Big West Conference

This article is about an American college sports organization. For the Japanese advertising agency see Big West Advertising.

Big West Conference

File:Big West Logo.png
Association	NCAA
Commissioner	Dennis Farrell (since 1992)
Sports fielded	18 men's: 8 women's: 10
Division	Division I
Subdivision	non-football
Region	West Coast (California-only conference)
Official website	http://www.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. 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.

History

Creation of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association

The Big West Conference was formed on July 1st, 1969, under the name 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 of 1969 and finalized the birth of the PCAA less than two months later. Six of the seven schools who were involved in the creation of the league started athletic play straightaway, with Pacific joining them 2 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 Tech, and Boise State, among others.

Big West Conference Sports Baseball - men's Basketball - men's and women's Cross Country - men's and women's Golf - men's and women's Soccer - men's and women's Softball - women's Tennis - men's and women's Track & Field - men's and women's Volleyball - women's Water Polo - women's

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 basketball team.

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).

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 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.

Institution	Nickname	Location	Founded	Joined BWC	Affiliation	Enrollment	Div. I National Championships
Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo	Mustangs	San Luis Obispo, California	1901	1996	Public (California State University system)	19,777	0
Cal State Fullerton	Titans	Fullerton, California	1957	1974	Public (California State University system)	36,996	14
Cal State Northridge	Matadors	Northridge, Los Angeles, California	1958	2001	Public (California State University system)	36,207	0
Long Beach State	49ers	Long Beach, California	1949	1969	Public (California State University system)	37,890	4
University of the Pacific	Tigers	Stockton, California	1851	1971	Private	3,740	2
UC Davis	Aggies	Davis, California	1908	2007	Public (University of California system)	31,426	1
UC Irvine	Anteaters	Irvine, California	1965	1977	Public (University of California system)	27,631	4
UC Riverside	Highlanders	Riverside, California	1954	2001	Public (University of California system)	19,439	0
UC Santa Barbara	Gauchos	Santa Barbara, California	1905	1969, 1976	Public (University of California system)	20,559	2

Locations of current Big West Conference full member institutions.

Membership timeline

Notes

• Powder blue bars denote full members.
• Red bars denote football only members.
• Green bars denote women's basketball only members.

Former members

Many of the former members of the Big West are now members of the Western Athletic 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 in the Big West as a women's sports only member. Of all the former members, CSU Los Angeles is the only team that reverted back to Division II level.

Institution	Nickname	Affiliation	Joined BWC	Left BWC	Current Conference
Arkansas State University	Indians	Football only	1993, 1999	1996, 2001	Sun Belt Conference
Boise State University	Broncos	Full member	1996	2001	Western Athletic Conference*
California State University, Fresno	Bulldogs	Full member	1969	1992	Western Athletic Conference*
California State University, Los Angeles	Golden Eagles	Full member	1969	1974	California Collegiate Athletic Association
University of Hawaii at Manoa	Rainbow Wahine	Women's sportsl only	1984	1996	Western Athletic Conference
University of Idaho	Vandals	Full member	1996	2005	Western Athletic Conference
Louisiana Tech University	Bulldogs	Football only	1993	1996	Western Athletic Conference
University of Nevada, Las Vegas	Rebels	Full member	1982	1996	Mountain West Conference
University of Nevada, Reno	Wolf Pack	Full member	1992	2000	Western Athletic Conference*
New Mexico State University	Aggies	Full member	1983	2000	Western Athletic Conference
University of North Texas	Mean Green	Full member	1996	2000	Sun Belt Conference
Northern Illinois University	Huskies	Football only	1993	1996	Mid-American Conference
San Diego State University	Aztecs	Full member	1969	1978	Mountain West Conference
San Jose State University	Spartans	Full member	1969	1996	Western Athletic Conference
University of Southwestern Louisiana	Ragin' Cajuns	Football only	1993	1996	Sun Belt Conference
Utah State University	Aggies	Full member	1978	2005	Western Athletic Conference

Asterisk indicates school has announced intention to join Mountain West in 2011 or 2012.

Sports

As of fall 2002, the BWC 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, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s track and field, and women’s volleyball. As of the 2008-2009 school year the BWC has sponsored Women's Water Polo.

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 programs most recent title. Pacific won back to back Women's Volleyball titles in 1985 and 1986.

When UNLV won the school's lone Division 1 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 does not sponsor 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.

Champions

Men's Basketball

Main article: Big West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament

The most recent winner of the Big West Tournament is UC Santa Barbara (2010), who also won the regular season crown.

Women's Basketball

Main article: Big West Conference Women's Basketball Tournament

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)

Football Champions

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* & SW Louisiana
1994	UNLV*, SW Louisiana, & 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	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	800	Matador Field	1,000
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
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

See also

• California Collegiate Athletic Association, an all-California school conference that competes in Division II. Eight out of nine members of the Big West are former members of the CCAA.

External links

• Official website