FCS conference belt

The Big Sky Belt

A companion lineage restricted to Big Sky: the belt passes to whoever beats the holder, exactly like the real belt, but only games between two Big Sky members COUNT — and only for the seasons both sides were actually in Big Sky at the time. Caught it by beating Weber State on October 24, 2026.

Next Big Sky gameMontana State vs. Cal Poly · October 31, 2026 · Scripps Sports / ESPN+ — Cal Poly takes it with a win.

66Reigns

187Belt Games

14Programs

Longest Reign

Montana State — 2 yrs, 18 days

October 7, 1967 – October 25, 1969

Most Defenses, One Reign

Montana — 14

starting October 1, 2006

Most Reigns, All-Time

Weber State — 11 separate reigns

14 Big Sky programs have held it

#	Team	Reign	Length	Def.	Won it	Lost it
1	Idaho	October 23, 1965 – November 9, 1965	17 days	0	Established it (first game on record)	lost to Weber State
2	Weber State	November 9, 1965 – November 19, 1966	1 yr, 10 days	0	beat Idaho 14–7	lost to Idaho
3	Idaho	November 19, 1966 – October 7, 1967	322 days	1	beat Weber State 42–12	lost to Montana State
4	Montana State	October 7, 1967 – October 25, 1969	2 yrs, 18 days	1	beat Idaho 41–14	lost to Idaho
5	Idaho	October 25, 1969 – November 8, 1969	14 days	0	beat Montana State 31–21	lost to Weber State
6	Weber State	November 8, 1969 – November 7, 1970	364 days	0	beat Idaho 28–7	lost to Idaho
7	Idaho	November 7, 1970 – September 11, 1971	308 days	0	beat Weber State 27–17	lost to Boise State
8	Boise State	September 11, 1971 – November 25, 1972	1 yr, 75 days	0	beat Idaho 42–14	lost to Idaho
9	Idaho	November 25, 1972 – September 15, 1973	294 days	0	beat Boise State 22–21	lost to Boise State
10	Boise State	September 15, 1973 – November 23, 1974	1 yr, 69 days	1	beat Idaho 47–23	— belt retired —
11	Eastern Washington	September 26, 2004 – October 16, 2004	20 days	2	Re-established it (no Big Sky games on record between 1974 and 2004)	lost to Montana
12	Montana	October 16, 2004 – October 30, 2004	14 days	0	beat Eastern Washington 31–28	lost to Portland State
13	Portland State	October 30, 2004 – October 1, 2005	336 days	3	beat Montana 35–32	lost to Eastern Washington
14	Eastern Washington	October 1, 2005 – October 22, 2005	21 days	2	beat Portland State 42–24	lost to Weber State
15	Weber State	October 22, 2005 – November 12, 2005	21 days	1	beat Eastern Washington 28–23	lost to Portland State
16	Portland State	November 12, 2005 – October 1, 2006	323 days	2	beat Weber State 39–14	lost to Montana
17	Montana	October 1, 2006 – October 4, 2008	2 yrs, 3 days	14	beat Portland State 26–20	lost to Weber State
18	Weber State	October 4, 2008 – November 22, 2008	49 days	5	beat Montana 45–28	lost to Eastern Washington
19	Eastern Washington	November 22, 2008 – October 10, 2009	322 days	3	beat Weber State 33–26	lost to Weber State
20	Weber State	October 10, 2009 – October 31, 2009	21 days	2	beat Eastern Washington 31–13	lost to Montana
21	Montana	October 31, 2009 – September 18, 2010	322 days	3	beat Weber State 31–10	lost to Eastern Washington
22	Eastern Washington	September 18, 2010 – September 25, 2010	7 days	0	beat Montana 36–27	lost to Montana State
23	Montana State	September 25, 2010 – October 16, 2010	21 days	2	beat Eastern Washington 30–7	lost to Northern Arizona
24	Northern Arizona	October 16, 2010 – October 23, 2010	7 days	0	beat Montana State 34–7	lost to Montana
25	Montana	October 23, 2010 – October 30, 2010	7 days	0	beat Northern Arizona 24–21	lost to Weber State
26	Weber State	October 30, 2010 – November 6, 2010	7 days	0	beat Montana 30–21	lost to Montana State
27	Montana State	November 6, 2010 – November 19, 2011	1 yr, 13 days	8	beat Weber State 24–10	lost to Montana
28	Montana	November 19, 2011 – September 28, 2013	1 yr, 313 days	1	beat Montana State 36–10	lost to Northern Arizona
29	Northern Arizona	September 28, 2013 – October 5, 2013	7 days	0	beat Montana 34–16	lost to Montana State
30	Montana State	October 5, 2013 – November 9, 2013	35 days	3	beat Northern Arizona 36–7	lost to Eastern Washington
31	Eastern Washington	November 9, 2013 – October 25, 2014	350 days	7	beat Montana State 54–29	lost to Northern Arizona
32	Northern Arizona	October 25, 2014 – November 15, 2014	21 days	2	beat Eastern Washington 28–27	lost to North Dakota
