 2024. It is one of two Division I all-sports conferences to not sponsor baseball, the other being the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
Member schools Current full members Institution Location Founded Type Enrollment Endowment Nickname Joined Colors Eastern Washington University Cheney, Washington 1882 Public 10,492 $32.1 Eagles 1987 Moscow, Idaho 1889 12,286 $474 Vandals 1963; 2014 Idaho State University Pocatello, Idaho 1901 13,061 $122.1 Bengals 1963 Missoula, Montana 1893 10,811 $320.7 Grizzlies 1963 Montana State University Bozeman, Montana 1893 17,135 $319.6 Bobcats 1963 Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, Arizona 1899 28,467 $218.8 Lumberjacks 1970 Greeley, Colorado 1889 8,869 $131.4 Bears 2006 Portland State University Portland, Oregon 1946 19,951 $127.5 Vikings 1996 Southern Utah University Cedar City, Utah 1897 15,444 $45.9 Thunderbirds 2012; 2026 Utah Tech University St. George, Utah 1911 12,556 $40.2 Trailblazers 2026 Weber State University Ogden, Utah 1889 32,701 $238 Wildcats 1963
Notes
Affiliate members Institution Location Founded Type Enrollment Nickname Joined Colors Big Skysport(s) Primaryconference San Luis Obispo, California 1901 Public 21,812 Mustangs 2012 Football Big West (BWC) Francis Marion University Florence, South Carolina 1970 4,187 Patriots 2025 Men's golf Carolinas (CC) Davis, California 1905 38,369 Aggies 2012 Football Mountain West (MW)
Notes
Former full members Institution Location Founded Type Nickname Joined Left Colors Subsequentconference(s) Currentconference Boise State University Boise, Idaho 1932 Public Broncos 1970 1996 Big West (BWC)Western (WAC) Mountain West (MW)Pac-12 California State University, Northridge Northridge, California 1958 Public Matadors 1996 2001 Big West (BWC) California State University, Sacramento Sacramento, California 1947 Public Hornets 1996 2026 Big West (BWC) & Mid-American (MAC) (football) Gonzaga University Spokane, Washington 1887 Catholic Bulldogs 1963 1979 West CoastPac-12 Reno, Nevada 1874 Public Wolf Pack 1979 1992 Big West (BWC)Western (WAC) Mountain West (MW) Grand Forks, North Dakota 1883 Public Fighting Hawks 2012 2018 Summit
Notes
Former affiliate members Institution Location Founded Type Nickname Joined Left Colors Big Skysport(s) Primaryconference Conferencein formerBig Sky sport Binghamton University, SUNY Vestal, New York 1946 Public Bearcats 2014 2023 Men's golf America East (AmEast) Northeast (NEC) University of Hartford West Hartford, Connecticut 1877 Nonsectarian Hawks 2014 2023 Men's golf New England (CNE)
Notes
Membership timeline
NCAA championships
NCAA Division I national championships as of 2026. SchoolTeamIndividualMen'sWomen'sTotalMen'sWomen'sTotalEastern Washington101000Idaho000404Idaho State101202Montana202303Montana State303314Northern Arizona606†10818Northern Colorado000000Portland State000000Sacramento State000000Southern Utah000000Weber State000314Conference total13013251035 † Northern Arizona is the only Big Sky program to win D1 team national titles outside of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
Sports As of the 2025–26 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.
Affiliates
Cal Poly and UC Davis participate as football-only affiliates, otherwise participating in the Big West Conference. The Mustangs and Aggies were welcomed by the BSC in September 2010 in response to both nationwide conference realignment and an expansion of the FCS playoff bracket at the time, according to then-commissioner Doug Fullerton.
