The National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) is divided into three divisions based on scholarship allocation. Each division is made up of several conferences for regional league competition. Unless otherwise noted, changes in conference affiliation will occur on July 1 of the given year.
69-585: The Big Sky Conference is a collegiate athletic conference , affiliated with the NCAA 's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision . As of 2024, ten full member institutions are located in the states of Arizona , California , Colorado , Idaho , Montana , Oregon , Utah , and Washington . Two affiliate members from California are football–only participants. Initially conceived for basketball,
138-503: A DUI and ultimately chose to transfer out of the program. The Cal Poly Mustangs baseball program first fielded a team in 1948. The Cal Poly Mustangs men's basketball team's first season was 1907 and its first season as a four-year institution was in 1941–42. The team had its most successful year in 2014, when the team won the Big West Tournament , clinching its first NCAA basketball tournament bid in school history at
207-556: A department-record seven Public Recognition Awards from the NCAA for Academic Progress Rate performance for the 2017–18 academic year. The seven awards included six from Big West Conference teams in the department, the most throughout the Big West (edging UC Davis by one award). The Mustangs collected four NCAA APR awards for the 2018–19 year, again leading the BWC. From 2007 through 2019,
276-533: 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
345-794: A majority of its sports programs, from the American West Conference . The 1996–97 school year then marked Cal Poly's first season competing in the Big West. Cal Poly was accepted into the Big Sky Conference as an affiliate member for football on September 7, 2010. The Mustangs' first-ever Big Sky game was played on September 22, 2012, a 28–20 home win over UC Davis. On May 25, 2017, Cal Poly announced an exclusive partnership with adidas . The partnership beginning in June 2017 would provide official footwear, apparel and various equipment items. In May 2019, Cal Poly received
414-627: A point at halftime, but lost by seventeen and finished at 25–5. Seeding was introduced in 1979 when it expanded to forty teams, and the highest seed granted a Big Sky team was in 1982 in a 48-team bracket: ranked eighth in the final polls with a 26–2 record, the Idaho Vandals under Don Monson were seeded third in the West regional . After a first round bye, they beat Lute Olson 's Iowa Hawkeyes in nearby Pullman in overtime, but lost to second-seeded (and fourth-ranked) Oregon State in
483-447: A second such sport in 2025. Unlike the other two divisions, Division III institutions cannot offer athletic scholarships. Among the other NCAA Division III requirements, schools have sports sponsorship requirements set by the NCAA. All institutions, regardless of enrollment, must sponsor at least three team sports for each sex/gender, and each playing season represented by each sex/gender. A sports sponsorship rule unique to Division III
552-460: A total of $ 625,000. He was convicted of running a ponzi scheme and Cal Poly argued that they were "...suffering harm by having the name 'Moriarty Enterprises' remain on the scoreboard." When bankruptcy trustees asked Cal Poly for the money to be returned to benefit Moriarty's creditors, Cal Poly declined. After nearly a year in court, an agreement was reached wherein Cal Poly repaid $ 480,000 of
621-786: A win in October 2021. Prior to joining the Division I ranks via the Pac-12 (then the Pac-10) in 1987, Cal Poly was dominant in the College Division /Division II, winning the 1966 national championship and seven consecutive NCAA titles from 1968 to 1974. The men's wrestling team has appeared in the NCAA Division I tournament 49 times, with their highest finish being fifth place in 1969. The Cal Poly Mustangs have competed in
690-510: Is one of two Division I all-sports conferences to not sponsor baseball, the other being the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference . Full members Assoc. members (football only) Full members (except football) Assoc. members (other sports) Other conference Other conference NCAA Division I national championships as of 2021. † Northern Arizona is the only Big Sky program to win D1 team national titles outside of
759-592: Is that the total number of sports that must be sponsored differs by a school's full-time undergraduate enrollment. Schools with an enrollment of 1,000 or fewer must sponsor at least five sports for men and five for women; those with larger enrollments must sponsor six men's and six women's sports. As in the other divisions, teams that include both men and women are treated as men's sports for the purpose of these regulations. Conferences that sponsor football highlighted in yellow. These all-sports conferences sponsor sports which do not have D-III championships. In addition to
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#1732772121730828-525: The 1988 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials champion, passed in April 2022 following a battle with cancer. On June 20, 2022, Ryan Vanhoy, previously coaching at Ole Miss , was appointed to lead Cal Poly's program as track and field and cross country director. Mustang Football plays in the Big Sky Conference , competing in the NCAA Division I FCS . Prior to joining the Big Sky Conference in 2012,
