A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
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| Formerly | Pacific Coast Athletic Association (1969–1988) |
|---|---|
| Association | NCAA |
| Founded | July 1, 1969 |
| Commissioner | Dan Butterly (since July 1, 2020) |
| Sports fielded |
|
| Division | Division I |
| Subdivision | Non–football |
| No. of teams | 11 |
| Headquarters | Irvine, California |
| Region | West Coast |
| Official website | www |
| Locations | |
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The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA), and in 1988 was renamed the Big West Conference. The conference stopped sponsoring college football after the 2000 season.
Among the conference's 11 member institutions, 10 are located in California (with 9 located in Southern California alone) and one is located in Hawaii. All of the schools are public universities, with the California schools evenly split between the California State University and the University of California systems. In addition, one affiliate member plays two sports in the BWC not sponsored by its home conference.
History
Pacific Coast Athletic Association
The Big West Conference was formed in June 1968 as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association.[1] The five original charter members were Fresno State, San Jose State, UC Santa Barbara, San Diego State, and Long Beach State.[1] Two other schools, Cal State Los Angeles and the University of the Pacific, were also considered but they declined at that time to pursue membership.[2] The newly formed conference had a number of meetings to set up its governance, which was confirmed in October 1968 on the campus of UC Santa Barbara.[3] Before the league started play, Cal State Los Angeles joined as a full member and the University of the Pacific joined for football only, becoming a full member itself two years later.[4][5] The conference itself lists July 1, 1969, as its founding date, with the seven institutions beginning conference play that fall.[6][7]
Evolution
Since its inception as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association, the conference has seen many changes. 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, Boise State, and football-only members, such as Southwestern Louisiana and Arkansas State.
In 1983, the PCAA became the first western conference to introduce women's athletic programs, allowing its female student-athletes to 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, many universities 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.
From the departures of Idaho and Utah State in 2005 until the arrival of Hawaii in 2012, all members were based in California, reducing the cost and travel time between the universities. When Hawaii joined, it agreed to help defray a portion of travel costs to that state for the league's California members.
There have been no fewer than 25 full and associate members in the conference's history, while only two of the original seven charter members remain (Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara, with only Long Beach State's membership being continuous).
The change to the Big West
Effective July 1, 1988, the Pacific Coast Athletic Association changed its name to the Big West Conference.[7] With such schools as Utah State, UNLV, Nevada, New Mexico State, and Hawaii now in the fold, the name change was more representative of its member institutions.[7] 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 Ten so the name Big West fit the theme.[9]
Member schools
Current members
Full members
- Notes
- ^ Before becoming a full member, Bakersfield had been a Big West affiliate in beach volleyball since the 2015–16 school year.
- ^ Then Division II, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo was an affiliate member of the Big West in women's volleyball from 1984–85 to 1989–90.
- ^ Northridge is one of many Los Angeles neighborhoods that have separate postal identities from the city.
- ^ Hawaii was a full member of the Big West in women's sports from 1984–85 to 1995–96; while the men's sports were a full member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during that tenure.
- ^ The Hawaii beach volleyball team is officially Rainbow Wahine, but more commonly uses the nickname BeachBows.
- ^ Long Beach State fully rebranded its athletic program as Beach effective in the 2020–21 school year, after transitioning from its former nickname of 49ers over several years. The baseball team continues to use the nickname Dirtbags, which it had adopted in the 49ers era.
- ^ UC San Diego began a transition from Division II to Division I upon fully joining the Big West and is not eligible to compete for the league’s NCAA automatic qualification in single-site championship sports that have Division II national championships until July 1, 2024. (Men's volleyball and women's water polo are not subject to this restriction, as neither sport has a Division II championship.)[11]
- ^ La Jolla is a neighborhood of San Diego with a separate postal identity from the city.
- ^ UC San Diego first joined the Big West as a men's volleyball affiliate in 2017. It added women's water polo to its BWC membership in 2019.
- ^ The UCSB campus has a Santa Barbara mailing address, but entirely lies outside the city limits in the unincorporated community of Isla Vista.
- ^ UC Santa Barbara joined the Big West when it was founded in 1969, left to become an independent after the 1973–74 school year, then rejoined the conference effective the 1976–77 school year.
Affiliate members
| Institution | Nickname | Location | Founded | Joined | Type | Enrollment | Primary conference |
Big West sport(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Idaho | Vandals | Moscow, Idaho | 1889 | 2024–25 | Public | 11,849 | Big Sky | Men's golf |
| California State University, Sacramento (Sacramento State) |
Hornets[a] | Sacramento, California | 1947 | 2012–13 | Public (CSU system) |
30,670 | Men's soccer | |
| 2015–16 | Beach volleyball | |||||||
| 2024–25 | Men's golf |
- Notes
Former members
Many of the former members of the Big West are now members of the Western Athletic Conference or the Mountain West Conference. Of the nine schools that were in the WAC before its early-2010s realignment, only Hawaii had not spent some time in the Big West as a football participant – it was a Big West member only in women's sports. Of the former members, Cal State 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 branded athletically as Louisiana and also known as Louisiana–Lafayette) and one its nickname (Arkansas State, from Indians to Red Wolves).