Big Sky Conference facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Big Sky Conference

Association	NCAA
Founded	July 1, 1963; 62 years ago (1963-07-01)
Commissioner	Tom Wistrcill (since November 16, 2018)
Sports fielded	16 men's: 7 women's: 9
Division	Division I
Subdivision	FCS
No. of teams	10 (11 in 2026) (+2 football affiliates)
Headquarters	Farmington, Utah
Region	Western United States
Official website	bigskyconf.com
Locations

The Big Sky Conference is a group of colleges and universities that compete in sports. They are part of the NCAA's Division I, which is the highest level of college sports in the United States. Their football teams play in the FCS.

Currently, ten full member schools are located in states like Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. There are also two schools from California that only play football in the conference. A school from South Carolina will join for men's golf in July 2025. Sacramento State will leave the conference by the 2026 school year, and Southern Utah and Utah Tech will join.

The Big Sky Conference Story

The Big Sky Conference started on July 1, 1963. It was first planned for basketball. Six schools from four different states were the first members. Four of these schools are still in the league today. A fifth school rejoined in 2014 after being away for 18 years.

The name "Big Sky" came from a popular western book called The Big Sky by A. B. Guthrie Jr.. A sports writer named Harry Missildine suggested the name in February 1963, just before the conference officially began.

In 1974, the conference decided to focus on fewer sports. They dropped baseball, skiing, swimming, golf, and tennis. This left football, basketball, wrestling, track, and cross country skiing.

Women's sports were added in 1988. Before that, women's teams competed in a different conference called the Mountain West Athletic Conference.

Celebrating 50 Years

The 2012–13 school year was a big milestone for the Big Sky Conference. It marked 50 years of sports competition and 25 years of supporting women's college sports. To celebrate, the league introduced a new logo.

That year, Portland State won the conference's first-ever softball championship. The Big Sky now hosts championships in 16 different sports. These include men's and women's cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field, basketball, and tennis. They also have championships in football, women's volleyball, golf, soccer, and softball. Men's golf will return in the 2025–26 school year after being stopped in 2024.

Member Schools

     These schools are leaving for the Big West Conference on July 1, 2026.

Current Full Members

Future Members

Affiliate Members

These schools compete in only one or a few sports in the Big Sky Conference.

Past Full Members

Many schools have been part of the Big Sky Conference over the years. Here are some of them:

Past Affiliate Members

These schools used to be affiliate members, meaning they competed in only one or a few sports.

Sports in the Big Sky

As of the 2025–26 school year, the Big Sky Conference supports championships in seven men's and nine women's sports. All full member schools must participate in 13 main sports.

The main sports for men are basketball, cross country, football, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, and tennis. For women, the main sports are basketball, cross country, golf, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, tennis, and volleyball.

Football Affiliate Members

Cal Poly quarterback Sam Huard looks downfield during a Big Sky Conference football game against Northern Colorado on Oct. 21, 2023.

Cal Poly and UC Davis are special members. They only play football in the Big Sky Conference. For all other sports, they compete in the Big West Conference. These two schools joined the Big Sky in 2010. This happened because college sports leagues were changing, and the FCS playoff system was expanding.

Men's Golf Changes

Both Binghamton and Hartford used to be affiliate members for men's golf only, from 2014 to 2023. Before 2014, these schools played men's golf with some Big Sky members in a separate conference. When Idaho rejoined the Big Sky, enough schools played men's golf for the Big Sky to add it as a conference sport.

However, after Binghamton and Hartford left in 2023, the number of Big Sky schools playing men's golf dropped. This meant the conference stopped sponsoring men's golf after the 2024 season. But men's golf will return in 2025–26! Eastern Washington is bringing back its men's golf team, and Francis Marion will join as the sixth team needed for the conference to have its own championship.

Baseball History

The Big Sky Conference is one of the few NCAA Division I conferences that does not currently sponsor baseball. The conference used to have baseball from 1964 to 1974.

In 1974, the Big Sky decided to stop sponsoring baseball and four other sports. Of the 11 Big Sky baseball championships, Idaho and Gonzaga each won four titles. Weber State won three. Gonzaga won the last Big Sky baseball title in 1974.

Wrestling History

The Big Sky Conference also used to sponsor wrestling until the 1987 season. Boise State and Idaho State were very strong in wrestling, winning many conference titles. Boise State won seven championships in a row from 1974 to 1980. Montana won its only wrestling title in the last year the sport was sponsored by the Big Sky.

Conference Rivalries

Sports rivalries are exciting! Teams often have special games against schools that are close by or have a long history of competition.

Football Rivalries

The Big Sky Conference has 12 football teams, but each team only plays eight conference games a year. To make sure important games happen every season, the conference has "protected rivalries." These are games that are played every year. Other conference games are played less often. Many of these rivalries are between teams in the same state or close to each other.

Famous Football Rivalry Games

Some rivalry games have special names and trophies.

Commissioners and Headquarters

The Big Sky Conference has had several leaders, called Commissioners, since it started. The conference headquarters have also moved a few times.

• Jack Friel (1963–71)
• John Roning (1971–77)
• Steve Belko (1977–81)
• Ron Stephenson (1981–95)
• Doug Fullerton (1995–2016)
• Andrea Williams (2016–2018)
• Tom Wistrcill (2018–present)

The headquarters have been in:

• Pullman, Washington (1963–1971)
• Boise, Idaho (1971–1995)
• Ogden, Utah (1995–2019)
• Farmington, Utah (2019–present)

Big Sky Championships

Men's Basketball

The Big Sky Conference has a men's basketball tournament every year. The winner gets to go to the NCAA tournament.

• The Idaho State Bengals made it to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament in 1977. This is the best finish for a Big Sky team.
• The Idaho Vandals had the highest seed (number 3) for a Big Sky team in the NCAA tournament in 1982.
• Since 1982, only three Big Sky teams have won a game in the NCAA tournament: Weber State (in 1995 and 1999) and Montana (in 2006).

Women's Basketball

The Big Sky Conference also holds a women's basketball tournament.

Football Champions

Here are the teams that have won Big Sky football championships. National Champions are in bold.

See also

In Spanish: Big Sky Conference para niños