897-604: The Big West Conference Championship over Hawai'i , 3–2 in Malibu, California . Following the title, Cal Poly advanced to the eight-team NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship , losing to Florida State in the opening match before dropping a rematch against Hawai'i on ESPN . Cal Poly also qualified for the NCAA tournament in 2021 and 2022. In 2019, coach Mark Conover and his men's squad collected their fourth straight Big West Conference title and
966-660: The Big West Conference , but the football team plays in the Big Sky Conference , the wrestling team is an associate member of the Pac-12 Conference , and the swimming and diving program competes as an affiliate member in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation . The Cal Poly official team nickname is the "Mustangs." The nickname was chosen in a 1925 vote by the students. The two finalists were "Mustangs" and "Mules" and
1035-640: 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,
1104-613: 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. The Big Sky is unusual among Division I all-sports conferences in not sponsoring baseball ,
1173-604: The Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). As of the 2022–23 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. Cal Poly and UC Davis participate as football-only affiliates, otherwise participating in
1242-462: The NCAA Division I tournament; they went on to beat UCLA and ended up losing to UC Irvine in the second round. Coach Steve Sampson led the team back to the NCAA tournament in 2015, and three Cal Poly players were selected in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft , tied for the seventh-most nationally. Cal Poly soccer has a strong fan base, averaging 2,017 fans per match in 2019, ranking No. 5 across
1311-470: The Pac-10 (now Pac-12) Conference . Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Big Sky Conference which are played by Big Sky schools: Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Big Sky Conference which are played by Big Sky schools: (Includes Away Games) Game Attendance Game Attendance Because there are 12 teams in the conference, but each team only plays eight conference football games per year,
1380-587: The San Luis Obispo area. In 2017, Mustang student-athletes adopted 50 children from 24 families, an increase of three sponsored children from the 2016 season. The December 2018 drive saw Cal Poly student-athletes adopt 32 children for the program. In 1987 while competing as an NCAA Division II school, the National Collegiate Athletic Association found the athletic department guilty of infractions relating to
1449-474: The men's basketball program. During the course of the investigation, then head coach Ernie Wheeler resigned from his position and was later publicly reprimanded. As the department was transitioning from Division II to NCAA Division I in 1994, the department self-reported violations related to the baseball program. Cal Poly identified head coach Steve McFarland as having given improper financial aid to both players and members of his coaching staff. In 1995,
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#17327721217301518-473: The second round of the NCAA tournament in 2019 . The team has an NCAA Division I Tournament record of 15–17 through seventeen total appearances. The wrestling program at Cal Poly competes as a member of the Pac-12 Conference , which is traditionally one of the strongest conferences in college wrestling . Cal Poly has had two wrestlers (Tom Kline & Mark DiGirolamo) win the Division I NCAA Wrestling Championship and 50 wrestlers earn All-American honors at
1587-573: The 12th annual February Coin Drive. The total was the most Cal Poly has raised in a single year and ranked second among the conference's nine universities for 2019. Starting in December 2015, Cal Poly student-athletes have been actively involved with the Salvation Army's Adopt-an-Angel program, purchasing toys, clothing and gift cards while collecting donations to benefit local families in
1656-425: 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. Boise State continued its wrestling program as an affiliate member of
1725-630: The 2004–05 school year. The Cal Poly women's cross country team hasn't made the NCAA Division I Championships as a full team, but in 2018 advanced both Miranda Daschian and Katie Izzo as individuals to the NCAA National Cross Country Championships in Madison, Wisconsin . Peyton Bilo was the program's most recent All-American, taking 23rd place at the 2016 national championships as a sophomore. Conover,
1794-563: The 2012–13 season. Arizona State also wrestled Arizona outdoors in the 1970s. The team competes in Mott Athletics Center on campus, opened back in 1960, seating over 3,000 people for home dual meets and tournaments. Three former Mustang wrestlers after graduation went on to compete in mixed martial arts , more specifically the Ultimate Fighting Championships . The first is Chad Mendes who
1863-476: The 2022 season, Crozier held a won-loss-draw career record of 296–208–56 in 30 previous seasons (including the canceled year of 2020), ranking No. 30 in NCAA history for career head coaching wins among active coaches. The Mustangs have an NCAA Division I Tournament record of 1–5 through five appearances, with the win coming over Fresno State in the first round in 1999, 2–1 in Fresno. Cal Poly fell 3–1 at Stanford in
