Big West Conference
| Big West Conference | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1969 |
| Association | NCAA |
| Division | Division I non-football |
| Members | 9 (10 in 2012, 11 in 2013) |
| Sports fielded | 16 (men's: 7; women's: 9) |
| Region | West Coast (Primarily a California conference, will include Hawaii in 2012) |
| Former names | Pacific Coast Athletic Association |
| Headquarters | Irvine, California |
| Commissioner | Dennis Farrell (since 1992) |
| Website | bigwest.org |
| Locations | |
The Big West Conference (BWC) is an NCAA-affiliated Division I mid-major college athletic conference. When the conference began in 1969, its name was the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA). After nineteen years, in 1988, its name was changed to the Big West Conference.[1] The conference stopped sponsoring college football after the 2000 season. It is the nation's only Division I conference with its entire membership located in one state, though this will change in 2012 when the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa will be added as a member (the first time the Big West had a non-California member since the 2004-05 season).
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History
Creation of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association
The Big West Conference was formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association. The charter members of the PCAA were Cal State Los Angeles, Fresno State, Long Beach State, San Diego State, San Jose State, and UC Santa Barbara.
Four of these charter members (Cal State Los Angeles, Fresno State, Long Beach State, and San Diego State) had previously been members of the nation's premier college-level conference, the California Collegiate Athletic Association. After capturing multiple national championships, the members sought a higher level of play, which could be found within the university ranks. Likewise, San Jose State and UC Santa Barbara, as well as the University of the Pacific, were becoming dissatisfied with being independents due to the restriction of the number of sports they could participate in per year.
The seven schools formally met in May 1969 and finalized the creation of the PCAA less than two months later. Six of the seven founding schools began athletic play immediately, with Pacific joining them two years later.
Evolution
Since its inception as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association, the conference has seen many changes throughout the years. Utah State was the first institution outside of California to join the conference in 1978. This opened the floodgates for many other schools to affiliate with the PCAA; notable schools include UNLV, Nevada, Louisiana-Lafayette, and Boise State, among others.
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In 1983, the PCAA became the first western conference to introduce women's athletic programs, giving the opportunity for all its members to have their women student-athletes compete at the same level as their male counterparts. This proved vital for Hawaiʻi as their only participation in the conference was for their women's sports.
However, turnover of universities started to take its toll. Many left to join conferences that were perceived as more well-known, such as the Western Athletic Conference or the Mountain West Conference, while others did not see the benefit of travel since historically many of the teams have been California-based. Since the departures of Idaho and Utah State in 2005, all members have been based in California, reducing both the cost and travel time between the universities. Between full and associate members, there have been no less than 25 members in the conference's history, while only three of the original seven charter members remain (Long Beach State, University of the Pacific, and UC Santa Barbara; a fourth charter member, San Diego State, will return in 2013).
The change to the Big West
To mark its 20th year as an athletic conference, in 1988 the Pacific Coast Athletic Association decided to change its name to the Big West Conference. The move signaled the changing landscape within the conference. With such schools as Utah State, UNLV, Nevada, New Mexico State, and Hawaii now in the fold, the name change was more representative of the population. In addition, the conference had signed a contract with ESPN to have its men's basketball games telecast as the third game of a triple header known as "Big Monday" - the other conferences being featured were the Big East and the Big 12 so the name Big West fit the "big" theme. Despite the eventual departure of all non-California based teams, the widely-known "Big West Conference" name has remained constant.
Membership
Current members
All nine current members of the conference are located in California. Only one member is a private institution; the other eight are public schools, divided equally between the California State University and University of California systems.
