Editing Big Sky Conference (section)

==History==
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| title = Big Sky Conference
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| caption = Location of Big Sky members:<br/>[[Image:Blue pog.svg|10px]] full member<br/>[[Image:Yellow pog.svg|10px]] affiliate member, football
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Initially conceived for {{nowrap|basketball,<ref name=isosbljn>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=971eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=IDEMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5782%2C63050 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune|location=(Idaho)|agency=Associated Press |title=Idaho, six others study basketball league|date=June 1, 1962|page=8}}</ref><ref name=bigsky62>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vb9eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VzEMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5698,4619163|newspaper=Lewiston Morning Tribune|location=(Idaho)|agency=Associated Press|title=Six intermountain colleges move toward athletic ties|date=October 30, 1962|page=8}}</ref><ref name=tmsmrt>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GThWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0OgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6983%2C3448682 |work=Spokesman-Review|location=(Spokane, Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Teams meet in basketball |date=November 25, 1962|page=6, sports}}</ref>}} the Big Sky was founded {{Years or months ago|1963|7}} on July 1, 1963, with six members in {{nowrap|four states;<ref name=srsixwst>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AKtWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sOgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6973%2C3408852|newspaper=Spokesman-Review|location=(Spokane, Washington)|last=Missildine |first=Harry|title=Six western schools create Big Sky athletic conference|date=February 26, 1963|page=12}}</ref><ref name=bsrdflc>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WXYzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZvcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4093%2C6223691|newspaper=Spokane Daily Chronicle|location=(Washington)|title=Big Sky is ready for league action|date=February 26, 1963|page=13}}</ref>}} 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 [[The Big Sky (novel)|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, Washington|Spokane]] in February 1963,<ref name=tconsbndsm>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-6pWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sOgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6608%2C1449128|newspaper=Spokesman-Review|location=(Spokane, Washington)|last=Missildine|first=Harry|title=The conference should band smoothly|date=February 20, 1963|page=12}}</ref><ref name=ovsplop>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WHYzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZvcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4141%2C5836772|newspaper=Spokane Daily Chronicle|location=(Washington)|title=Officials view sports loop|date=February 25, 1963|page=13}}</ref> and was adopted with the announcement of the new conference five days later.<ref name=srsixwst/><ref name=bsrdflc/>

Starting in 1968, the conference competed at the highest level (university division) in all sports except football ([[1968 NCAA College Division football season|college division]]). The sole exception was [[Idaho Vandals football|Idaho]], in the university division for football through [[1977 Idaho Vandals football team|1977]] (except [[1967 Idaho Vandals football team|1967]], [[1968 Idaho Vandals football team|1968]]).<ref name=bsstpsup>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vK1WAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2ugDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6772%2C2599312|work=Spokesman-Review|location=(Spokane, Washington)|title=Big Sky steps up|date=May 24, 1968|page=12}}</ref> Football moved to the new Division I-AA in [[1978 NCAA Division I-AA football season|1978]],<!-- including Idaho, --> which was renamed Division I  Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in [[2006 NCAA Division I FCS football season|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.<ref name=ioffpr>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=i71eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ETEMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3841%2C3623260|newspaper=Lewiston Morning Tribune|location=(Idaho)|title=Idaho off probation, loop titles dwindle|date=May 5, 1974|page=13}}</ref><ref name=baseaxe>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mb1eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ETEMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6196%2C7355762 |newspaper=Lewiston Morning Tribune|location=(Idaho)|title=Baseball axed in Big Sky|date=May 29, 1974|page=15}}</ref>

Women's sports were added {{Time ago|1988}} 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, and tennis. There are also championships in football, and in women's volleyball, golf, soccer, and softball.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bigskyconf.com/story.aspx?filename=gen_0530133147&file_date=5/30/2013&path=general|title=Big Sky Set to Celebrate Anniversaries|website=Big Sky Conference|access-date=March 2, 2017}}</ref> It is one of two Division I all-sports conferences to not sponsor baseball, the other being the [[Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference]].