Big West Conference
The Big West Conference 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, 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, and one is located in Hawaii. 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 [California State University, Long Beach|Long Beach State]. 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. 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 at Mānoa|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 and Boise 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.
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.
The change to the Big West
Effective July 1, 1988, the Pacific Coast Athletic Association changed its name to the Big West Conference. With such schools as Utah State, UNLV, Nevada, New Mexico State, and Hawaiʻi now in the fold, the name change was more representative of its member institutions. 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.Member schools
Current full members
Member departing for the Mountain West Conference in 2026.Members departing for the West Coast Conference in 2027.
;Notes:
Future full members
;NotesAffiliate members
;Notes:Future affiliate member
;NotesFormer 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 2010–13 [Western Athletic Conference realignment|early-2010s realignment], only Hawaiʻi 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 and another its nickname.
Former full members
Former affiliate members
Former football-only members
;NotesMembership timeline
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DateFormat = yyyy
Period = from:1969 till:2032
Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
id:AssocOS value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all
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bar:1 color:Full from:1969 till:1974 text:Cal State Los Angeles
bar:1 shift: color:OtherC1 from:1974 till:end text:CCAA
bar:2 color:Full from:1969 till:1976 text:San Diego State
bar:2 color:FullxF from:1976 till:1978
bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1978 till:1984 text:WAC
bar:2 shift: color:AssocOS from:1984 till:1990 text:
bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:1990 till:1999 text:WAC
bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1999 till:2026 text:Mountain West
bar:2 color:AssocOS from:2012 till:2013 text:
bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:2026 till:end text:Pac-12
bar:3 color:Full from:1969 till:1992 text:Fresno State
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1992 till:2012 text:WAC
bar:3 color:OtherC2 from:2012 till:2026 text:Mountain West
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:2026 till:end text:Pac-12
bar:4 color:Full from:1969 till:1996 text:San Jose State
bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1996 till:2013 text:WAC
bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:end text:Mountain West
bar:5 color:AssocF from:1969 till:1971 text:Pacific
bar:5 color:Full from:1971 till:1996
bar:5 color:FullxF from:1996 till:2013
bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:end text:WCC
bar:6 color:Full from:1969 till:1974 text:UC Santa Barbara
bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:1974 till:1976 text:
bar:6 color:FullxF from:1976 till:end text:
bar:7 color:Full from:1969 till:1992 text:Long Beach State
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1992 till:end
bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:1969 till:1974 text:CCAA
bar:8 color:Full from:1974 till:1992 text:Cal State Fullerton
bar:8 color:FullxF from:1992 till:end
bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:1969 till:1977 text:Division II independent schools|D-II Independent]
bar:9 color:FullxF from:1977 till:end text:UC Irvine
bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:1969 till:1978 text:Division I independent schools|Independent]
bar:10 color:Full from:1978 till:2001 text:Utah State
bar:10 color:FullxF from:2001 till:2005
bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:2005 till:2013 text:WAC
bar:10 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2026 text:Mountain West
bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:2026 till:end text:Pac-12
bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:1969 till:1975 text:WCAC
bar:11 color:OtherC2 from:1975 till:1982 text:Independent
bar:11 color:Full from:1982 till:1996 text:UNLV
bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:1996 till:1999 text:WAC
bar:11 color:OtherC2 from:1999 till:end text:Mountain West
bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:1969 till:1970 text:Ind.
