About The Big West Conference

The Big West Conference enters the 2010-11 season in its 42nd year of operation. There are 16 conference-sponsored sports in the Big West. Women’s sports are comprised of soccer, volleyball, cross country, basketball, golf, tennis, softball, track and field and water polo. Men’s sports include soccer, cross country, basketball, golf, tennis, baseball and track and field.

Over four decades, the conference has striven for athletic and academic success, and has accomplished those goals to a large degree. The conference has undergone membership changes throughout its long history, the most recent ones significantly enhancing its stability.

Following the 2004-05 academic year, Idaho and Utah State left the Big West, creating an eight-team league comprised of all California schools: Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Long Beach State, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara and Pacific. A ninth school from the Golden State – UC Davis – became the newest member of the Big West on July 1, 2007 after completing a four-year reclassification process from Division II to Division I. The Big West owns the distinction of being the nation’s only conference with its entire membership located in one state.

No matter what the membership makeup, the Big West always has stacked up well against the rest of the nation. In fact, the conference has claimed 17 team national championships in its history, including six in women’s volleyball, two in baseball, one in softball and one in men’s basketball. Men’s soccer was the newest sport added to the list when UC Santa Barbara claimed the national title in 2006.

Individually, Big West athletes also have claimed several titles in such sports as swimming, track and field, and golf. In fact, Cal State Northridge junior Dashalle Andrews was the 26th Big West student-athlete to capture a crown when he won the long jump competition at the national meet in 2007.

The conference’s overall success has been measured through the results of such competitions as the Learfield Sports Directors Cup. Presented by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), the Cup gauges the best overall collegiate athletics programs in NCAA Division I according to their finishes in NCAA postseason play. In 2009-10, UC Santa Barbara (No. 88) and UC Irvine (No. 90) finished in the top 100. The Big West had as many as five schools ranked in the top 100 in 2006-07 and 2007-08.

Big West athletes also have succeeded on a worldwide stage in such international competitions as the Olympics, Pan-American Games and World Cup. A sampling of athletes who have competed at the Olympic level include Long Beach State’s Tara Cross-Battle, Tayyiba Haneef and Danielle Scott (women’s indoor volleyball), Pacific’s Jennifer Joines (women’s indoor volleyball), and Misty May (women’s beach volleyball); UC Santa Barbara’s Jason Lezak (men’s swimming), Cal State Fullerton’s Leon Wood and Bruce Bowen (men’s basketball) and Jenny Topping (softball); Pacific’s Elaina Oden (women’s volleyball) and Brad Schumacher (men’s swimming); UC Irvine’s Steve Scott (men’s track and field); and Cal Poly’s Stephanie Brown-Trafton and Sharon Day (women’s track and field).

Brown-Trafton won the gold medal in the discus at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. May won gold in beach volleyball for the second consecutive Olympics, and Joines helped her indoor volleyball team capture silver. Lezak swam the fastest anchor leg in history to help the United States win the 4x100 freestyle relay, helping teammate Michael Phelps eventually break the record for most gold medals in an Olympic Games. UC Santa Barbara men’s soccer alum Tony Lochhead competed for his native New Zealand at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Big West Success Found In All Sports – 2009-10 Season Review

The 2009-10 campaign will be remembered for solid individual and team successes across the Big West sports landscape.

The premier sport during the Big West fall sports season, men’s soccer, produced two NCAA Tournament teams in UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara. The Anteaters repeated as Big West Tournament champion to secure the conference’s automatic NCAA bid. UCI fell in the second round. Meanwhile, the Gauchos recorded their sixth regular season conference title since 2001, and utilized a strong résumé to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA postseason. UCSB responded with wins against Wofford and San Diego in the opening two rounds before losing in the Sweet 16. Both the Anteaters and Gauchos accomplished a rare feat, becoming only the second duo in Big West history to win at least 15 matches in a season.

Women’s soccer featured UC Santa Barbara winning the Big West Tournament for the second straight season. That afforded the Gauchos a repeat trip to the NCAA Tournament, something the program had not accomplished since making three straight appearances from 1989-91. Cal Poly won its record sixth Big West regular season title after taking down UCSB on the final day of the league ledger, but suffered a heartbreaking penalty kick loss to the Gauchos in the tournament finals.

