After UC Davis and Hawai’i renounced their membership in the Big West and joined the Mountain West in 2024, the Big West had two options for the future.
Sink or swim.
After losing two universities, the Big West Conference has nine member schools. According to Brett McMurphy’s Action Network report, the conference has invited California Baptist University and Utah Valley University to become full members.
McMurphy reported in a social media post on March 5 that CBU accepted their invitation to the conference. Still, Big West commissioner Dan Butterly stated otherwise in his weekly column “The Bold Type” on March 10.
“Contrary to a media report put forth by “America’s College Football Insider with Action Network,” no institution has officially accepted an invitation to join The Big West in 2026,” Butterly wrote.
Referring to an interview with CSUN’s own Ghizal Hasan, he admitted a shocking revelation.
“We may go beyond 11 [teams] at this point, and discussions are ongoing. We continue to look at the western landscape particularly,” Butterly said. “We’re not gonna look like the ACC or Big Ten and go all the way out east to play Big West conference games. That’s why we’re known as the Big West. We could go beyond any number that is currently sitting out there.”
Despite not naming any team specifically, Butterly’s statement brings optimism for the future of the conference.
If they formally accept the invitation, as expected, CBU will become the first private university to participate in the conference since Pacific left for the West Coast Conference in 2013.
The Lancers joined the Western Athletic Conference in 2018 after spending five seasons at the Division II level. CBU dominated the NAIA for 25 years before joining the NCAA, winning 28 Golden State Athletic Conference titles.
Adding CBU would bring another Southern California team to the Big West. The university is located in Riverside, California, only eight miles from UC Riverside.
Logistically, the move makes sense for all parties involved, as the Lancers exponentially cut down on travel costs. As the only school from California in the WAC, the Lancers traveled as far as Arlington, Texas, for conference games and routinely took long trips out of state.
CSUN has a long history of facing CBU in non-conference games because of their proximity.
The Matadors hold a 1-1 record in men’s basketball, with their last matchup coming in 2022. Meanwhile, the women’s basketball team has a 2-2 record with the Lancers. If CBU does join the conference, CSUN women’s basketball coach Angie Ned will be facing her former school two times a year.
The potential addition of UVU makes the Big West the conference’s lone member outside of California. With Hawai’i departing the conference as a full-time member, the Big West is left without its only non-California university member.
UVU would be the easternmost school in the conference and the first time the Big West expanded east since North Texas joined in 1996.
The future of college athletics is ever-evolving, and Butterly’s efforts to secure new members and keep the conference fresh bring hope to the future of the Big West.