Future members
The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa will join the conference in 2012 in all sports except football, swimming and diving, men's volleyball and women's sailing. UC San Diego applied to join the conference, but were turned down. They were planning on moving up to Division I in all sports.[3] The Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners were also looking to join the conference, but the Big West commissioners only extended an invitation to Hawaiʻi.[4]
On May 24, 2011, it was announced that Sacramento State would join the Big West beginning in the fall of 2012 for men's soccer only.[5]
San Diego State University announced on December 12, 2011 that they would be joining the Big West in 2013 for all sports currently housed in the Mountain West Conference; the Aztecs football program will join the Big East at the same time. Two Aztecs sports currently sponsored by the Big West but not by the MW will join the Big West at other times. The women's water polo program, currently in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, will join in 2012, competing in the Big West for the first time in the spring of 2013. The men's soccer program, currently in the Pac-12, will not join until 2015.[6]
| Institution | Nickname | Location | Founded | Year Joins BWC | Affiliation | Enrollment | Div. I National Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa | Rainbow Warriors/Rainbow Wahine | Honolulu, Hawaii | 1907 | 2012 | Public (University of Hawaiʻi system) | 20,435 | 3 |
| California State University, Sacramento (Sacramento State) | Hornets | Sacramento, California | 1947 | 2012 | Public (California State University system) | 24,388 | |
| San Diego State University | Aztecs | San Diego, California | 1897 | 2013 | Public (California State University system) | 33,790 | 1 |
Membership timeline
Notes
- Powder blue bars denote full members.
- Red bars denote football only members.
- Green bars denote women's basketball only members.
- Yellow bars denote men's soccer only members.
Former members
Many of the former members of the Big West are now members of either the Western Athletic Conference or the Mountain West Conference. Of the nine current members of the WAC, only Hawaii has not spent some time in the Big West as a football participant – it was a Big West member only in women's sports. Of all the former members, CSU Los Angeles is the only team that reverted to Division II level.
School names and nicknames reflect those used by the institutions when they were Big West members. One school has changed its name (Southwestern Louisiana, now Louisiana-Lafayette) and one its nickname (Arkansas State, from Indians to Red Wolves).
Asterisk indicates school has announced intention to join Mountain West in 2012. Dagger indicates school has announced intention to rejoin the Big West in 2013.
Sports
As of the 2010-11 season, the Big West sponsors intercollegiate competition in baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s track and field, women’s volleyball, and women's water polo. As of 2010, the Big West has dropped men’s and women’s swimming and diving.
The Big West is strong in several sports. Baseball and Women's Volleyball have been the strongest sports because of the number of championships won. Cal State Fullerton has won 4 College World Series in 1979, 1984, 1995, and 2004. Long Beach State has won 5 Women's Volleyball championships in 1972, 1973, 1989, 1993, 1998, the last three being NCAA sanctioned titles. In 1998 Misty May-Treanor helped guided the 49ers to a 36-0 record on route to the program's most recent title. Pacific won back to back Women's Volleyball titles in 1985 and 1986.
When UNLV won the school's lone Division I Basketball Championship in 1990, by beating Duke University by a record setting margin of 30 points in the 103-73 victory, they were a member of the Big West Conference.
The current members of the Big West have won a total of nine NCAA national championships including UC Santa Barbara’s most recent Men’s Soccer Championship in 2006. The other was softball by Fullerton in 1986.
The conference no longer sponsors football; the only two conference members which participate in the sport (UC Davis and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) participate as members of the Great West Conference, but both schools will be leaving for the Big Sky Conference in 2012.[8] Future full members Hawaiʻi and San Diego State, plus men's soccer affiliate Sacramento State, also partcipate in football. The 2011 football season was Hawaiʻi's last in the Western Athletic Conference; it will begin play in the Mountain West Conference in the fall of 2012. [9] San Diego State will compete in the Mountain West through the 2012 season before joining the Big East for football in 2013. Sacramento State is currently a full member of the the Big Sky Conference.[10]