In women’s volleyball, Long Beach State continued its domination of the Big West, winning its 10th conference championship and advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the 23rd straight season. UC Santa Barbara made its 27th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and first since 2006. Both the 49ers and Gauchos dropped their first round matches. UCSB head coach Kathy Gregory reached a milestone in collecting the 600th win of her career. Six teams finished above .500 overall for the first time since 2004, including Cal State Fullerton, which tied a school record with 18 victories.

Cross country was highlighted by the Cal Poly men collecting its seventh consecutive Big West title. The UC Santa Barbara women’s contingent returned to the winner’s circle for the first time since 2007. At the West Regional, top 10 team finishes were achieved by the Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara men, as well as the UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara women. Three Big West individuals – UC Santa Barbara’s Scott Smith and Crystal Reed, and Cal Poly’s Joe Gatel – were selected to participate in the NCAA National Championships.

Moving into the winter sports season, UC Santa Barbara became the sixth different school in six seasons to earn the men’s basketball automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament. Buoyed by a bevy of sophomores, including Player of the Year Orlando Johnson, UCSB captured the Big West Tournament crown for the first time since 2002 and earned a date with Ohio State in the NCAA first round. Pacific appeared in the CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament for the second consecutive year, and advanced all the way to the championship game. The Tigers played the entire tournament on the road. After successful forays to Loyola Marymount, Northern Colorado and Appalachian State, the magic ran out at Missouri State. Pacific’s 12 road wins tied for second nationally in 2009-10.

UC Riverside restored its program to the league’s mountaintop in 2009-10, taking home the Big West Tournament crown for the third time in the last five seasons. The Highlanders overcame a 3-12 start to reach the NCAA Tournament, where they fell in the first round to Stanford. UC Davis earned an automatic bid to the Women’s NIT by virtue of winning the regular season championship. Cal Poly’s Kristina Santiago averaged 19.6 points per game to become the first Mustang in school history to collect Player of the Year honors.

UC Davis swept the men’s and women’s swimming and diving titles in the Big West’s final season sponsoring the sport. The Aggie men picked up 958.6 points, the highest scoring total ever in a five-team Big West configuration. The Aggie women scored 864 points to take down four-time defending champion UC Santa Barbara. Three Big West student-athletes qualified for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. On the women’s side, UCSB’s Anne Marie May competed in the 50 and 100 freestyle. Cal Poly’s Peter Kline and Scott Weltz of UC Davis represented the men at the national meet.

A busy spring sports season presented more opportunities for individual and team accomplishments.

Baseball sent multiple teams to the NCAA Championship once again as Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine ranked among the best programs in the country. Beset by a myriad of injuries, Cal State Fullerton came within one out of reaching the College World Series in a heartbreaking setback to UCLA in Super Regional action. The Titans, which spawned two first-round draft picks in Christian Colon and Gary Brown, hosted and won a regional before taking the Bruins to the cusp of elimination. UCI reached the regional championship game after gaining some measure of vengeance against an LSU squad that prevented the Anteaters from advancing to the CWS in 2008. The Big West had 49 players selected in the 2010 MLB Draft, including Colon, who was the fourth overall pick.

A new program emerged in the battle for softball supremacy in 2010. UC Davis captured its first Big West automatic bid to the NCAA Softball Championship in just its third season at the Division I level. The Aggies tied Cal State Northridge for the regular season title, but won the head-to-head series against the Matadors. CSUN actually churned out the most wins (31) of any Big West school, and even did so after sputtering to a 1-9 start.

In contrast, women’s water polo kept the status quo as UC Irvine captured its second straight Big West Tournament title. The Anteaters began the tournament as the No. 3 seed and proceeded to win three straight matches, topping Big West regular season co-champions Pacific and Cal State Northridge in the process. That did not overshadow the impressive accomplishments by the Tiger and Matador programs, which set school records for wins with 23 and 28, respectively. Five Big West squads finished the season ranked in the nation’s top 25, including UCI at No. 9. Eight players received Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) Honorable Mention All-American recognition.

Golf featured some solid individual performances to highlight the 2010 spring campaign. UC Irvine senior John Chin was named a 2010 first-team All-American by Golfweek and the Golf Coaches Association of America. He then helped the United States defeat Europe, 13-11, in the Palmer Cup at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland. Chin was the ringleader of a UCI squad that won the Big West championship. Individually, Cal State Northridge’s Nick Delio and Austin Graham of UC Davis competed at the Southwest Regional. Delio achieved medalist honors and became the first Matador to advance to the NCAA Championships since the school moved to Division I in 1991. Delio finished in a tie for 103rd at the NCAA Championships. On the women’s side, UC Davis won its first Big West championship as four Aggies finished in the top five.