bar:12 shift: color:OtherC2 from:1970 till:1983 text:MVC
bar:12 color:FullxF from:1983 till:1984 text:New Mexico State
bar:12 color:Full from:1984 till:2000
bar:12 color:AssocF from:2000 till:2001
bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:2001 till:2005 text:Sun Belt
bar:12 color:OtherC2 from:2005 till:2023 text:WAC
bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text:C-USA
bar:13 color:AssocOS from:1985 till:1990 text:Cal Poly Pomona
bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:1969 till:1979 text:Independent
bar:14 color:OtherC2 from:1979 till:1984 text:WAC
bar:14 color:AssocOS from:1984 till:1996 text:
bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:1996 till:2012 text:WAC
bar:14 color:FullxF from:2012 till:2026
bar:14 shift: color:AssocOS from:2026 till:end text:Hawaiʻi
bar:15 color:OtherC1 from:1969 till:1979 text:WCAC
bar:15 color:OtherC2 from:1979 till:1992 text:Big Sky
bar:15 color:Full from:1992 till:2000 text:Nevada
bar:15 color:OtherC1 from:2000 till:2012 text:WAC
bar:15 color:OtherC2 from:2012 till:end text:Mountain West
bar:16 color:AssocF from:1993 till:1996 text:Louisiana Tech
bar:17 color:AssocF from:1993 till:1996 text:Northern Illinois
bar:18 color:AssocF from:1993 till:1996 text:SW Louisiana
bar:19 color:AssocF from:1993 till:1996 text:Arkansas State
bar:19 color:AssocF from:1999 till:2001 text:
bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:1969 till:1975 text:MVC
bar:20 color:OtherC2 from:1975 till:1982 text:Independent
bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:1982 till:1996 text:Southland
bar:20 color:Full from:1996 till:2000 text:North Texas
bar:20 color:AssocF from:2000 till:2001
bar:20 shift: color:OtherC1 from:2001 till:2013 text:Sun Belt
bar:20 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2023 text:C-USA
bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text:American
bar:21 color:OtherC1 from:1969 till:1970 text:Ind.
bar:21 shift: color:OtherC2 from:1970 till:1996 text:Big Sky
bar:21 color:Full from:1996 till:2001 text:Boise State
bar:21 shift: color:OtherC1 from:2001 till:2011 text:WAC
bar:21 color:OtherC2 from:2011 till:end text:Mountain West
bar:21 color:OtherC1 from:2026 till:end text:Pac-12
bar:22 color:OtherC1 from:1969 till:1996 text:Big Sky
bar:22 color:Full from:1996 till:2001 text:Idaho
bar:22 color:FullxF from:2001 till:2005
bar:22 color:OtherC1 from:2005 till:2014 text:WAC
bar:22 color:OtherC2 from:2014 till:2024 text:Big Sky
bar:22 color:AssocOS from:2024 till:2025 text:
bar:22 color:OtherC2 from:2025 till:end
bar:23 color:OtherC1 from:1969 till:1982 text:FWC
bar:23 color:OtherC2 from:1982 till:1985 text:NCAC
bar:23 color:OtherC1 from:1985 till:1994 text:Independent
bar:23 color:OtherC2 from:1994 till:1996 text:AWC
bar:23 color:AssocOS from:1996 till:2002 text:
bar:23 color:AssocOS from:2012 till:2026
bar:23 shift: color:FullxF from:2026 till:end text:Sac State
bar:24 color:OtherC1 from:1969 till:1994 text:CCAC
bar:24 color:OtherC2 from:1994 till:1996 text:AWC
bar:24 color:FullxF from:1996 till:end text:Cal Poly
bar:25 color:OtherC1 from:1969 till:1990 text:CCAC
bar:25 color:OtherC2 from:1990 till:1994 text:Independent
bar:25 color:OtherC1 from:1994 till:1996 text:AWC
bar:25 color:OtherC2 from:1996 till:2001 text:Big Sky
bar:25 color:FullxF from:2001 till:end text:Cal State Northridge
bar:26 color:OtherC1 from:1969 till:2000 text:CCAC
bar:26 shift: color:OtherC2 from:2000 till:2001 text:Ind.
bar:26 color:FullxF from:2001 till:end text:UC Riverside
bar:27 color:OtherC1 from:1969 till:1982 text:FWC
bar:27 color:OtherC1 from:1982 till:1998 text:NCAC
bar:27 color:OtherC2 from:1998 till:2004 text:CCAC
bar:27 color:OtherC1 from:2004 till:2007 text:Indep.
