If true, how badly is Hawaii trying to get out of the Big West?

I'd hate to lose them.

It would be interesting to see what the vote break down was if another vote was taken.

Long-term they might be scary to recruit against. (I say this both as a UCD and SDSU fan.) Great brand name and a campus literally on the beach. At minimum they offer the same goods that UCSB does.

Interesting that the story implies that the CSUs were against this. I guess they just don’t want to be outvoted by the UCs. Hawai’i is a different story. Why would they care and where would they go if they left? After pacific left I bet the BW conference rues the day it let the Aggies in because of the travel issues in coming to davis which is not the case with the other BW schools. No, you don’t get to sleep in your own beds When you travel to play the Aggies. Maybe this is a reason to consider Sac. As the BW is totally too SoCal focused.

Hawaii would care because I'm sure they want to grow the Big West brand outside of California. They already go to San Diego to play football against San Diego State. IMO, adding UCSD just doesn't add anything for Hawaii. I'm sure they would like to join the Mountain West for all sports.

PAC 14, here we come!

Big (West) 14?

I saw this thread and I was like "WHAAAAAA" and my wife asked if everything was okay. Me: "College Basketball" (Aka too hard to explain to a non-sports fan).

1. The Big West having UCD as the only true norcal school isn;t a bad thing. They can get NorCal recruits from Sac or the Bay.

2. Don't let Bakersfield get in.

3. UCSD deserves it because they clearly voted for it and keeping them out was sour grapes.

4. I understand Hawaii's displeasure. I bet CSULB in particular was upset since they usually have good teams.

5. I want Sac in the BW too, but unless we drop football (please no), we'd all 3 get kicked out by the Big Sky. I think us being in the Big Sky was a favor to CSUS. Not that we or Poly needed help from the Hornets, but that was our only shot of reaching the FCS playoffs. I can't wait to go to TapaTalk and see everyone's reaction.

*yawn*

CSUs say OK to UCSD, if OK to Bakersfield. That simple. But is this conference getting too big? Maybe not if almost all the teams are 2 hours apart.

Bakersfield will begin Big West play on July 1, 2018 in all of their sports.

UCSD: Men's Volleyball will play in 2017-18, Women's Water Polo begins play in 2019-20, all other sports will begin play in 2020-21, full membership after transition 2024.

From SD Union Tribune article:

UC San Diego’s timeline to Division I

2018-2020: UCSD begins increasing the amount of money it offers for scholarships, beginning with one-third of its total allotment and reaching full spending by the fall of 2020. Two sports — men’s volleyball (2017-18) and women’s water polo (2019-20) — begin Big West participation.

2020: The Tritons begin a full Big West Conference competitive schedule in the fall.

2020-2023: UCSD begins a mandated four-year reclassification period, during which it cannot compete in the postseason in most sports. The exceptions are men’s volleyball, men’s and women’s water polo, and fencing, because those are sports with only one division in the NCAA.

2024: Beginning in the fall, UCSD will be a full member of the Big West and eligible to compete for all conference and NCAA championships.
Polo



http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/college/sd-sp-uc-san-diego-division-big-west-conference-20171127-story.html

Well that will stink for Bakersfield having to play on July 1st. No one else will be. They'll just have to play with themselves :D

I like this. it's as if you went to your high school reunion and all your old friends said they were going to move into your neighborhood.

Next step should be to add San Bernadino. In the CCAA days of old the Coyotes used to beat the Roadrunners (Bakersfield).

This should help out baseball's scheduling. That's six fewer non- conference games to schedule.

Why the need tk add Bakersfield? Numeric balance?

We needed to lower the average conference gpa

Outside of football, this may impact recruiting. Just read the article. Given their size and academics, they sound similiar to us - 15 years ago?

They could have left Bakersfield off and looked to add another solid academic institution.

Mean but true.

Kill me now for adding Bake!

Quote from the Commissioner:

“The addition of these two outstanding universities will further strengthen the Big West’s position as the preeminent NCAA Division I public university conference for the states of California and Hawai‘i,” said Farrell. “The 2018-19 academic year marks the 50th anniversary of the Big West Conference and this membership development positions the conference to continue growing and thriving for the next 50 years.”

Preeminent DI public university conference for California and Hawaii?

http://www.bigwest.org//story.asp?story_id=20127

He can't really believe that.

In sheer numbers, maybe. :D 5/10 UCs is a good start...;)

:D

I'd take UC Merced over Bakersfield. I'm honestly not kidding. Of course everyone would love to have Sac State. Brilliant post btw.

Also from the release:

Expansion gives the Big West Conference institutions in the following nationally ranked television markets (Designated Market Areas):

No. 2 Los Angeles/Orange County/Inland Empire
No. 20 Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto
No. 28 San Diego
No. 65 Honolulu
No. 124 Santa Barbara/Santa Maria/San Luis Obispo
No. 126 Bakersfield

With the addition of CSU Bakersfield and UC San Diego, the total student enrollment of Big West member institutions will top 375,000, which ranks among the top five conferences in NCAA Division I. The total alumni of the 11 institutions will top 1,675,000. More than 10,000 alumni of the current Big West members live in Kern County, CA (home of CSU Bakersfield) and more than 60,000 alums live in San Diego County.

How many of our games are on TV right now? Great, our student enrollment is over 375,000...what's our student attendance?

10,000 isn't really that much. I feel like they invented some of those media markets. I know they are real, but most are connected to LA already.

Boise St and SDSU nearly joined Hawaii in the BW a couple yrs ago. We just went from that to Bakersfield.

Weren't they in the Big West for about 6 hours before they bailed?

ya I think you're right

Poor sac must be very upset with this. Have they ever tried for BW membership? Their travel cost must be off the charts.