Both Binghamton and Hartford of the America East Conference were affiliates in men's golf only from 2014 to 2023. 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. Both schools left after the 2022–23 athletic season, after Binghamton moved their program to the Northeast Conference and Hartford reclassified to Division III and joined the Commonwealth Coast Conference. By this time the number of full Big Sky members that sponsored men's golf had dropped to 4, below the 6 member minimum necessary for the conference champion to receive an autobid to the NCAA Division I men's golf championship, so with the departure of the two affiliates, the Big Sky ceased sponsoring men's golf again after the 2024 season. However, the reinstatement of Eastern Washington men's golf effective in 2025–26 gave the Big Sky five full members that sponsored the sport, and Big Sky men's golf returned at that time with Francis Marion, a Division II member that plays Division I men's golf, as the needed sixth member.
Baseball The Big Sky is unusual among Division I all-sports conferences in not sponsoring baseball, a distinction that it shares only with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, and which it held alone prior to the 2022–23 school year. The conference originally sponsored baseball in 1964, 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
In May 1974, the Big Sky announced its intention to discontinue five of its ten sponsored sports. It retained football, basketball, cross-country, 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 and Gonzaga, and three to Weber State. 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 Conference (NorPac) for baseball Boise State and Idaho competed in the NorPac for six seasons, then discontinued baseball after the
Idaho (4) 1964, 1966, 1967, 1969 Gonzaga (4) 1965, 1971, 1973, 1974 Weber State (3) 1968, 1970, 1972
In 2016, North Dakota announced in April that it was their last baseball season. Since then, only Northern Colorado and Sacramento State have competed in the sport, both as affiliate members in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) until Northern Colorado baseball moved to the Summit League after the 2021 season. Sacramento State will leave the Big Sky for the baseball-sponsoring Big West Conference in 2026. At the same time, baseball-sponsoring Utah Tech will join the Big Sky, placing baseball in the Mountain West Conference.
Wrestling Through the 1987 season, the conference sponsored wrestling. Boise State and Idaho State dominated in most years, winning ten and eight conference titles, respectively. BSU won seven consecutive from 1974 to 1980. Montana State and Weber State also had some good years; Montana won their only conference title in the last year Big Sky sponsored the sport.
Montana State (3) 1964, 1965, 1966 Idaho State (8) 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1984 Boise State (10) 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1986 Weber State (2) 1981, 1983 Montana (1) 1987
Boise State continued its wrestling program as an affiliate member of the Pac-10 (now Pac-12) Conference.
+ Teams in Big Sky Conference competitionSportMen'sWomen's Basketball Cross country Football Golf Soccer Softball Tennis Track and field (Indoor) Track and field (Outdoor) Volleyball
Men's sponsored sports by school
School Basketball Crosscountry Football Golf Tennis Track and field(indoor) Track and field(outdoor) Total Sports Eastern Washington 6 Idaho 7 Idaho State 6 Montana 6 Montana State 6 Northern Arizona 6 Northern Colorado 6 Portland State 6 Southern Utah 6 Utah Tech 6 Weber State 7 Totals 11 11 11+2 6+1 7 11 11 62+3
Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Big Sky Conference which are played by Big Sky schools:
School Baseball Skiing Soccer Wrestling Montana State No RMISA No No Northern Colorado Summit No No Pac-12 Utah Tech MW No MW No
Women's sponsored sports by school
School Basketball Crosscountry Golf Soccer Softball Tennis Track and field(indoor) Track and field(outdoor) Volleyball Total Sports Eastern Washington 8 Idaho 8 Idaho State 9 Montana 9 Montana State 7 Northern Arizona 8 Northern Colorado 8 Portland State 9 Southern Utah 8 Utah Tech 9 Weber State 9 Totals 11 11 11 10 7 9 11 11 11 100
Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Big Sky Conference which are played by Big Sky schools:
School Gymnastics Skiing Swimming Idaho No No MPSF Montana State No RMISA No Northern Arizona No No MPSF Northern Colorado No No MPSF Southern Utah Pac-12 No No Utah Tech No No MPSF
Facilities