Big West expansion

[the Rat]

Hawaii one of three schools looking to join Big West

By Ferd Lewis

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Nov 28, 2010


The University of Hawaii is expected to be one of three schools applying to join the Big West Conference when the league begins evaluating expansion.

UH and Cal State Bakersfield have talked openly of their desire for membership, and speculation is that UC San Diego may also seek a place in the conference.

The Big West lifted its moratorium on expansion Nov. 16. The conference, which is composed entirely of California-based schools, last added a member in 2007-08, and commissioner Dennis Farrell said prospective members have been asked to have their paperwork in by Wednesday for review when the Big West Council meets Dec. 8.

The council is expected to make a recommendation to the Board of Directors, which is composed of members' chancellors and presidents.

UH is seeking to place most of its sports in the Big West while moving its football team into the Mountain West. Decisions on both moves could come between next week and early January, although both conferences say there is no firm timetable.

The non-football-playing Big West currently has nine members, and Farrell said the issue of how much the league might want to expand "is one of the key issues we need to address before we make any (expansion) moves."

Farrell, who has been with the conference for 31 years, the last 19 as commissioner, said, "during my tenure we've been everything from eight to 12, with the exception of 11."

He said a move to 12 would likely involve a move to a two-division format.

Cal State Bakersfield is a Division I independent primarily known for its basketball teams. UC San Diego is an NCAA Division II power in baseball.

 

[SDHornet]

That’s unfortunate that the administration isn’t considering their options with the Big West. Staying in the Big Sky for everything puts us at a huge recruiting disadvantage for the Olympic sports. I wonder how the northern BW schools feel about the addition of UCSD (if that holds true). They will add at least another hour of drive time for CP and that’s assuming they don’t hit traffic on the I-5 between Orange County and SD. Not sure if “the farm extension” and UOP flies to LA for their BW games, but they might start flying now if they have to travel to SD regularly.

 

[the Rat]

I don't think UCSD is in the mix. They are Div. II and, as far as I can tell, there has been no discussion about them moving up. I think it is Sac State, and that SJSU is desperately holding on to FBS football and will stay in the WAC.

 

[superhornet]

SD: While your statement about recruiting is GENERALLY true in the Olympic sports, it's not true across the board. Up until recently, Sac dominated the Sky in girls volleyball and that might well come around again.

SacRat: You might be right about UCSD. There's a possibility it could be USD. Sac is probably the most likely to WANT the move, but if the Sky plays hardball on the associate membership idea, it could put the Hornet football team in a bad position.

 

[the Rat]

It won't be USD, and I don't understand why the Big Sky Conference would apply a double standard to Sac State considering they admitted Poly and Davis. My guess is the conference would give Sac State the green light once they went out and found full sport members. With UND and SUU having accepted invitations, Sac State is free to pursue BW.

 

[Green Laser]

I could be wrong (and I hope I am!) but I just don't see the Big Sky being willing to abandon it's lone presence in the California media and recruiting market for everything but football without a fight. As mentioned before, Fullerton and the Big West commissioner are friends, It is possible that they brokered a deal to solve davis and Poly's football issues allowing the Big West to keep two core members in exchange for the Big West agreeing not taking Sac State. If the Big Sky wanted to expand why would they suddenly change their "all or nothing policy" and allow Poly and davis in for football especially when other schools were willing to become full members?

 

[SDHornet]

No one in the BSC has ever respected Sac State. It would be a complete double standard and it would be complete bull shit if the BSC wouldn’t allow us as associate members. Unless I am misinformed, the Presidents of the schools in the BSC needed a unanimous decision to allow expansion. If that is in fact the case, Gonzo should have brought up at least the possibility of Sac State being associate members if the BW was looking at expansion and gotten an agreement in writing from the BSC that Sac State would be allowed to be associate members if a BW had a future opening.

USD has nothing to gain from moving to the BW. They make a lot more money and get a lot more exposure for being in the WCC for their hoops programs. Plus the WCC mission statement suits the private school well. I don’t see the BW taking USD unless they promised to commit all of their programs and that means USD would lose out on bigger NCAA payouts.

One of the issues with UCSD is they would be a transitioning school from D2 to D1. I am not sure what that would do but it would impact matchups with UCSD as I do not think any wins over any of their programs would count towards a D1 win during their transitioning years. I don’t know all the details involved with a school changing divisions but there may be some other issues associated with it that would make them less appealing. That still doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be considered and the current BW members would probably prefer UCSD over Bakersfield.

 

[SDHornet]

I could be wrong (and I hope I am!) but I just don't see the Big Sky being willing to abandon it's lone presence in the California media and recruiting market for everything but football without a fight. As mentioned before, Fullerton and the Big West commissioner are friends, It is possible that they brokered a deal to solve davis and Poly's football issues allowing the Big West to keep two core members in exchange for the Big West agreeing not taking Sac State. If the Big Sky wanted to expand why would they suddenly change their "all or nothing policy" and allow Poly and davis in for football especially when other schools were willing to become full members?

Good points. Another part of the equation we can’t overlook is the additions were probably in preparation of UM going to the WAC or an incentive to give UM a reason to stay. If the BSC knew UM was going to stay, they probably would not have expanded.

 

[Green Laser]

I could be wrong (and I hope I am!) but I just don't see the Big Sky being willing to abandon it's lone presence in the California media and recruiting market for everything but football without a fight. As mentioned before, Fullerton and the Big West commissioner are friends, It is possible that they brokered a deal to solve davis and Poly's football issues allowing the Big West to keep two core members in exchange for the Big West agreeing not taking Sac State. If the Big Sky wanted to expand why would they suddenly change their "all or nothing policy" and allow Poly and davis in for football especially when other schools were willing to become full members?

Good points. Another part of the equation we can’t overlook is the additions were probably in preparation of UM going to the WAC or an incentive to give UM a reason to stay. If the BSC knew UM was going to stay, they probably would not have expanded.

One other thing to consider was that at the press conference announcing the additions of Poly and davis, (unless I am mistaken) Fullerton said something to the affect that the additions were necessary to maintain the Big Sky's presence in California. If that was the case it would indicate that we were expected to depart.
I am not sure if the additions were made before or after Fresno and Nevada announced they would depart the WAC for the MWC.

 

[SDHornet]

The BSC was very proactive in dealing with conference realignment. Looking at the WAC leadership and foresight (or lack thereof) gives you the polar opposite of how to deal with conference realignment. The leadership of the WAC is a perfect reason to avoid that conference like the plague.