Big West Conference

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 (nine in Southern California alone), and one is located in Hawaii (though the Hawaii member is leaving for the Mountain West Conference, effective July 1, 2026). All of the current 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. The five original charter members were Fresno State, San Jose State, UC Santa Barbara, San Diego State, and Long Beach State. The newly formed conference had several meetings to set up its governance, which was confirmed in October 1968 on the campus of UC Santa Barbara. 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. The conference itself lists July 1, 1969, as its founding date, with the seven institutions beginning conference play that fall.

Evolution

Since its inception as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association, the conference has seen many changes. Utah State was the first institution outside 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 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 Hawaiʻi in 2012, all members were based in California, reducing the cost and travel time between the universities. When Hawaiʻi joined, it agreed to help defray a portion of travel costs to that state for the league's California members.

In 2011, San Diego State University and Boise State University had initially agreed to move all sports except football to the Big West by 2013. However, when the Big East decided to no longer sponsor football for the 2013 season, both San Diego State and Boise State backed out of their agreement with the Big West, electing to remain members of the Mountain West instead.

Upon numerous conference shifts spurred from the announcement that UCLA and USC of the Pac-12 were to move to Big 10, a domino effect occurred, ultimately resulting in both Hawaiʻi and UC Davis announcing their move to the Mountain West effective the 2026 school year.

This would leave the Big West with 9 teams, and with the remaining member universities hoping to keep the conference at at least 11 teams, the Big West invited both California Baptist University and Utah Valley University to join the conference by the 2026 school year. Both institutions have since announced their respective intentions to join the conference, marking it the first time since 2013 that a private university will compete in the Big West, and the first time since 2005 that the Big West will have a member in the continental U.S. outside of California. Later in June, Sacramento State announced its intention to join the Big West in all sports except football, effective by the 2026 school year, when they will join alongside California Baptist and Utah Valley.

On September 3, 2025, UC San Diego formally accepted an invite to the West Coast Conference for the 2027–28 season after Gonzaga announced their departure to the rebuilt Pac-12 for the 2026–27 season earlier that year. Seven months after, on April 10, 2026, UC Santa Barbara formally accepted an invite to the West Coast Conference for the 2027–28 season alongside UC San Diego. This would end their 51 years of continual conference membership, the second longest among all current and former members.

There have been no more than 35 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.

thumb|left|The logo of the Big West from 2000 to 2021

Member schools

Current full members

Members departing for the Mountain West Conference in 2026.

Members departing for the West Coast Conference in 2027.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center"

! Institution

! Location

! Founded

! Type

! Enrollment

! Endowment

! Nickname

! Joined

! class="unsortable" | Colors

|

| San Luis Obispo, California

| 1901

| Public

| 22,287

| $296.45

| Mustangs

| 1996

| California State University, Bakersfield

| Bakersfield, California

| 1965

| Public

| 9,261

| $42.74

| Roadrunners

| 2020

| California State University, Fullerton

| Fullerton, California

| 1957

| Public

| 38,726

| $148.68

| Titans

| 1974

|

| Long Beach, California

| 1949

| Public

| 39,360

| $132.9

| Beach

| 1969

| California State University, Northridge

| Los Angeles, California

| 1958

| Public

| 38,511

| $262.1

| Matadors

| 2001

|-bgcolor=#d79cff

| University of California, Davis

| Davis, California

| 1905

| Public

| 40,772

| $770.4

| Aggies

| 2007

| University of California, Irvine

| Irvine, California

| 1965

| Public

| 37,243

| $899.36

| Anteaters

| 1977

| University of California, Riverside

| Riverside, California

| 1954

| Public

| 26,809

| $249.87

| Highlanders

| 2001

|-bgcolor=#ffa0a0

| University of California, San Diego

| La Jolla, California

| 1960

| Public

| 42,968

| $1,589.86

| Tritons

| 2020

|-bgcolor=#ffa0a0

| University of California, Santa Barbara

| Santa Barbara, California

| 1891

| Public

| 26,421

| $665.9

| Gauchos

| 1969; 1976

|-bgcolor=#d79cff

|

| Honolulu, Hawaii

| 1907

| Public

| 19,074

| $566.99

| Rainbow Warriors & Rainbow Wahine

| 2012

;Notes:

Future full members

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

! Institution

! Location

! Founded

! Type

! Enrollment

! Endowment

| Riverside, California

| 1950

| Baptist

| $157.61

| Lancers

| 2026

| Western (WAC)

|

| Sacramento, California

| 1947

| Public

| 31,181

| $86.42

| Hornets

| 2026

| Big Sky (BSC)

| Utah Valley University

| Orem, Utah

| 1941

| Public

| $109.94

| Wolverines

| 2026

| Western (WAC)

;Notes

Affiliate members

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center"

! Institution

! Location

! Founded

! Type

! Enrollment

! Nickname

! Joined

! Big West sport(s)

! Primary conference

|-bgcolor=#ffa0a0

| rowspan=2 |

| rowspan=2 | Sacramento, California

| rowspan=2 | 1947

| rowspan=2 | Public

| rowspan=2 | 30,670

| rowspan=2 | Hornets

| 2012

| rowspan=2 | Big Sky (BSC)

|-bgcolor=#ffa0a0

| 2015

| Beach volleyball

|-bgcolor=#ffa0a0

| Grand Canyon University

| Phoenix, Arizona

| 1949

| Nondenominational

| Antelopes

| 2025