33	North Dakota	November 15, 2014 – October 10, 2015	329 days	3	beat Northern Arizona 30–28	lost to Idaho State
34	Idaho State	October 10, 2015 – October 17, 2015	7 days	0	beat North Dakota 37–31	lost to Eastern Washington
35	Eastern Washington	October 17, 2015 – November 7, 2015	21 days	2	beat Idaho State 45–28	lost to Northern Arizona
36	Northern Arizona	November 7, 2015 – November 21, 2015	14 days	1	beat Eastern Washington 52–30	lost to Southern Utah
37	Southern Utah	November 21, 2015 – October 1, 2016	315 days	1	beat Northern Arizona 49–41	lost to Montana
38	Montana	October 1, 2016 – October 22, 2016	21 days	1	beat Southern Utah 43–20	lost to Northern Arizona
39	Northern Arizona	October 22, 2016 – November 12, 2016	21 days	1	beat Montana 45–34	lost to North Dakota
40	North Dakota	November 12, 2016 – September 23, 2017	315 days	0	beat Northern Arizona 38–31	lost to Montana State
41	Montana State	September 23, 2017 – September 30, 2017	7 days	0	beat North Dakota 49–21	lost to Weber State
42	Weber State	September 30, 2017 – October 14, 2017	14 days	0	beat Montana State 25–17	lost to Southern Utah
43	Southern Utah	October 14, 2017 – December 2, 2017	49 days	5	beat Weber State 32–16	lost to Weber State
44	Weber State	December 2, 2017 – October 6, 2018	308 days	2	beat Southern Utah 30–13	lost to Northern Arizona
45	Northern Arizona	October 6, 2018 – October 20, 2018	14 days	0	beat Weber State 28–24	lost to Northern Colorado
46	Northern Colorado	October 20, 2018 – November 3, 2018	14 days	1	beat Northern Arizona 42–14	lost to Eastern Washington
47	Eastern Washington	November 3, 2018 – September 21, 2019	322 days	3	beat Northern Colorado 48–13	lost to Idaho
48	Idaho	September 21, 2019 – September 28, 2019	7 days	0	beat Eastern Washington 35–27	lost to Northern Colorado
49	Northern Colorado	September 28, 2019 – October 5, 2019	7 days	0	beat Idaho 27–24	lost to Northern Arizona
50	Northern Arizona	October 5, 2019 – October 19, 2019	14 days	0	beat Northern Colorado 41–23	lost to Weber State
51	Weber State	October 19, 2019 – November 16, 2019	28 days	2	beat Northern Arizona 51–28	lost to Montana
52	Montana	November 16, 2019 – November 23, 2019	7 days	0	beat Weber State 35–16	lost to Montana State
53	Montana State	November 23, 2019 – November 20, 2021	1 yr, 362 days	7	beat Montana 48–14	lost to Montana
54	Montana	November 20, 2021 – October 15, 2022	329 days	3	beat Montana State 29–10	lost to Idaho
55	Idaho	October 15, 2022 – October 29, 2022	14 days	1	beat Montana 30–23	lost to Sacramento State
56	Sacramento State	October 29, 2022 – September 23, 2023	329 days	3	beat Idaho 31–28	lost to Idaho
57	Idaho	September 23, 2023 – October 14, 2023	21 days	2	beat Sacramento State 36–27	lost to Montana
58	Montana	October 14, 2023 – October 5, 2024	357 days	5	beat Idaho 23–21	lost to Weber State
59	Weber State	October 5, 2024 – October 12, 2024	7 days	0	beat Montana 55–48	lost to Northern Colorado
60	Northern Colorado	October 12, 2024 – October 26, 2024	14 days	0	beat Weber State 21–17	lost to Montana
61	Montana	October 26, 2024 – November 9, 2024	14 days	1	beat Northern Colorado 24–0	lost to UC Davis
62	UC Davis	November 9, 2024 – November 16, 2024	7 days	0	beat Montana 30–14	lost to Montana State
63	Montana State	November 16, 2024 – October 2, 2026	1 yr, 320 days	13	beat UC Davis 30–28	lost to Idaho
64	Idaho	October 2, 2026 – October 10, 2026	8 days	0	beat Montana State 35–34	lost to Weber State
65	Weber State	October 10, 2026 – October 24, 2026	14 days	1	beat Idaho 38–27	lost to Montana State
66	Montana State	October 24, 2026 – Present	7 days	0	beat Weber State 38–33	— present —

No reigns match “.”

Membership is judged season by season from every game a team played, so realignment moves a team’s games with it. A holder that stays in Big Sky keeps the belt through any stretch without a game against another member; a holder that leaves vacates the belt on its last game as a member, and it reverts to the most recent earlier holder that is a member of the season it left for. If no one is left to inherit it, the belt retires with its last holder. Days count the offseason; switch to games to measure a reign by belt games only.

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