bar:27 color:FullxF from:2007 till:2026 text:UC Davis
bar:27 color:OtherC2 from:2026 till:end text:Mountain West
bar:28 color:OtherC1 from:1971 till:1972 text:Ind.
bar:28 shift: color:OtherC2 from:1972 till:2007 text:CCAA
bar:28 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2013
bar:28 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2015
bar:28 shift: color:AssocOS from:2015 till:end text:Bakersfield
bar:28 color:FullXF from:2020 till:end
bar:29 color:OtherC1 from:1969 till:2000 text:D-III Independent
bar:29 color:OtherC2 from:2000 till:2017
bar:29 shift: color:AssocOS from:2017 till:2020 text:UC San Diego
bar:29 color:FullXF from:2020 till:2027
bar:29 color:OtherC1 from:2027 till:end text:WCC
bar:30 shift: color:AssocOS from:2025 till:2026 text:GCU
bar:31 Shift: color:AssocOS from:2025 till:end text:San Diego
bar:32 shift: color:AssocOS from:2025 till:end text:Seattle
bar:33 color:OtherC1 from:1969 till:1987 text:NAIA Ind.
bar:33 color:OtherC2 from:1987 till:2013 text:GSAC
bar:33 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:2018 text:PacWest
bar:33 color:OtherC2 from:2018 till:2026 text:WAC
bar:33 shift: color:FullXF from:2026 till:end text:Cal Baptist
bar:34 color:OtherC1 from:1969 till:1974 text:NJCAA
bar:34 color:OtherC2 from:1974 till:1984 text:ICAC
bar:34 color:OtherC1 from:1984 till:2003 text:Scenic West
bar:34 color:OtherC2 from:2003 till:2008 text:Independent schools|Independent]
bar:34 color:OtherC1 from:2008 till:2013 text:Great West
bar:34 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2026 text:WAC
bar:34 shift: color:FullXF from:2026 till:end text:Utah Valley
bar:N color:blue from:1969 till:1988 text:Pacific Collegiate Athletic Association
bar:N color:powderblue from:1988 till:end text:Big West Conference
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text:^"Big West Conference Membership History"
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Notes
- San Diego State played football as an independent for the 1976 and 1977 seasons before leaving the Big West Conference in 1978.
- UC Santa Barbara was an independent from 1974–75 to 1975–76.
- Cal State Fullerton played football as an independent for the 1992 season and dropped football entirely the following year.
- Louisiana Tech, Northern Illinois, Southwestern Louisiana, and Arkansas State joined the Big West for a short-lived football consortium from 1993 to 1995.
- Arkansas State played football as an independent from 1996 to 1998 and later rejoined the Big West for football during the 1999 and 2000 seasons.
Sports
In baseball, Cal State Fullerton has won four College World Series titles with national championships in 1979, 1984, 1995, and 2004. In addition, Long Beach State and UC Irvine have made multiple appearances in the College World Series. The Big West is the only existing mid-major conference to have multiple teams make the College World Series in the same year, with Cal State Fullerton and Fresno State both making it in 1988, Long Beach State and Fresno in 1991, and Fullerton and UC Irvine in 2007. Fullerton also has a national championship in softball, winning in 1986. Hawaiʻi joined the conference in women's sports only between 1984 and 1996, and won the 1987 NCAA women's volleyball title. Long Beach State has won three NCAA women's volleyball titles as a part of Big West Conference women's volleyball, with national championships in 1989, 1993, and 1998. Misty May-Treanor led the 49ers to a 36–0 record en route to the program's most recent title. UC Santa Barbara was the NCAA men's soccer runner-up in 2004, losing the national championship match to Indiana on penalty kicks. The Gauchos returned to the College Cup in 2006 and won the national championship.
