The Big West Conference reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Big West Conference

The Big West Conference (BWC) is an NCAA-affiliated Division I major college athletic conference that formerly sponsored Division I-A American football.

Table of contents

1 Background 2 Current members (and years joined) 3 Current conference affiliations (for football) of former members 4 Sports 5 External link

Background

The history of the conference is linked to that of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA), which was founded in 1969 and renamed the Big West Conference in 1988. The Big West Conference dropped sponsorship of football at the end of the 2000-2001 season, but continues to actively sponsor other sports.

Original members of the BWC (and years of football membership) included California State-Fullerton (1988-1992), Fresno State (1988-1991), Long Beach State (1988-1999), Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) (1988-1996), New Mexico State (1988-2000), Pacific (1988-1996), San Jose State (1988-1996), and Utah State (1988-2000).

Other former members (and years of football membership) included Arkansas State (1993-1996 & 1998-2001), Boise State (1996-2001), Idaho (1996-2000), Louisiana-Lafayette (1993-1996), Louisiana Tech (1993-1996), Nevada (1996-1999), North Texas (1996-2000), and Northern Illinois (1993-1996).

Beginning in fall 2001, the six remaining football-playing members parted company with the BWC: Arkansas State, Idaho, New Mexico State, and North Texas joined the Sun Belt Conference; Boise State joined the Western Athletic Conference (WAC); and Utah State became an independent before joining the Sun Belt Conference in fall 2003. Idaho and Utah State currently retain Big West membership in sports other than football, but both will leave for other conferences in the fall of 2005. Idaho will join the Sun Belt Conference for all sports, while Utah State will leave both of its current conferences for the WAC.

Current members (and years joined)

• University of California, Irvine (1977)
• University of California, Riverside (2001)
• University of California, Santa Barbara (1969 & 1976)
• California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (1996) [=Cal Poly]
• California State University, Fullerton (1974)
• California State University, Northridge (2001)
• University of Idaho (1996)
• California State University, Long Beach (1969) [=Long Beach State]
• University of the Pacific (1971)
• Utah State University (1978)

Current conference affiliations (for football) of former members

• Mid-American Conference (1) - Northern Illinois
• Mountain West Conference (1) - UNLV
• Sun Belt Conference (6) - Arkansas State, Idaho, Louisiana-Lafayette, New Mexico State, North Texas, and Utah State
• Western Athletic Conference (5) - Boise State, Fresno State, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, and San Jose State

Sports

As of fall 2002, the BWC sponsors intercollegiate competition in men’s baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, women’s softball, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s track and field, and women’s volleyball.

External link

• The Official Web Site of the Big West Conference

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