Mountain States Conference
| Mountain States Conference | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1938 |
| Dissolved | 1962 |
| Association | NCAA |
| Division | Division I |
| Members | 9 |
| Region | Western United States |
| Locations | |
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The Mountain States Conference, also known as the Skyline Conference, was a college athletic conference based in the Western United States. The league was established in 1938 when the seven charter members (see below) pulled out of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
From 1938 to 1946, the conference was popularly known as the Big Seven. After Colorado left in 1947 to join the Big Six Conference (later the Big Eight Conference) the MSC became popularly known as the Skyline Conference or Skyline Six, while the Big Six took over the Big Seven name. The conference became known as the Skyline Eight after New Mexico and Montana joined in 1951.
The conference dissolved in early 1962 after four of its members (BYU, Utah, New Mexico, and Wyoming) departed to form the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in July. Montana operated as an independent for one football season in 1962 until the formation of the Big Sky Conference in 1963. Colorado State became independent until it joined the WAC in 1968. Utah State operated as an independent for fifteen seasons, until it joined the Pacific Coast Athletic Association in 1977.
Members
Charter members
- BYU: now independent in football and in the West Coast Conference in all other sports.
- Colorado: left in 1948 to join the Big Seven Conference (whose members all moved to the Big 12 Conference in 1996); now in the Pacific-12 Conference.
- Colorado State: now in the Mountain West Conference.
- Denver: dropped football in 1961; most of its teams joined the Western Athletic Conference in 2012 but will join The Summit League on July 1, 2013.
- Utah: moved to the Mountain West Conference; now in the Pacific-12 Conference.
- Utah State: now in the Western Athletic Conference; will move to the Mountain West Conference on July 1, 2013.
- Wyoming: now in the Mountain West Conference.
Other members
- Montana (1951–1962): joined after a year of independent play in 1950 following several decades of membership in the Pacific Coast Conference; a charter and current member of the Big Sky Conference.
- New Mexico (1951–1962): joined from the Border Conference; left to join the WAC; now a member of the Mountain West Conference.
Membership timeline
Football champions
- 1938 Utah
- 1939 Colorado
- 1940 Utah
- 1941 Utah
- 1942 Utah and Colorado
- 1943 Colorado
- 1944 Colorado
- 1945 Denver
- 1946 Denver and Utah State
- 1947 Utah
- 1948 Utah
- 1949 Wyoming
- 1950 Wyoming
- 1951 Utah
- 1952 Utah
- 1953 Utah
- 1954 Denver
- 1955 Colorado State
- 1956 Wyoming
- 1957 Utah
- 1958 Wyoming
- 1959 Wyoming
- 1960 Wyoming and Utah State
- 1961 Wyoming and Utah State