Former Big West members UNLV and Pacific won national championships while part of the conference. The UNLV Runnin' Rebels men's basketball team won the 1990 NCAA tournament championship after routing Duke 103–73 in the national title game. UNLV was undefeated during the 1991 NCAA men's basketball season before falling to Duke in the final four. The Runnin' Rebels during this era are widely considered one of the best college basketball teams of all time. The Pacific Tigers women's volleyball team won back-to-back national championships in 1985 and 1986.
The Big West did not sponsor men's volleyball or men's water polo, but it was the primary conference affiliation of several schools that compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation for these sports, respectively. In NCAA men's volleyball, UC Irvine has established itself as one of the nation's most elite programs, winning four national championships in 2007, 2009, 2012, and 2013. Long Beach State also won men's national volleyball titles in 1991, 2018, 2019, and 2025, three while in the Big West. Hawaiʻi also won men's national volleyball titles in 2021 and 2022. In NCAA men's water polo, UC Irvine won three national championships in 1970, 1982, and 1989. UC Santa Barbara also won a men's water polo title in 1979.
On May 31, 2016, the Big West announced the conference would sponsor men's volleyball as its 18th sport, with five Big West schools leaving the MPSF to establish the new men's volleyball league. Men's volleyball is the third of four sports in which the MPSF has recently seen a mass exodus of teams to join an existing conference in a newly sponsored sport, with men's soccer, men's water polo, and women's lacrosse as the others. The men's volleyball membership includes core Big West members Cal State Northridge, Long Beach State, Hawaiʻi, UC Irvine, and UC Santa Barbara. UC San Diego joined as an affiliate to bring the league to the NCAA minimum requirement of 6 teams to receive an automatic bid for the NCAA tournament.
Big West Commissioner Dennis Farrell explained that adding UC San Diego was not an indicator UC San Diego would be added to the Big West Conference as a full member. UC San Diego had recently passed a bill to move all their sports to Division I and was looking for an invite from the Big West Conference. UC San Diego has long competed at the Division I level in men's volleyball; the NCAA conducts a single national championship open to all Division I and II members, and scholarship limits in the sport are the same in both divisions. The Big West regular season for men's volleyball will be a double round-robin, with each team playing the others once at home and once on the road. The Big West Tournament will have all six teams participate in single-elimination rounds with the top two teams receiving semifinal byes.
The Big West is the first Division I all-sports conference ever to sponsor men's volleyball, and the second NCAA all-sports conference overall to sponsor men's volleyball as a scholarship sport.
On November 26, 2017, the Big West announced that it would add UC San Diego along with Cal State Bakersfield as its 10th and 11th members starting on July 1, 2020. Cal State Bakersfield, which was already a full Division I member competing in the Western Athletic Conference, became a full member effective July 1, 2020. UC San Diego, which had failed to move up from Division II in failed bids to the Big West in 2011 and April 2017, has begun the four-year transition process to Division I and became a full member effective July 1, 2024. UC San Diego's men's volleyball joined the Big West in 2017, in advance of that sport's 2018 season, and women's water polo joined in 2019. Because the NCAA does not sponsor a Division II championship in either men's volleyball or women's water polo, UCSD was eligible for conference championships in both sports upon joining the Big West, and remained eligible for such during the D-I transition.
