UM’s athletic teams are called the Grizzlies and they have competed in the NCAA’s Big Sky Conference since its start in 1963. Prior to that, UM was a member of the Pacific Coast Conference, which was the predecessor to the current Pac-10, from 1924 until 1950. The football team plays their home games in Washington-Grizzly Stadium, which opened on October 18, 1986. Since the 90s, the Grizzlies have made themselves into one of the most dominant football teams in the Big Sky Conference and the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. They won or shared 11 of the last 16 Big Sky Conference football championships since 1990; they also won the I-AA national title in 1995 and 2001. The Grizzlies also played in championship games in 1996, 2000 and 2004 and have made 5 championship game appearances over the last 11 years.

The Grizzlies open the 2008 season on September 6 when they travel to Cal Poly. On September 13, the Grizzlies play their home opener against Southern Utah. A week later, they play their Homecoming game against UC Davis at the Washington-Grizzly Stadium on September 20. On September 27, they play Central Washington at home. Then on October 4, they travel to Weber State. A week later, on October 11, they travel to Eastern Washington State. A week after that, they play Sacramento State at home. The next week they travel to Northern Colorado on October 25. The Grizzlies play Northern Arizona at home on November 1. On November 8, they travel to Portland State. The week after that, they play Idaho State at home. Finally, they play Montana State at home on November 22; this will be their 108th meeting. All of the Grizzlies’ games will be available via internet and radio.