2008 Woodie Awards
There's a Big Sky out West
Bob Devine
Issue date: 1/30/08 Section: Sports
What do the Bears, Hornets, Eagles, Bobcats, Wildcats, Bengals, Lumberjacks, Grizzlies, and Vikings have in common? If you're an avid ISU sports fan the answer probably pops into your head right away. These are the teams of the Big Sky Conference where the Idaho State Bengals are always on the prowl for another victory. But just in case you didn't know, or if you want to know more, let's take a moment to find out a bit more about the league.
The Big Sky Athletic Conference is the athletic affiliation of nine schools, with teams in all of the Western most States of the lower 48 except Nevada. The current configuration includes Idaho State, Eastern Washington, Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Portland State, Sacramento State and Weber State.
The league began in 1963 with only six teams, including Idaho State, Weber State and the two Montana schools, along with Gonzaga and Idaho and has evolved to the current configuration with other teams such as Boise State, Nevada and Cal State Northridge coming and going along the way.
According to the conference website, the league's name originated in 1947 from a novel called The Big Sky, written by Bud Guthrie of Great Falls, Montana. The state of Montana then promoted the Big Sky theme in its advertising campaigns, which led to coach Dubby Holt of Idaho State seeing a "Welcome to Big Sky Country" sign one time as his team entered Montana. He and the team thought the name would fit well for the new conference. Soon after, a Spokesman-Review reporter from Spokane called for the newly formed league to be named the Big Sky Conference in his column, and as the saying goes, "the rest is history."
Currently the Big Sky Conference includes 14 competitive sports in NCAA Division 1-AA, including football, volleyball, golf and soccer, along with men's and women's basketball, tennis, cross country, and both indoor and outdoor track and field. Of note, this year is the 20th anniversary for women's sports in the Big Sky, as the former women's Mountain West Conference (1982-88) merged into the Big Sky in 1988.
So there you have it. The Big Sky may symbolize wide open spaces out west where the buffalo roam (or once did), but on the more practical identification level it is the conference where Idaho State University athletes seek to reign supreme. Go Bengals!
The Big Sky Athletic Conference is the athletic affiliation of nine schools, with teams in all of the Western most States of the lower 48 except Nevada. The current configuration includes Idaho State, Eastern Washington, Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Portland State, Sacramento State and Weber State.
The league began in 1963 with only six teams, including Idaho State, Weber State and the two Montana schools, along with Gonzaga and Idaho and has evolved to the current configuration with other teams such as Boise State, Nevada and Cal State Northridge coming and going along the way.
According to the conference website, the league's name originated in 1947 from a novel called The Big Sky, written by Bud Guthrie of Great Falls, Montana. The state of Montana then promoted the Big Sky theme in its advertising campaigns, which led to coach Dubby Holt of Idaho State seeing a "Welcome to Big Sky Country" sign one time as his team entered Montana. He and the team thought the name would fit well for the new conference. Soon after, a Spokesman-Review reporter from Spokane called for the newly formed league to be named the Big Sky Conference in his column, and as the saying goes, "the rest is history."
Currently the Big Sky Conference includes 14 competitive sports in NCAA Division 1-AA, including football, volleyball, golf and soccer, along with men's and women's basketball, tennis, cross country, and both indoor and outdoor track and field. Of note, this year is the 20th anniversary for women's sports in the Big Sky, as the former women's Mountain West Conference (1982-88) merged into the Big Sky in 1988.
So there you have it. The Big Sky may symbolize wide open spaces out west where the buffalo roam (or once did), but on the more practical identification level it is the conference where Idaho State University athletes seek to reign supreme. Go Bengals!
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