UC San Diego and Cal State Bakersfield, the latter now in the process of rebranding its athletic program as Bakersfield, officially joined the conference on July 1, 2020, and Dan Butterly became the new commissioner following the retirement of Dennis Farrell. UC San Diego officially joined Division I ranks on July 1, 2024, and thus could compete in conference championships and NCAA playoffs from then on.
| Sport | Men's | Women's |
| Baseball | 11 | – |
| Basketball | 11 | 11 |
| Beach volleyball | – | 7 |
| Cross Country | 9 | 11 |
| Golf | 12 | 9 |
| Soccer | 10 | 11 |
| Softball | – | 10 |
| Swimming & diving | 6 | 6 |
| Tennis | 7 | 10 |
| Track and Field | 10 | 11 |
| Volleyball | 6 | 11 |
| Water polo | 6 | 7 |
Men's sponsored sports by school
| School | Fencing | Football | Rowing | Track & Field | Wrestling |
| Bakersfield | No | No | No | No | Pac-12 |
| Cal Poly | No | Big Sky | No | Independent | Pac-12 |
| Cal State Fullerton | No | No | No | MPSF | No |
| Cal State Northridge | No | No | No | MPSF | No |
| Hawaiʻi | No | Mountain West | No | No | No |
| Long Beach State | No | No | Rowing Association|ACRA] | MPSF | No |
| Sacramento State | No | Independent | No | Big Sky | No |
| UC Davis | No | Big Sky | ACRA | No | No |
| UC Irvine | No | No | ACRA | No | No |
| UC Riverside | No | No | No | MPSF | No |
| UC San Diego | MPSF | No | MPSF | No | No |
| UC Santa Barbara | No | No | ACRA | Independent | No |
| Utah Valley | No | No | No | WAC | Big 12 |
Women's sponsored sports by school
| School | Fencing | Field hockey | Gymnastics | Lacrosse | Rowing | Stunt | Track & Field |
| Bakersfield | No | No | No | No | No | No | Independent |
| Cal Poly | No | No | No | No | No | Independent | Independent |
| Cal State Fullerton | No | No | No | No | No | No | MPSF |
| Cal State Northridge | No | No | No | No | No | No | MPSF |
| California Baptist | No | No | No | No | No | Independent | No |
| Hawaiʻi | No | No | No | No | No | No | MPSF |
| Long Beach State | No | No | No | No | No | No | MPSF |
| Sacramento State | No | No | MPSF | No | WCC | No | Big Sky |
| UC Davis | No | MPSF | MPSF | Big 12 | No | No | Independent |
| UC Irvine | No | No | No | No | No | No | MPSF |
| UC San Diego | MPSF | No | No | No | CAA | No | No |
| UC Santa Barbara | No | No | No | No | No | No | Independent |
| Utah Valley | No | No | No | No | No | No | WAC |
Current conference champions
The Big West Conference sponsors championship competition in 9 men's and 10 women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Men's and women's swimming & diving were added in 2024–25.Regular-season champions are indicated with "" and tournament champions with "".
| Season | Sport | Men's champion | Women's champion |
| Fall 2025 | Cross country | Cal Poly | Cal Poly |
| Fall 2025 | Soccer | UC Santa Barbara, Mustangs men's soccer|Cal Poly] Anteaters men's soccer|UC Irvine] | Matadors women's soccer|CSUN] Cal Poly |
| Fall 2025 | Water polo | Long Beach State UC Davis | |
| Fall 2025 | Volleyball | UC Davis Cal Poly | |
| Winter 2025–26 | Swimming & diving | TBD | TBD |
| Winter 2025–26 | Basketball | TBD | TBD |
| Spring 2026 | Golf | TBD | TBD |
| Spring 2026 | Volleyball | TBD | |
| Spring 2026 | Beach volleyball | TBD | |
| Spring 2026 | Tennis | TBD | TBD |
| Spring 2026 | Water polo | TBD | |
| Spring 2026 | Track & field | TBD | TBD |
| Spring 2026 | Softball | TBD | |
| Spring 2026 | Baseball | TBD |
Former sports
Football
An asterisk denotes the participant in the bowls that invited the Big West champion:Pasadena, California, Las Vegas, and Idaho Potato Bowl|Humanitarian]
| 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 Aggies football|Utah State] |
| 1979 | Utah State |
| 1980 | Long Beach State |
| 1981 | San Jose State* |
| 1982 | Fresno State* |
| 1983 | Titans football|Cal State Fullerton]* |
| 1984 | Cal State Fullerton |
| Year | University |
| 1985 | Fresno State* |
| 1986 | San Jose State* |
| 1987 | San Jose State* |
| 1988 | Fresno State* |
| 1989 | Fresno State* |
| 1990 | San Jose State* |
| 1991 | Fresno State* & San Jose State |
| 1992 | Nevada* |
| 1993 | Utah State* & Southwestern La. |
| 1994 | UNLV*, Southwestern La., & Nevada |
| 1995 | Nevada* |
| 1996 | Nevada* & Utah State |
| 1997 | Utah State* & Nevada |
| 1998 | Idaho* |
| 1999 | 1999 [Boise State Broncos football team|Boise State]* |
| 2000 | Boise State Broncos football team|Boise State]* |
The Big West Conference discontinued football following the 2000 season.
