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 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 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.
| Institution | Location | Founded | Joined | Type | Enrollment | Endowment | Nickname | Colors |
| San Luis Obispo, California | 1901 | 1996 | Public | 22,287 | $296.45 | Mustangs | ||
| California State University, Bakersfield | Bakersfield, California | 1965 | 2020 | Public | 9,261 | $42.74 | Roadrunners | |
| California State University, Fullerton | Fullerton, California | 1957 | 1974 | Public | 38,726 | $148.68 | Titans | |
| Long Beach, California | 1949 | 1969 | Public | 39,360 | $132.9 | Beach | ||
| California State University, Northridge | Los Angeles, California | 1958 | 2001 | Public | 38,511 | $219.62 | Matadors | |
| University of California, Davis | Davis, California | 1905 | 2007 | Public | 40,772 | $2,386.11 | Aggies | |
| University of California, Irvine | Irvine, California | 1965 | 1977 | Public | 37,243 | $2,722.42 | Anteaters | |
| University of California, Riverside | Riverside, California | 1954 | 2001 | Public | 26,809 | $1,287.51 | Highlanders | |
| University of California, San Diego | San Diego, California | 1960 | 2020 | Public | 42,968 | $3,019.28 | Tritons | |
| University of California, Santa Barbara | Isla Vista, California | 1891 | 1969; 1976 | Public | 26,421 | $1,074.5 | Gauchos | |
| Honolulu, Hawaii | 1907 | 2012 | Public | 19,074 | $566.99 | Rainbow Warriors & Rainbow Wahine |
;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 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
ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#
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
id:OtherC1 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
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:D-II Independent
bar:9 color:FullxF from:1977 till:end text:UC Irvine
bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:1969 till:1978 text: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
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
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1970
TextData =
fontsize:M
textcolor:black
pos: tabs:
text:^"Big West Conference Membership History"
- > If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following six options Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <#
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.