1932-537: The August 2014 event later accused head coach Tim Walsh in court of coercion to talk to the police without a lawyer present. In 2014, Cal Poly went to court to cover up or remove mentions of Moriarty Enterprises from the scoreboard at Alex G. Spanos Stadium . Al Moriarty, a former Cal Poly football player who was inducted to the Cal Poly Hall of Fame in 2002, purchased naming rights to the scoreboard in 2009 for
2001-713: The Big Sky champion has received a berth in the NCAA tournament ; the conference tournament winner has been the representative since its introduction in 1976 . The best finish by a Big Sky team came in 1977 , when the Idaho State Bengals of Jim Killingsworth advanced to the Elite Eight , with a one-point upset of UCLA in the Sweet Sixteen in Provo, Utah . Two days later, the Bengals led UNLV by
2070-405: The Big Sky had been seeded seventh (Weber State, 1979 & 1980; and Idaho , 1981); the highest seed for the conference since 1982 is ninth (Weber State, 1983 ), and the highest since expanding to 64 teams in 1985 is twelfth (Weber State in 2003 ; Montana in 2006). Through 2024, the Big Sky has yet to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. The first NIT appearance for the conference
2139-470: The Big Sky was founded 61 years ago on July 1, 1963, with six members in four states; 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
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2208-645: The Cal Poly softball program raised over $ 21,900 for the Hearst Cancer Resource Center with its annual StrikeOut Cancer Challenge event. From 2012 to 2019, Cal Poly student-athletes raised $ 11,179 through the Big West Conference 's annual February Coin Drive, with previous causes also including the Jessie Rees Foundation and CURE International . In 2019, Cal Poly student-athletes raised more than $ 3,300 for Hearst Cancer Resource Center at nearby French Hospital as part of
2277-641: The Division I level. In addition to the program's success at the NCAA Championships, the program has crowned one champion at the National Collegiate Open Wrestling Championship . On January 30, 2014, Cal Poly hosted Oregon State in a very rare outdoor wrestling match. The match took place in Cal Poly's University Union Plaza following the weekly UU hour. The only other known outdoor matches have been hosted by The Citadel Bulldogs , including one during
2346-462: The Division I level. The Cal Poly Mustangs women's basketball team's first season was the 1974–75 season. Cal Poly beach volleyball was founded in July 2013. It became the university's 21st NCAA sport. In February 2016, Cal Poly hired Todd Rogers , a 2008 Olympic gold medalist in the sport, as its new head coach. The Mustangs had arguably their most successful season in the spring of 2019, winning
2415-458: The NCAA accepted Cal Poly's self-imposed penalties which included forfeiture of their NCAA Division II baseball championship and other top finishes and a postseason ban. In April 2019, the athletic department was placed on probation for multiple years and was forced to vacate regular season championships and conference tournament records by the NCAA. The NCAA reported years worth of infractions involving 265 athletes across 18 sports. Additionally,
2484-640: The NCAA sponsors separate championships for men and women are officially treated by the NCAA as two separate sports. Among the NCAA regulations, Division II institutions have to sponsor at least five sports for men and five for women (or four for men and six for women), with two team sports for each sex, and each playing season represented by each sex. Teams that consist of both men and women are counted as men's teams for sports sponsorship purposes. Conferences that sponsor football are highlighted in yellow. These all-sports conferences sponsor sports which do not have D-II championships. One of these conferences will add
2553-568: The NCAA tournament or in NCAA Division I Finals Meets on a team-scored basis across 19 active sports (10 men's and 9 women's). Cal Poly has never won a team national championship at the NCAA Division I level. Cal Poly previously won 35 national championships at the NCAA Division II level. Below is one national championship that was not bestowed by the NCAA: Cal Poly has had 12 Mustangs win NCAA individual championships at
2622-611: The NorPac for six seasons, then discontinued baseball after the 1980 season. 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. Through
2691-478: The November 2013 event, which was also noted by San Luis Obispo Police Department Chief Steve Gesell as having "disturbing" similarities. Armstrong, with athletic director, Don Oberhelman, launched an investigation into the football team's potential further involvement with illegal drugs and criminal activity and rolled out a new drug policy for the athletics department. It was reported by The Tribune that cost
2760-548: The above limits, as long as that sport competes in another Division I conference. The men's and women's sports so counted need not be the same sport. In addition to competing in football, multisport conferences in the Football Championship Subdivision must still meet the general NCAA Division I requirements regarding the minimum number of men's and women's sports ( see above ). Multisport conferences that do not compete in football must still meet
2829-626: The above, two single-sport conferences that currently participate in NCAA National Collegiate sports (those whose championship events are open to members of more than one NCAA division) and previously operated both men's and women's divisions now operate as women-only leagues. Cal Poly Mustangs The Cal Poly Mustangs are the athletic teams representing California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California . The university fields twenty-two teams and compete in NCAA Division I ; they are primarily members of