Academics
The following table shows National University rank by U.S. News & World Report as of 2026, as well as the Regional Western University rank as denoted by an asterisk, and the Forbes ranking for 2024-25.Also indicated is membership in the Association of American Universities.
| Institution | US News & World Report | Forbes | AAU Member |
| UC San Diego | 29 | 20 | |
| UC Davis | 32 | 44 | |
| UC Irvine | 32 | 31 | |
| UC Santa Barbara | 40 | 42 | |
| UC Riverside | 75 | 77 | |
| Long Beach State | 127 | 97 | |
| Cal State Fullerton | 139 | 118 | |
| Hawaiʻi | 169 | 219 | |
| Cal Poly | 1* | 55 | |
| Cal State Northridge | 20* | 271 | |
| Sacramento State | 22* | 280 | |
| Cal State Bakersfield | 31* | 295 | |
| Cal Baptist | 33* | – | |
| Utah Valley | 93* | – |
Athletic department revenue by school
Total revenue includes ticket sales, contributions and donations, rights and licensing, student fees, school funds and all other sources including TV income, camp income, concessions, and novelties.Total expenses includes coach and staff salaries, scholarships, buildings and grounds, maintenance, utilities and rental fees, recruiting, team travel, equipment and uniforms, conference dues, and insurance.
The following table shows institutional reporting to the Knight Commission for the 2023–24 academic year.
| Institution | 2023-24 Total Expenses on Athletics | 2023-24 Total Revenue from Athletics |
| Hawaiʻi | $59,858,162 | $57,738,309 |
| UC Davis | $55,067,037 | $50,059,304 |
| Cal Poly | $46,657,496 | $43,594,326 |
| Sacramento State | $43,895,764 | $43,065,314 |
| California Baptist | $34,879,391 | $36,994,975 |
| UC San Diego | $33,236,553 | $32,471,959 |
| UC Santa Barbara | $33,207,582 | $28,115,031 |
| UC Irvine | $31,027,866 | $28,488,633 |
| Long Beach State | $29,648,226 | $28,941,062 |
| CSU Fullerton | $26,329,053 | $26,329,053 |
| CSU Northridge | $22,818,177 | $23,425,818 |
| UC Riverside | $20,939,408 | $21,347,393 |
| Utah Valley | $19,489,061 | $18,435,237 |
| CSU Bakersfield | $18,667,097 | $17,995,313 |
The following table shows revenue specifically from NCAA / Conference Distributions, Media Rights, and Post-Season Football reported by the Knight Commission for the 2023-24 academic year.
;Notes
Facilities
NCAA team championships
Through June 30, 2025Commissioner's Cup
Starting during the Big West Conference's 1998–99 season, the Commissioner's Cup is awarded yearly to the most outstanding program throughout the season in the conference's sponsored sports. The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos are the most successful team to date having won 10 total trophies.Overall Commissioner's Cups Table
Note 1: Bold indicates current members of the Big West ConferenceNote 2: The Pacific Tigers moved to the West Coast Conference in 2013