The Big Sky Conference completed its 62nd year overall and 37th year of women's competition during the 2024-25 academic year.
The Conference was established in 1963 by six charter members – Idaho, Idaho State, Gonzaga, Montana, Montana State and Weber State. The name originated in a novel written by A.B. Guthrie of Great Falls, MT, titled "The Big Sky". The six presidents of the charter members adopted the name “Big Sky” for their new conference on February 25, 1963.
With 149 teams representing 12 institutions in 15 sports (six men's, nine women's), the Big Sky prides itself on its "#ExperienceElevated" platform that emphasizes the unique traits and lifelong benefits that the conference and its member institutions provide to around 3,300 student-athletes each year. The conference has 10 full members (Eastern Washington University; the University of Idaho; Idaho State University; the University of Montana; Montana State University; Northern Arizona University; the University of Northern Colorado; Portland State University; California State University, Sacramento; and Weber State University) located in eight states across the western United States, plus two football affiliate members (California Polytechnic State University and the University of California, Davis).
Conference members have won 13 NCAA national championships, including seven in football by five different members as well as six of the last eight men's cross country titles by NAU.
For more information, visit BigSkyConf.com and the Big Sky's accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube at @BigSkyConf.
Full-Time Members
Eastern Washington (1987-)
Idaho (1963-96, 2014-)
Idaho State (1963-)
Montana (1963-)
Montana State (1963-)
Northern Arizona (1970-)
Northern Colorado (2006-)
Portland State (1996-)
Sacramento State (1996-)
Weber State (1963-)
Affiliate Members
Football
Cal Poly (2012-)
UC Davis (2012-)
Former Full-Time Members
Boise State (1970-96)
Cal State Northridge (1996-2001)
Gonzaga (1963-79)
Nevada (1979-92)
North Dakota (2012-18)
Southern Utah (2012-2022)
Big Sky Conference Core Values
We are in this together
Working together as a conference enhances our ability to deliver more for our students than
we could as individual institutions.
We are committed to sportsmanship
We play hard and strive to win, but we are respectful to each other and we revel
in the accomplishments of our colleagues.
We do things the right way
We believe in equity in athletics, we follow the rules, and we create opportunities to develop student-athletes for life.
We have Big Sky values
We are collegial, authentic, pioneering, hardworking, inclusive; and we provide our student-athletes with what they need to learn, to compete, and to succeed in life