The school's team has competed in the Big Sky Conference since 1970. The team's most recent appearance in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was in 2000. The Lumberjacks are currently led by interim head coach Shane Burcar who replaced Jack Murphy.
The team is head coached by Michael Smith. Since 2016, the Northern Arizona
men's team is widely considered as the nation's leading program in the NCAA Division I. The team has been constantly ranked in the top 2 nationally of the USTFCCCA coach's poll since the start of the 2017 season.[3] The team has dominated the Big Sky championship, winning 20 of the last 25 Big Sky team championships and 17 of the last 25 Big Sky individual titles as of 2017.[4] The Lumberjacks won the NCAA Men's Division I Cross Country Championship in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2020.[5] The 2017 repeat title closed out a perfect season with a 53-point victory, placing five athletes in the top 40. The victory was the lowest score (74) at the NCAA Championships since 2014, and the Lumberjacks became the first repeat champions since 2013–14.[6] Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Michael Smith earned the Bill Dellinger Award as National Men's Coach of the Year and also picked up both the Big Sky's Men's and Women's Coach of the Year awards. In track and field, Smith was named the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Mountain Region Women's Indoor Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2018.
