Have they finalized the destination for men's soccer ? I would have preferred UCD move to the WCC for everything, but understand that football was a biig factor in choosing the Mountain West.

Mountain West does NOT have Men's soccer. I think that it is coin flip for the Ags to join the WCC or stay in the Big West. I think we learn more before Labor Day.

With the announcement of the Women's Water Polo team moving to the Golden Coast Conference in 2026-27, the only UCD program currently remaining in the Big West is Men's Soccer.

The Golden Coast Conference sounds like a collection of all the teams UCD used to play regularly when the school was Division II (WWPA?)

It would be nice if schools that sponsor men's and women's teams in the same sports or equivalent sports (such as baseball and softball) could have them compete in the same conferences, but funding can be a problem. Water polo seems like a no-brainer for this unless a school has a lack of facilities for dual competition. Soccer too. Are the Mountain West Conference schools so hard up for cash or available facilities that they can't sponsor men's soccer ?

The GCC will actually be a tough schedule - California Baptist, Fresno State, Loyola Marymount, University of the Pacific, San Diego State, San Jose State and Santa Clara. Only Azusa Pacific, a D2 school, might be a weak member.

I think that not offering both a men’s and a women’s team in sports like soccer and water polo is more likely linked tp Title IX. A sport like football creates an over-abundance of roster opportunities for men. There’s no comparable sport for women in terms of roster size. Schools have to otherwise cut back on men’s teams they may have the facilities for in order to equalize the opportunities. I think that’s why you see relatively fewer men’s volleyball and gymnastics programs at the college level.

Actually, looking at GCC standings over the last several years, Azusa Pacific generally holds its own. Surprisingly, Santa Clara is often at or neat the bottom of the conference.

Yolohw: You are right, many are Nor Cal and regular foes. The GGC is not as rugged as the Big West and will be an easier road to a conference title. Hawaii and UC Irvine have been a top 6 program often.

The MWC does not have waterpolo facilities, and with many of them having indoor pools there is NO chance of getting the facilities upgraded. The list of MWC with women's swimming is the following:
San San Diego State. outdoors has women's waterpolo GCC-NO men's swimming or Men's waterpolo
UNLV indoors NOT deep enough for polo has men's swimming
Nevada indoors NOT deep enough for polo NO men's swimming
Fresno State outdoors has women's waterpolo GCC NO men's swimming or men's waterpolo
Washington State indoors NOT deep enough for polo NO men's swimming
Wyoming 595 indoors NOT deep enough for polo has men's swimming
Colorado State indoors NOT deep enough polo NO men's swimming
Air Force indoors has men's water polo varsity club women and men's varsity swimming
New Mexico indoors NOT deep enough NO men's swimming or polo
San José State outdoors women's polo GCC, men's polo NO men's swimming

I haven't ever seen Women's Water Polo, mainly because it was never an Aggie Pack event when I was a student, so I don't know if they played the same teams as the men. I do remember most of those teams being regularopponents in men's water polo.

Had I to do it over again I think I would have gone to fewer football, volleyball and baseball games, same # of basketball games, and tried a few more of the minor sports as a student. I went to a lacrosse match for the first time last year, and it was delightful. The crowd was so spread out no one bothered me at all. Even at Toomey Field or Aggie Soccer Field that would've been the case for lacrosse. As an added bonus I could've actually gotten to sit in the real seats at Toomey for once instead of having to stand for 2+ hours in the student bleachers where people had to stand the whole game to see because the buttholes in the front rows decided that for everyone else. Selfish douchebags.

So you think Title IX is a bigger factor ? That's a valid point. I was thinking that in the case of Title IX Mountain West schools would be more likely to eschew baseball rather than soccer. This is because on the surface fielding a soccer team appears less costly than having baseball (which six of the future 8 members have). Baseball has slightly bigger rosters, larger seating capacity stadiums, requires a number of specialized facilities to maintain (dugouts, batting cages, bullpens, etc.). Not to mention that the game ball is leaving the field of competition never to return several dozen times per game.

I was surprised though that more teams in the future Mountain West sponsor baseball than men's soccer, even though (at least at UCD), soccer seems to draw more college fans and appeals to a wider demographic. Six schools have baseball, but only 4 have men's soccer. The 4 that do not are UTEP, Wyoming, Hawaii, and New Mexico. UTEP and Wyoming sponsor neither sport. Hawaii was surprising

You know what's interesting-you just named two of the few college sports (or 3 if you consider beach volleyball unique from indoor) the population is decidedly more interested in seeing women compete in than men. Everyone has seen Olivia Dunne on TV for a couple of years now advertising minimal Vuori workout clothes, but I haven't seen (at least not recently) any ads featuring famous male gymnasts. As for why they're more popular I'm going to guess the crowds are boosted by men who attend with the singular purpose of seeing flying young female bodies. Not why I went to volleyball games-it was to earn that free Aggie Pack sweatshirt. They could've been playing chess, and I would've still shown up to swipe that card.

I don'y know if Title IX is necessarily a bigger factor, but I'm sure it's significant, when deciding what new sports to offer, or which to consider cutting.

Remember that baseball, not football, was known for decades as "the national pastime". I imagine all the MW schools have a long history of a baseball program...probably sons following fathers and grandfathers playing in the program. That's a strong support system for continuing baseball. And, like here in Montana where we have our summer cabin, baseball is still extremely popular. Lots of the low-level minor leagues are located in Midwest and Great Plains towns, and there's lots of semipro or town teams. So it's imbedded in the culture here.

Soccer is still a newbie in many areas. While popular, it doesn't have the history or the generations of people who have played the game. Even in CA, where our 7th grade granddaughter plays for a strong Sacramento area club, many of the parents are totally new to the game. Being a longtime residents of Davis, that still always surprises us.

Here in NW Montana, soccer has become quite popular, mostly due to the sustained success of the Montana WSOC team, which is usually at or near the top of the Big Sky Conference. But it has in no way diminished the support for local minor league and semipro baseball teams. And neither Montana, nor Montana State sponsor baseball, though Montana does has softball.