OGDEN, Utah - Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball will return to Altitude Sports & Entertainment, the league and network announced on June 28.

The Big Sky Conference and Altitude agreed to a new three-year contract that will bring fans eight regular-season games, as well as the semifinals of the Big Sky Championship.

Altitude Sports & Entertainment has televised a Big Sky Conference Game of the Week and the semifinal games each of the past three seasons.

"Altitude is pleased to continue our relationship with the Big Sky Conference," said Phillip Mallios, Senior Vice President of Affiliate Sales.  "The Big Sky Conference represents an important part of our college programming lineup.  This contract extension continues our commitment to provide the best regional programming from our entire coverage area."

"We're thrilled to continue our men's basketball relationship with our friends at Altitude Sports & Entertainment,'' said Big Sky Conference Commissioner Doug Fullerton. "Our conference has enjoyed increased exposure through our men's basketball coverage on Altitude.''

Altitude is available on many cable outlets throughout the Big Sky Conference market including Montana, Utah, Colorado, and Idaho. The network is also available throughout the United States on Dish Network and DirecTV. Altitude reaches more than 6.4 million homes, including more than 3 million in its 10-state region.

The majority of the regular-season games the past three seasons have aired on Sunday afternoon. Under the new agreement, attempts will be made to televise games on Saturday, especially during the NFL playoffs in January.

"We realize that Sunday afternoons in January isn't the optimal time to play basketball games when the NFL playoffs are in full swing,'' Fullerton said. "When Altitude's schedule allows, we will work to move those games off of Sunday, which is important to our nine institutions.''

Altitude will also make the feeds available to local networks in Sacramento, Calif., Flagstaff, Ariz., Cheney, Wash., and Portland, Ore. Comcast Sports Net Northwest of Portland has shown nearly all of the Big Sky men's basketball games that last three seasons.

Altitude will also continue to serve as the home of Big Sky regular-season football games, with five contests slated for the 2010 season. The Big Sky women's basketball championship game in March will also be televised by Altitude.

The 2011 Altitude Big Sky men's basketball Game of the Week schedule, as well as the 2010 football schedule will be announced later this summer.

About Altitude

Seen in more than 3 million homes in a 10 state territory, Altitude is the television home of the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Mammoth, Colorado Eagles, the Big Sky Conference, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, ESPN Syndication (including Big 12 Conference and Western Athletic Conference events,) as well as other local and regional sports, entertainment and public service programming.  A full list of Altitude programming and other information can be found at www.altitude.tv.

DID YOU KNOW…Overall, 26 student-athletes earned a 4.0 GPA for the 2010 spring semester, representing all 15 squads. The soccer team led the department with seven student-athletes with a 4.0 GPA for the semester.