NCAA Sports Blog

The Big West Conference (BWC) is an NCAA-affiliated Division I major college athletic conference that formerly sponsored Division I-A college football. Due to its past successes in the NCAA’s men’s college basketball tournament, the Big West is still occasionally considered by some to be a mid-major conference.

 

The conference was founded in 1969 as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA). Originally, all PCAA members were located in California, but in later years the conference included members from interior western states. Independent Utah State was admitted to the conference in 1978, followed by UNLV in 1980. As a result of this geographical shift, and a promotion for ESPN broadcasts of “Big Monday” basketball games on Monday night, the PCAA was renamed the Big West Conference in 1988.

In 1990, UNLV won the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship. The Runnin’ Rebels beat Duke University by a record setting margin (30 points) of 103-73, becoming the first team to score over 100 in the championship game. 

The conference has also found success in baseball as Cal State Fullerton has won the College World Series in 1979, 1984, 1995 and 2004, and women’s volleyball, as Long Beach State has won national titles in 1989, 1993 and 1998, as well as Pacific in 1985, 1986. Other championships the conference has won include a Women’s College World Series title by Fullerton in 1986, and a men’s soccer championship by UCSB in 2006. 

The Big West dropped sponsorship of football after the 2000 season. Three long-term members had ceased football programs during the early 1990s: Long Beach State’s final season was 1991, Fullerton’s 1992, and Pacific’s 1995. Four of the seven remaining football-playing members parted company with the BWC in 2001: Boise State joined the WAC while Arkansas State, New Mexico State, and North Texas departed for the Sun Belt conference. 

Idaho and Utah State remained in the Big West but continued with their Division I-A football programs. Idaho joined the Sun Belt as a “football only” member, while Utah State became a football independent for two seasons. Finding scheduling difficult, USU joined the Sun Belt for football in 2003 for two seasons. Idaho and Utah State both left the Big West for the WAC on July 1, 2005. 

The departure of Idaho and Utah State leaves the Big West as it originally was for its first nine years as the PCAA; a California-only conference. Five members are in Greater Los Angeles, two others are just to the north or west, with only UC Davis and Pacific outside of Southern California. 

Current members (and years joined)

Institution	Location	Founded
California Polytechnic State University	San Luis Obispo, California	1901
California State University, Fullerton	Fullerton, California	1957
California State University, Northridge	Northridge, California	1958
California State University, Long Beach	Long Beach, California	1949
University of the Pacific	Stockton, California	1851
University of California, Davis	Davis, California	1905
University of California, Irvine	Irvine, California	1965
University of California, Riverside	Riverside, California	1954
University of California, Santa Barbara	Santa Barbara, California	1944

Teams:
    * Cal Poly Mustangs

    * Cal State Fullerton Titans

    * Cal State Northridge Matadors

    * Long Beach State 49ers

    * Pacific Tigers

    * UC Davis Aggies

    * UC Irvine Anteaters

    * UC Riverside Highlanders

    * UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 

Traveling Partners 

    * UC Irvine and Long Beach State. This is a rivalry.

    * UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly. This is also a rivalry, as both schools are located on the Central Coast.

    * UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton.

    * Pacific and Cal State Northridge. 

Football Affiliation 

    * UC Davis and Cal Poly play football in the Great West Football Conference. 

Charter (original) members 

    * Long Beach State - 1969-present - (discontinued football after 1991 season)

    * San José State 1969-96 - currently in WAC

    * Fresno State - 1969-91 - currently in WAC

    * San Diego State - 1969-76 - currently in Mountain West

    * Cal State - L.A. - 1969-74

    * UC-Santa Barbara - 1969-72 

Former members 

    * Arkansas State - 1993-96 and 1998-2000 (football only) - currently in Sun Belt

    * Boise State - 1996-2001 - currently in WAC

    * Idaho - 1996-2005 - currently in WAC

    * Louisiana Tech - 1993-96 (football only) - currently in WAC

    * UNLV - 1982-96 - currently in Mountain West

    * Nevada - 1992-2000 - currently in WAC

    * New Mexico State - 1983-2001 - currently in WAC

    * North Texas - 1996-2001 - currently in Sun Belt

    * Northern Illinois - 1993-96 (football only)

    * Louisiana-Lafayette - 1993-96 (football only) - currently in Sun Belt

    * Utah State - 1978-2005 - currently in WAC 

Current conference affiliations (for football) of former members 

    * Mid-American Conference (1) - Northern Illinois

    * Mountain West Conference (2) - UNLV, San Diego State

    * Sun Belt Conference (3) - Arkansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette, and North Texas

    * Western Athletic Conference (8) - Boise State, Fresno State, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State, Nevada, San Jose State, and Utah 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. 

