The 2026 Big Sky football schedule has been officially announced. Conference play begins on Saturday, August 29 with six matchups.
For the 2026 season, the Big Sky will consist of 13 football-playing members following addition of the Southern Utah Thunderbirds and the Utah Tech Trailblazers. The Sacramento State Hornets will depart the league next summer and will play as a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Independent.
The complete Big Sky football roster in 2026 includes Cal Poly, Eastern Washington, Idaho, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Portland State, Southern Utah, UC Davis, Utah Tech, and Weber State.
Beginning with the 2026 season, the Big Sky will play nine conference games annually, with one team playing eight due to the league having an odd number of schools.
The 2026 schedule will also feature 12 teams in conference action during Week 0 to open the season, a first for the league. Playing conference games in Week 0 also gives flexibility for league teams to honor non-conference game contracts throughout the season.
Teams will alternate between five and four home games each season due to the odd number of conference games during the upcoming scheduling cycle. The odd number of conference games also means that at least one team each week will not be in conference play during the season.
Five previously unannounced non-conference matchups involving Big Sky teams were also revealed by team schedule releases today and are listed below:
- VMI at Idaho State – Aug. 29
- Drake at Montana – Sept. 5
- Utah Tech at Montana – Sept. 12 (non-league)
- NAU at Utah Tech – Sept. 19 (non-league)
- Southern Utah at Sac State – Nov. 21
2026 Big Sky Team Schedules
- 2026 Cal Poly Football Schedule
- 2026 Eastern Washington Football Schedule
- 2026 Idaho Football Schedule
- 2026 Idaho State Football Schedule
- 2026 Montana Football Schedule
- 2026 Montana State Football Schedule
- 2026 Northern Arizona Football Schedule
- 2026 Northern Colorado Football Schedule
- 2026 Portland State Football Schedule
- 2026 Southern Utah Football Schedule
- 2026 UC Davis Football Schedule
- 2026 Utah Tech Football Schedule
- 2026 Weber State Football Schedule
2026 Big Sky Football Schedule (Composite)
* Conference games only.
Saturday, Aug. 29
Idaho at Cal Poly
Southern Utah at Montana
Eastern Washington at Northern Arizona
Weber State at Northern Colorado
UC Davis at Portland State
Montana State at Utah Tech
Saturday, Sept. 26
Cal Poly at Eastern Washington
Northern Arizona at Montana State
Utah Tech at Northern Colorado
Idaho State at Southern Utah
Montana at UC Davis
Portland State at Weber State
Saturday, Oct. 3
Weber State at Cal Poly
Montana State at Idaho
Northern Arizona at Idaho State
Northern Colorado at Montana
Eastern Washington at UC Davis
Southern Utah at Utah Tech
Saturday, Oct. 10
Northern Colorado at Eastern Washington
Cal Poly at Idaho State
Montana at Northern Arizona
Utah Tech at Portland State
Idaho at Weber State
Saturday, Oct. 17
Montana State at Eastern Washington
Idaho at Montana
Portland State at Northern Arizona
Cal Poly at Northern Colorado
UC Davis at Southern Utah
Idaho State at Weber State
Saturday, Oct. 24
Utah Tech at Cal Poly
Southern Utah at Idaho
Portland State at Idaho State
Weber State at Montana State
Northern Colorado at UC Davis
Saturday, Oct. 31
Montana at Eastern Washington
Cal Poly at Montana State
Idaho at Portland State
Northern Arizona at Southern Utah
Idaho State at Utah Tech
UC Davis at Weber State
Saturday, Nov. 7
Northern Arizona at Cal Poly
Eastern Washington at Idaho
Montana State at Idaho State
Portland State at Montana
Northern Colorado at Southern Utah
Utah Tech at UC Davis
Saturday, Nov. 14
UC Davis at Idaho
Idaho State at Montana
Weber State at Northern Arizona
Montana State at Northern Colorado
Southern Utah at Portland State
Eastern Washington at Utah Tech
Saturday, Nov. 21
Portland State at Eastern Washington
Idaho at Idaho State
Montana at Montana State
Northern Colorado at Northern Arizona
Cal Poly at UC Davis
Utah Tech at Weber State
Looks like some of the Big Sky teams are filling out their schedules by playing nonconference games against other Big Sky teams. Utah Tech, for example, has 11 Big Sky opponents on its 12-game schedule for 2026.
I think if you look at the games in question, they all involve either Utah Tech or Southern Utah. Utah Tech was on several future schedules through 2028 or so. The conference allowed these games to stand rather than scrambling to fill in the schedules. Also, they may still allow some of these in the future because there aren’t that many FCS options out west for OOC play. There may not be any interest in scheduling Sac State and that pretty much leaves San Diego.
Some of the Big Sky teams will probably schedule Sac State in the future for the reason you mention, JM –Sac State and San Diego are the only potential nonconference FCS opponents in the west. Davis and Cal Poly will probably keep playing Sac. Other Big Sky teams might do so just because of proximity. If you were the AD or coach at Portland State, for example, would you rather have your team travel to play in Sacramento, or in Texas?