UC Irvine became the first Big West school since former member Boise State in 1997 to sweep the men’s and women’s tennis tournament titles. The men raised the trophy for the first time since 2005. The Anteater women ended a six-year reign by Long Beach State, capturing the first tournament title in school history. Pacific’s Jenifer Widjaja, the Big West Women’s Player of the Year, represented the conference for the second straight year in the NCAA Singles Championships. Cal Poly’s talented senior duo of Brittany Blalock and Suzie Matzenauer carried the Big West flag at the NCAA Doubles Championships.

Cal State Northridge swept the track and field championships as the men captured its fifth title and the women its seventh. A total of 17 Big West athletes and two relay teams advanced to the NCAA Championships. Nine athletes claimed All-American status at the conclusion of the championships. UC Santa Barbara’s Julian deRubira (steeplechase) and Ryan Martin (800), UC Irvine’s Charles Jock (800) and Cal State Northridge Reindell Cole (long jump) received the award on the men’s side, with Cole earning his second All-American honor. Among the women honorees, UC Riverside’s Brenda Martinez (1500) and UC Santa Barbara’s Danielle Domenichelli (10000) joined Long Beach State’s Randi Hicks (javelin), and UC Santa Barbara’s Jane Doolittle (high jump) and Barbara Nwaba (multi events).

In all, 12 Big West teams and 27 individual athletes participated in NCAA postseason competition this past season.

THE BEGINNING
The Big West Conference was formed as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association on July 1, 1969. However, the unofficial history of the conference pre-dates that point of time, extending back to 1967.

Cal State LA, Fresno State, Long Beach State and San Diego State were members of the California Collegiate Athletic Association, long recognized as the nation's premier college circuit.

That conference was classified college division, and therein lay a major source of dissatisfaction. Since 1963, the four institutions had captured 16 national titles. The number swelled to 21 if the mythical football championships were included.

With no more territory to conquer at the college division, a step up to university ranks had to be considered.

At the time, San Jose State, UC Santa Barbara and Pacific were members of the West Coast Athletic Conference but were enduring a strained relationship due to the limit of conference sports sponsored. That, plus the fact that national football figures PAC and SJSU were already competing as independents, led the schools to pursue a more broad-based conference alignment.

Therefore, officials of the seven colleges and universities assembled as a body in May of 1969, tied up loose ends and less than two months later the PCAA was born.

Direction in the early days of the conference came from such men as Dr. Stephen Goodspeed, vice-chancellor at UC Santa Barbara, the first president and chairman of the founders committee. J. Kenneth Fagans provided guidance as the league's first commissioner. Jesse T. Hill, one of the nation's most successful directors of athletics at USC, followed Fagans as the conference's first full-time commissioner.

SJSU was already labeled a university division school in all sports when the PCAA emerged. San Diego State and Pacific were granted university division status in the summer of 1970 and the remaining conference members shed the college division moniker by 1972.

The original PCAA lineup changed in the early years and by 1975, charter members UCSB and CSLA had dropped football and SDSU left the conference in football only. In 1974, Cal State Fullerton moved into the conference. By 1977, UC Irvine joined the Big West and UCSB was back in - both as non-football playing institutions - while Utah State became the first non-California member of the circuit, transforming the PCAA into a regional conference.

UNLV (1981) and New Mexico State (1984) soon followed suit, bringing the league's membership to 10 universities.

In the fall of 1983, the PCAA became the first western conference to incorporate women's athletic programs into the conference. Charter women's members UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and UNLV competed in five championships.

By the end of 1985, Pacific, Hawai'i, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, San Diego State, Fresno State and San Jose State had joined the women's conference. The PCAA upped its women's sponsorship to eight championships.

The PCAA began its 20th year of existence in 1988 by changing its name to the Big West Conference. With the inclusion of the states of Utah, Nevada, and New Mexico, the term -Big West- more accurately represented the conference. Since the name Big West has been used, conference teams have won nine NCAA team championships, establishing the Big West's winning identity that is recognized nationally. Even though the Big West is again an all-California conference, the name Big West still embodies the identity, history, and tradition of excellence the conference has achieved, making it a well-known entity in collegiate athletics.