Champions 

Men’s Basketball Champions Season                             Regular Season Champion                   Tournament Champion 

1970	Long Beach State (10-0)	N/A
1971	Long Beach State (10-0)	N/A
1972	Long Beach State (10-2)	N/A
1973	Long Beach State (10-2)	N/A
1974	Long Beach State (12-0)	N/A
1975	Long Beach State (8-2)	N/A
1976	Cal State Fullerton (6-4)	San Diego State
1977	Long Beach State (9-3)	Long Beach State
1978	Fresno State (11-3)	Cal State Fullerton
1979	Pacific (11-3)	Pacific
1980	Utah State (11-2)	San Jose State
1981	Fresno State (12-2)	Fresno State
1982	Fresno State(12-2)	Fresno State
1983	UNLV (15-1)	UNLV
1984	UNLV (16-2)	Fresno State
1985	UNLV (17-1)	UNLV
1986	UNLV (16-2)	UNLV
1987	UNLV (18-0)	UNLV
1988	UNLV (15-3)	Utah State
1989	UNLV (16-2)	UNLV
1990	UNLV (16-2)	UNLV
1991	UNLV (18-0)	UNLV
1992	UNLV (18-0)	New Mexico State
1993	New Mexico State (15-3)	Long Beach State
1994	New Mexico State (12-6)	New Mexico State
1995	Utah State (14-4)	Long Beach State
1996	Long Beach State (12-6)	San Jose State
1997	Pacific (13-3)	Pacific
1998	Pacific (14-2)	Utah State
1999	Boise State/UCSB (12-4)	New Mexico State
2000	Utah State (16-0)	Utah State
2001	UC-Irvine (15-1)	Utah State
2002	Utah State/UC-Irvine (13-5)	UCSB
2003	UCSB (14-4)	Utah State
2004	Utah State/Pacific (17-1)	Pacific
2005	Pacific (18-0)	Utah State
2006	Pacific (12-2)	Pacific
2007	Long Beach State (12-2)	Long Beach State

  Big West Conference men’s basketball tournament locations

 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
1985	Fresno State
1986	San Jose State
1987	San Jose State
1988	Fresno State
1989	Fresno State
1990	San Jose State
1991	Fresno State and San Jose State
1992	Nevada
1993	Southwestern Louisiana and Utah State
1994	Southwestern Louisiana, Nevada, and UNLV
1995	Nevada
1996	Nevada and Utah State
1997	Nevada and Utah State
1998	Idaho
1999	Boise State
2000	Boise State

 Conference arenas and ballparks 

Only UC Davis and Cal Poly have football programs. UC Davis’s football stadium is called Aggie Stadium, capacity of 15,000 and Cal Poly’s stadium is called Mustang Stadium, capacity of 8,500.

 

School	Basketball Arena	Capacity	Baseball ballpark	Capacity
Cal Poly	Mott Gym	3,032	Baggett Stadium	1,534
Cal State Fullerton	Titan Gym	3,500	Goodwin Field	3,500
Cal State Northridge	Matadome	1,600	Matador Field	1,000
Long Beach State	Walter Pyramid	5,021	Blair Field	3,238
Pacific	Alex G. Spanos Center	6,150	Klein Family Field	2,500
UC Davis	UC Davis Pavilion	8,000	Dobbins Baseball Complex	3,500
UC Irvine	Bren Events Center	4,984	Anteater Ballpark	2,900
UC Riverside	UC Riverside Student	3,168	UC-Riverside Sports Center	3,500
	Recreation Center
UC Santa Barbara	UCSB Events Center	6,000	Caesar Uyesaka Stadium	1,000
	(commonly known as the Thunderdome)