The Big Sky should add CSU Pueblo as a full member so that all Big Sky football schools can play 9 conference games, with 5 protected opponents and 4 rotating opponents on a 4-year schedule as follows:
Cal Poly: Eastern Washington, Montana, Northern Arizona, Portland State, UC Davis
CSU Pueblo: Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Southern Utah, Utah Tech, Weber State
Eastern Washington: Cal Poly, Idaho, Montana, Portland State, UC Davis
Idaho: Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Portland State
Idaho State: Idaho, Montana, Montana State, Weber State, UC Davis
Montana: Cal Poly, Eastern Washington, Idaho, Idaho State, Montana State
Montana State: Idaho, Idaho State, Montana, Northern Colorado, UC Davis
Northern Arizona: Cal Poly, CSU Pueblo, Northern Colorado, Southern Utah, Utah Tech
Northern Colorado: CSU Pueblo, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Utah Tech, Weber State
Portland State: Cal Poly, Eastern Washington, Idaho, Southern Utah, UC Davis
Southern Utah: CSU Pueblo, Northern Arizona, Portland State, Utah Tech, Weber State
UC Davis: Cal Poly, Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Montana State, Portland State
Utah Tech: CSU Pueblo, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Southern Utah, Weber State
Weber State: CSU Pueblo, Idaho State, Northern Colorado, Southern Utah, Utah Tech
To expand to 16 basketball schools, the Big Sky would add four schools that don’t sponsor football: Denver and Utah Valley, which are already D1, and D2 schools MSU Denver and Western Washington.
Sounds terrible. Why add baggage to the bottom of the deepest conference in FCS?
Simpler, either NAU or UC Davis join the MW.
One thing the Big Sky should not do is add weak D-II teams and having 5 protected opponents is not in the interest of the league.
@David Neither Davis or NAU have meet the average attendance requirements to move to FBS.
Academically, NAU is not a fit either.
Z Man, the Big Sky is not going to add a school directly from D2. We’ve gone over this before.
My rebuttal – CSU Pueblo is a D2 football power. And staying at 13 football schools complicates things, so CSU Pueblo’s addition makes things simpler.
The last time the Big Sky added a school directly from D2 was 1996 when they added Sac State. Back then, there were a lot less D1 teams, so a top D2 team was more like a bottom D1 team nowadays. They added Northern Colorado in 2006, 2 years after they joined D1. Today, a top D2 team is way lower than a top D2 team 20-30 years ago.
The Big Sky won’t add anyone from D2. If anything, they might lose UC Davis for football only in the next 10 years, and they could lose Portland State if they drop football.
Sacramento State didn’t come directly from D2.
Plus, with my proposed format, these can be the Big Sky’s rivalry week (final week before FCS playoffs) games every year:
Cal Poly-UC Davis
CSU Pueblo-Northern Colorado
Eastern Washington-Portland State
Idaho-Idaho State
Montana-Montana State
Northern Arizona-Utah Tech
Southern Utah-Weber State
The fact that Sac State did NOT come up directly from D2 should make you realize that the Big Sky WILL NOT add a school like CSU-Pueblo. Sorry, it ain’t happening.
The Big Sky was originally D2 in football while being D1 in other sports.
That was nearly 50 years ago. The Big Sky has been FCS as long as FCS has existed. This is a stupid discussion. I guarantee you there are ZERO Big Sky Athletic Directors and Presidents who think adding CSU-Pueblo would be a good idea. Also, a requirement of being a Big Sky member is that you have to sponsor football, Denver and UVU do not.
Just because an idea works well in your fantasies does not mean it works in reality.
The Big Sky can always change the rule regarding football.
Besides, there is a first time for everything.
They could change their rule, but there’s no reason to right now. They’re not in danger of losing members.
It’s weird for a conference to have more schools playing football than basketball in it.
I’m proposing to fix that.
Then maybe you can run for Big Sky Conference Commissioner and try to convince the ADs and Presidents that your idea is better for the league.
Z Man, the Big Sky is one of the original conferences that began Div I-AA, which is now the FCS.
Evan is right, they don’t add teams directly from D-II, ever. They could have added NDSU and SDSU but didn’t, so why would they take a scrub like CSU pueblo. You spend a lot of time fantasizing about how you want conferences to be put together, but very little time looking at what makes actual sense.
Again, CSU Pueblo is not a scrub. They have a respectable football program, and they are probably itching to go D1.
The Big Sky is the only FCS conference out west, so it is their only option.
Again, the Big Sky doesn’t want them. They can stay at D-II try to go independent or maybe join the Pioneer League. Go back to putting together fantasy Thanksgiving rivalry schedules.
The PFL would be a downgrade since they are non-scholarship. CSU Pueblo won’t be willing to give up football scholarships. No other Western conference in D1 is a good fit. The MW wouldn’t be able to add them because they are an FBS conference and if the MW wanted to add any schools that play non-FBS football, they’d look to FCS, for example they added UC Davis as a non-football member and could very well upgrade football to MW membership if the conference is raided in the next realignment cycle. While the WCC is planning to add a public school in UC San Diego, they hadn’t had any public schools since 1979, and I would like it to stay that way by having UCSD accept a new invite from the MW, which would keep that conference in San Diego once SDSU leaves for the Pac-12.
OK then, way off topic, but good luck with all that and all your other dreams. When you wake up and none of it has happened, remember everyone here told you no.
Again, there is a first time for everything.
Kevin, do you have, or will you get the contract details for the FBS games in the Big Sky schedule?
Which games are you looking for?
Montana/Oregon State specifically.
$675,000
Thanks Kevin
Will be the first season without the Causeway Classic (excludeing 2020) since 1953.
Would love to see Montana-UCD get the ESPN2 broadcast.
So many posters on here think they have the answer to every scheduling issue and want to control scheduling. Very delusional.
This is a great web site, minus the plaudits who think they are scheduling gods.
I will enjoy the web site for “accurate information” and I will ignore the delusionist.