On Monday, March 30, the Big West and the Pac-12 announced a collaborative men’s soccer partnership. This major development was made with the idea of growing and strengthening collegiate soccer across the U.S. They will combine the teams in their respective schedules to create crossover matches between the two conferences.
CSUN men’s soccer head coach Terry Davila spoke highly about the collaboration between the two conferences, pointing out the significance of the partnership. Davila said it will impact both CSUN’s soccer team and the Big West as a whole.
“We are the first people to really try it,” he said. “In this day and age, everybody’s looking for ways to be cost efficient, competitive in Olympic sports, and this could be the model of a lot of things going forward.”
The Big West will be “lending” teams to the Pac-12 as affiliate members, including Cal Poly, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, and the newly inducted Big West team, California Baptist. Full-time members Oregon State, Gonzaga and San Diego State will remain in their respective conference.
This change will give the Pac-12 conference an opportunity to have a full league and allow them the chance to have an automatic qualifier into the NCAA tournament through a conference champion. As for the Big West, the new partnership will offer the chance to have an extra playoff team due to the affiliate teams in the Pac-12.
Sacramento State, California State University Bakersfield and Utah Valley will be joining the Big West as well in the absence of the other affiliate teams.
Davila and CSUN forward James Lear, who is a new transfer from the University of Dayton, said they are both looking forward to the big changes occurring next season.
“Hopefully, this will allow an opportunity for the Pac-12 to stay relevant and get that league going again because it’s an important conference, and we want soccer to grow,” Davila said.
Lear spoke similarly on how this partnership will change the game.
“The Pac-12 coming back kind of opens up the Big West conference for us,” Lear said. “We all thought of who’s going to be the team to step up and take advantage of this new opportunity.”
Although the schedule for the Matadors has not been officially announced yet, it is highly likely that CSUN will find themselves playing against multiple Pac-12 teams during this next season. A focal point of this next season is how conference play will work – not just for the Matadors, but also the entirety of the Big West.
During conference play, the teams that are considered affiliate members of the Pac-12 will not be counted as a part of conference play for this season. In essence, if the Matadors or other Big West teams were to play one of the affiliate members, that game would have no impact on their conference record.
Although these massive changes are only months away from going into effect, this fills Lear with a competitive spirit. The Matadors are currently preparing to take on this new system and be a part of a potential grand change in collegiate sports.
“We’re making sure that we are ready for whatever is coming,” Lear said. “We’re preparing to compete and ultimately win our conference and continue playing at the highest level no matter who’s on the schedule.”
