Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara will face new conference opponents across all Big West sports as NCAA conference realignment changes take effect July 1.
Sacramento State, Cal Baptist and Utah Valley join as full-time members, meaning all eligible sports will now compete in the Big West. The conference does not host several sports, such as football.
The Big West remains at 12 full-time members with the effective departure of UC Davis, University of Hawaii and UC San Diego.
Davis and Hawaii moved to the Mountain West Conference as full-time members and UC San Diego joined the West Coast Conference.
UC Santa Barbara will only face one year of the reshaped conference. They, too, will depart for the West Coast conference in July 2028.
The Big West will expand into the state of Utah for the first time since 2005. Even though they lose Hawaii, teams will have at least one out-of-state conference opponent.
Most significantly, in terms of competition, men’s basketball stays strong. The new programs bring tournament experience and attention.
Cal Baptist made an NCAA Tournament appearance last season as a No. 12 seed, taking a loss to No. 4 seed Kansas. Utah Valley, which lost to Cal Baptist in the Western Athletic Conference championships, made an NIT appearance.
Sacramento State did not have a good season last year, but it was longtime Sacramento Kings player Mike Bibby’s first season as head coach. NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal is the general manager.
