The Big Sky Conference (known as the Big Sky) is a conference participating in the NCAA's Division I, with member institutions in , , , , , , and . It was founded in 1963. The conference is named after a 1947 novel by A. B. Guthrie entitled The Big Sky. A separate women's sports conference called the Mountain West Conference (completely unrelated to the current Mountain West Conference) existed from 1982-88, and comprised the same membership as the Big Sky. The two conferences merged in 1988.