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The Big Sky Conference has announced that the University of California-Davis and Cal Poly have accepted invitations to join the league as affiliate members in football.

Invitations of affiliate membership were extended by Big Sky Conference Commissioner Doug Fullerton with approval of the Presidents’ Council and accepted by both universities late last week.

Cal Poly and UC Davis are both Football Championship Subdivision members that currently compete in the Great West Conference, but participate as members of the Division I Big West Conference for the majority of sports.

Fullterton said, “The addition of two great institutions like Cal Poly and UC Davis gives us more depth to compete for additional playoff berths and enhances our profile throughout California. This is a great fit for both institutions and the Big Sky Conference. We are bringing in two strong western FCS programs. They will benefit from us in having access to an automatic playoff bid and a full slate of conference games.’’

A definite timeline has not been set for the programs to officially join the 48-year-old Division I Big Sky Conference, but an effort will be made to work the schools into a conference schedule as quickly as possible. Many Big Sky schools have limited openings in their 2011 schedules, as contracts with non-conference opponents have already been signed. Cal Poly and UC Davis must also comply with withdrawal procedures from the Great West Conference.

Fullerton said this is the first part of an expansion process, an exercise that could lead to a 12-team football conference that would split into two six-team divisions.

“We’re going to look at all options,’’ Fullerton said. “The landscape of college athletics has shifted even more this summer, and with the great diversity of funding and budgets at the Football Bowl Subdivision level, the role of the FCS may became even greater in the coming years. The FCS could become the home for many institutions. We feel like the additions of UC Davis and Cal Poly puts us in front of that momentum.’’

For both Cal Poly and UC Davis, aligning their football programs with the Big Sky offers the opportunity to compete in a conference with an automatic bid to the FCS playoffs, continue and renew natural rivalries, and to develop new rivalries by playing the same teams each year.

On Saturday, Cal Poly is slated to play Montana in San Luis Obispo, while UC Davis is going up against Portland State.