Big West Conference - Definition and Overview

The Big West Conference (BWC) is an NCAA-affiliated Division I major college athletic conference that formerly sponsored Division I-A American football.

Background

The history of the conference is linked to that of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA), which was founded in 1969 and renamed the Big West Conference in 1988. The Big West Conference dropped sponsorship of football at the end of the 2000-2001 season, but continues to actively sponsor other sports.

Original members of the BWC (and years of football membership) included Cal State Fullerton (1988-1992), Fresno State (1988-1991), Long Beach State (1988-1999), Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) (1988-1996), New Mexico State (1988-2000), Pacific (1988-1996), San Jose State (1988-1996), and Utah State (1988-2000).

Other former members (and years of football membership) included Arkansas State (1993-1996 & 1998-2001), Boise State (1996-2001), Idaho (1996-2000), Louisiana-Lafayette (1993-1996), Louisiana Tech (1993-1996), Nevada (1996-1999), North Texas (1996-2000), and Northern Illinois (1993-1996).

Beginning in fall 2001, six of the seven remaining football-playing members parted company with the BWC: Arkansas State, Idaho, New Mexico State, and North Texas joined the Sun Belt Conference; Boise State joined the Western Athletic Conference (WAC); and Utah State became an independent before joining the Sun Belt Conference in fall 2003. Idaho and Utah State currently retain Big West membership in sports other than football, but both will leave for the WAC in the fall of 2005. The departure of Idaho and Utah State will leave the Big West a California-only conference; of these schools, five are in Greater Los Angeles, two others are just to the north or west of that area, and only Pacific is outside of Southern California.

The seventh football-playing member, Cal Poly, stayed in the Big West for other sports and became a Division I-AA independent before joining the new Great West Football Conference in 2004.

Current members (and years joined)

• California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (1996) [=Cal Poly]
• California State University, Fullerton (1974)
• California State University, Northridge (2001)
• University of Idaho (1996)
• California State University, Long Beach (1969) [=Long Beach State]
• University of the Pacific (1971)
• University of California, Irvine (1977) [=UC Irvine]
• University of California, Riverside (2001) [=UC Riverside]
• University of California, Santa Barbara (1969 & 1976) [=UCSB]
• Utah State University (1978)

Current conference affiliations (for football) of former members

• Mid-American Conference (1) - Northern Illinois
• Mountain West Conference (1) - UNLV
• Sun Belt Conference (6) - Arkansas State, Idaho, Louisiana-Lafayette, New Mexico State, North Texas, and Utah State
• Western Athletic Conference (5) - Boise State, Fresno State, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, and San Jose State

Sports

As of fall 2002, the BWC sponsors intercollegiate competition in men’s 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, women’s softball, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s track and field, and women’s volleyball.

External link

• The Official Web Site of the Big West Conference (http://www.bigwest.org)

Big West Conference  Cal Poly | Cal State Fullerton | Long Beach State | Northridge  Pacific | UCI | UCR | UCSB Leaving in July 2005: Idaho | Utah State Entering in 2006: UC Davis