Champions
Men's Basketball
The most recent winner of the Big West Conference Tournament is UC Santa Barbara (2011), who won the tournament for the second consecutive season despite entering the tournament as the No. 5 seed. [11]
Women's Basketball
Football
An asterisk denotes the participant in the bowls that invited the Big West champion:
Pasadena (1969-70), California (1981-91), Las Vegas (1992-96), and Humanitarian (1997-2000)[12]
| Year | University |
|---|---|
| 1969 | San Diego State* |
| 1970 | Long Beach State* & San Diego State |
| 1971 | Long Beach State |
| 1972 | San Diego State |
| 1973 | San Diego State |
| 1974 | San Diego State |
| 1975 | San Jose State |
| 1976 | San Jose State |
| 1977 | Fresno State |
| 1978 | San Jose State and Utah State |
| 1979 | Utah State |
| 1980 | Long Beach State |
| 1981 | San Jose State* |
| 1982 | Fresno State* |
| 1983 | Cal State Fullerton* |
| 1984 | Cal State Fullerton (UNLV* forfeited) |
| 1985 | Fresno State* |
| 1986 | San Jose State* |
| 1987 | San Jose State* |
| 1988 | Fresno State* |
| 1989 | Fresno State* |
| 1990 | San Jose State* |
| 1991 | Fresno State* & San Jose State |
| 1992 | Nevada* |
| 1993 | Utah State* & Southwestern La. |
| 1994 | UNLV*, Southwestern La., & Nevada |
| 1995 | Nevada* |
| 1996 | Nevada* & Utah State |
| 1997 | Utah State* & Nevada |
| 1998 | Idaho* |
| 1999 | Boise State* |
| 2000 | Boise State* |
The Big West Conference discontinued football following the 2000 season
Conference facilities
| School | Basketball Arena | Capacity | Soccer Stadium | Capacity | Baseball Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cal Poly San Luis Obispo | Mott Gym | 3,032 | Alex G. Spanos Stadium | 11,075 | Robin Baggett Stadium | 1,734 |
| Cal State Fullerton | Titan Gym | 4,000 | Titan Stadium | 10,000 | Goodwin Field | 3,500 |
| Cal State Northridge | Matadome | 1,600 | Matador Soccer Field | 1,550 | Matador Field | 1,000 |
| Hawaiʻi | Stan Sheriff Center | 10,300 | Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium | 4,500 | Les Murakami Stadium | 4,312 |
| Long Beach State | Walter Pyramid | 5,000 | George Allen Field | 1,000 | Blair Field | 3,238 |
| Pacific | Alex G. Spanos Center | 6,150 | Stagg Memorial Stadium | 28,000 | Klein Family Field | 2,500 |
| Sacramento State | Men's Soccer Member Only | Hornet Field | 1,500 | Men's Soccer Member Only | ||
| San Diego State | Viejas Arena | 12,414 | SDSU Sports Deck | 1,000 | Tony Gwynn Stadium | 3,000 |
| UC Davis | The Pavilion | 8,000 | Aggie Field | 1,000 | Dobbins Baseball Complex | 3,500 |
| UC Irvine | Bren Events Center | 4,984 | Anteater Stadium | 2,500 | Cicerone Field | 2,900 |
| UC Riverside | UC Riverside Student Recreation Center | 3,168 | UCR Soccer Stadium | 900 | Riverside Sports Complex | 2,500 |
| UC Santa Barbara | UCSB Events Center (the Thunderdome) | 5,600 | Harder Stadium | 17,000 | Caesar Uyesaka Stadium | 1,000 |
Future members in gray.
See also
- California Collegiate Athletic Association, an all-California school conference that competes in Division II. Eight out of nine current members of the Big West, plus future member San Diego State, are former members of the CCAA.
References
- ^ http://www.bigwest.org/history/
- ^ UC Santa Barbara joined the conference when it was founded in 1969, left to become an independent after the 1973–1974 season, then rejoined in 1976.
- ^ http://www.10news.com/news/27875297/detail.html
- ^ Evans, Jeff (June 2, 2006). "CSUB commits to Div. I". Bakersfield Californian. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070927035217/http://www.bakersfield.com/150/story/54917.html. Retrieved March 21, 2008.
- ^ "Sacramento State Granted Associate Big West Membership In Men's Soccer". Big West. 2011-05-24. http://www.bigwest.org//story.asp?story_id=14910.
- ^ Associated Press (December 12, 2011). "San Diego State joining Big West". SI.com. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/basketball/ncaa/12/12/sdsu.big.west.ap/index.html?eref=sircrc. Retrieved December 13, 2011.
- ^ Arkansas State joined the conference for football in 1993, left to become an independent after the 1995–1996 season, then rejoined in 1999, only to leave again after the 2000–2001 season.
- ^ http://www.bigskyconf.com/news/2010/9/7/FB_0907100731.aspx
- ^ http://hawaiiathletics.com/index.aspx?path=football
- ^ http://www.hornetsports.com/sports/football/
- ^ http://www.bigwest.org//story.asp?story_id=14635
- ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20000817232655/http://www.bigwest.org/sports/football/releases/history.htm
External links
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