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2898-772: 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. It
2967-523: The conference has set two "protected rivalry" games for each team. These rivalry match-ups are played every season, while football games against other conference teams are played twice every three years. Many of the protected rivalries are traditional, due to the teams either being in the same state or within close geographical proximity. With the departure of Southern Utah from the conference, new protected rivalries were announced for 2022-2024; these rivalries have since been extended through 2027. Since 1968 ,
3036-416: The consensus was that illegal drug usage at the football program was widespread, with estimates ranging between 40% and 60% of the student-athletes. Athletic director Oberhelman kept faith in head coach Tim Walsh and his coaching staff despite Randy Hanson , a former coach brought on by Walsh, had multiple felony charges brought upon him just a few years earlier. One of the student-athletes' lawyers in
3105-531: The country. In 2011, CollegeSoccerNews.com chose Cal Poly vs. UC Santa Barbara as the No. 1 rivalry in college soccer. Since 2007, the rivalry matches have regularly drawn upwards of 8,000 fans. The men's soccer team have an NCAA Division I Tournament record of 1–3 through three appearances and have never advanced past the second round: Cal Poly's women's soccer program is coached by Alex Crozier, formerly an assistant coach at Santa Clara under Jerry Smith. Entering
3174-540: 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 in 1975. Boise State and Idaho competed in
3243-545: The field with a combined total of 887 strokes. After winning the title, the Mustangs advanced to their first Division I NCAA Regional tournament , finishing 16th in Albuquerque, New Mexico at UNM South Championship Golf Course. Cal Poly also won back-to-back BWC team championships in 2021 and 2022. The Cal Poly Mustangs men's soccer team has had success in recent years. In 2008, coach Paul Holocher led his team to
3312-859: The following criteria: Schools in all divisions that sponsor athletic programs for only one sex/gender need only meet the sports sponsorship requirements for that sex/gender. Conferences in the Football Bowl Subdivision must meet a more stringent set of NCAA requirements than other conferences. Among these additional NCAA regulations, institutions in the Football Bowl Subdivision must be "multisport conferences" and participate in conference play in at least six men's and eight women's sports, including football, men's and women's basketball, and at least two other women's team sports. Each school may count one men's and one women's sport not sponsored by its primary conference toward
3381-526: 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
3450-429: The general NCAA Division I requirements regarding the minimum number of men's and women's sports ( see above ). Division I ice hockey has a different conference structure than the above multisport conferences. These schools have memberships in other conferences for other sports. This list includes conferences in sports that the NCAA does not fully split into divisions, such as men's volleyball and rifle. Sports in which
3519-471: The incumbent $ 8 Athletics fee at the time to $ 43 per quarter by 1994). Afterward, the NCAA officially certified Cal Poly as a Division I-AA football school on August 9, 1993. Its first year of playing at the Division I level in all sports (volleyball and wrestling were already Division I, being the two exceptions) was 1994–95. Announced October 14, 1994, Cal Poly joined the Big West Conference for
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#17327721217303588-625: 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
3657-547: The men's team's 17th crown in a 22-year span. Their last national placing as a team was in 2011, when they finished 28th at the National Cross Country Championships . In 2018, the women's program, coached by Priscilla Bayley, captured its third Big West Conference crown in a four-year stretch. The men's cross country team has appeared in the NCAA Division I Championships as a full squad seven times, with their highest finish being 10th place in
3726-532: 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 36 years ago in 1988, moving from the women's-only Mountain West Athletic Conference (1982–88). The 2012–13 season marked
3795-462: The original donation to remove mentions of Moriarty, leaving the school with a $ 145,000 profit from the original sponsorship. In April 2015, a football student-athlete was arrested for driving under the influence, a felony, after crashing his car. A number of the passengers in the car were also football student-athletes. Previously in March 2011, a different Cal Poly football player was arrested for
3864-886: The regional semifinals (Sweet Sixteen), also played in Provo. (Idaho had defeated OSU by 22 points in December in the Far West Classic at Portland .) Other Big Sky teams that advanced to regional semifinals (Sweet Sixteen) include the Weber State Wildcats in 1969 and 1972 , when the total field was 25 teams, and the Montana Grizzlies under Jud Heathcote in the 32-team field in 1975 . The Griz fell to heavily-favored UCLA by just three points, who went on to win another title in John Wooden 's final year as head coach. (A year later, Heathcote
3933-473: The school must now inform all recruits about the department's infractions prior to official visits. In deciding on the severity of punishment, the NCAA noted Cal Poly's two earlier infractions from 1987 and 1995. The athletic department appealed, but the decision was upheld in February 2020. In November 2013, a student assistant coach who previously played for the Cal Poly Mustangs football team
4002-530: The school's best sports programs in recent years and in the 1980s when the team reached No. 1 in the nation in 1985 in the AVCA Coaches Poll. On October 12, 1985, Cal Poly, coached by Mike Wilton , won the NIVT banner at UCLA before a crowd of about 2,500 fans, 3–1. Soon after, in the October 22 Top 25 Poll, the Mustangs were voted as the No. 1 team in the country. Stanford took back over the top spot in
4071-539: The second round. Combined, all-time in its history, including individual national champions, Cal Poly has produced 523 total All-Americans specific to track & field. 73 of these All-America honors have been awarded in Division I (with 28 to men and 45 to women, including AIAW certificates as well as indoor-season accolades), and 450 All-America honors were earned in Division II (248 to men and 202 to women). The women's indoor volleyball team has been one of
4140-474: 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 two years. 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
4209-412: The students chose "Mustangs." The Cal Poly Mustangs athletic department's first sports team was fielded in 1907 as the men's basketball team played their first game. The university was not yet a four-year institution, but the school sponsored sports. Cal Poly put a referendum vote to its student body on Nov. 20–21, 1991. The referendum passed, with students voting to elevate all 16 NCAA sports teams at
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#17327721217304278-669: The team competed in the Great West Conference and was the first Great West Football Conference participant in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. Each year Cal Poly plays rival UC Davis in the annual Battle for the Golden Horseshoe . The Cal Poly Mustangs have an NCAA Division I FCS Tournament record of 1–4 through four appearances: Cal Poly won the 2017 Big West Conference championship at Oak Quarry Golf Club in Riverside, California, besting
4347-454: The time (since increased to 21 intercollegiate teams in the years to follow) from Division II of the NCAA to Division I by the 1994–95 school year, passed by 267 votes in the largest voter turnout in school history, featuring 10,369 total votes cast, with 5,318 (or 51.2 percent) passing the measure. This move would be accommodated by the student body individually paying a total of $ 35 more per quarter by 1994 (steadily going in increments from
4416-551: The week after. In 2007, the team captured its second straight Big West title by posting a 15–1 conference record and a 23–8 record overall, and made it to the third round of the playoffs before losing to Stanford in the Sweet 16 . The team also went 23–6 in 2006. Cal Poly returned to the AVCA national rankings and NCAA tournament in both 2017 & 2018 upon winning back-to-back Big West Conference championships, and then advanced to
4485-552: Was Idaho in 1983 ; two Big Sky teams advanced to the NIT's round of 16: Weber State ( 1984 ) and Boise State ( 1987 ). Bold = National Champions Idaho Montana State Idaho Montana Montana State Eastern Washington Montana Idaho State Montana Northern Arizona Eastern Washington Montana State Montana Weber State List of NCAA conferences Under NCAA regulations, all Division I conferences defined as "multisport conferences" must meet
4554-400: Was a factor cited by Cal Poly when testing just 41 of its 540 student-athletes for banned substances within the last year. Oberhelman later stated that some of the players involved "... should not have been at Cal Poly." He also stated that he had heard of illegal drug usage among members of the football team. According to current and former players who spoke with The Tribune confidentially,
4623-486: Was a national runner-up at 141 lbs. in 2008, competing for the UFC since 2011 (challenging for a UFC featherweight title in 2012). The most famous wrestling alum is Chuck Liddell , who graduated in 1995 and is now a retired UFC Hall of Fame inductee being a former UFC Light heavyweight champion. More recently, 2020 NWCA All-American 197-pounder Tom Lane made his pro fighting debut in the middleweight classification, opening with
4692-476: Was hired at Michigan State with Monson as an assistant for the first two years; in his third season, the Spartans won the national title in 1979 .) Since 1982, only three teams from the Big Sky have advanced within the NCAA tournament, and none past the round of 32. Weber State won in 1995 and 1999 , coached by Ron Abegglen , and Montana in 2006 , led by alumnus Larry Krystkowiak . Prior to Idaho in 1982,
4761-445: Was shot in a drug deal. The following year in August 2014, further problems beset the football team when 5 current Cal Poly student-athletes were arrested and charged with a total of 23 felonies which made national headlines. The players were subsequently suspended indefinitely from the team. California Polytechnic State University president, Jeffrey Armstrong, stated that the August 2014 event "bears striking commonalities" with
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