Northridge Officially States Intent to Sever CCAA Ties

Cal State Northridge cast aside its safety net Tuesday, serving notice at a meeting of the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. that it will secede from the NCAA Division II conference after almost three decades of affiliation.

Northridge, which is scheduled to attain Division I status in all sports but football beginning in the fall of 1990, will remain a CCAA member for one more year.

The move came as no surprise to other conference schools, whose athletic representatives had convened in San Luis Obispo for a regularly scheduled business session. Dr. James W. Cleary, Northridge’s president, already had sent a letter detailing the school’s plans to Tom Morgan, CCAA commissioner.

Northridge, which has won or shared 47 conference championships since 1960, has no definitive plans for its maiden voyage into major college athletics. And its choices appear to be somewhat limited.

The chances of Northridge being embraced by an already established conference seem slim. The Pacific 10, Big West and West Coast Athletic conferences are already large enough to receive automatic berths in the lucrative Division I basketball tournament.

“They’re not about to take on any more members,” said Bob Hiegert, CSUN’s athletic director.

Another option would be the formation of a new Division I conference.

In March, Cleary met with presidents from five Western universities to gauge their interest in an athletic alliance. Another meeting is planned for next month.

Cal State Sacramento, a Division II independent, and Southern Utah State, an independent in Division I, are, along with Northridge, spearheading the drive for a new conference.

UC Davis and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo are among those reportedly interested, as are a handful of schools from the Big Sky and Big West conferences.

“Once we’ve had more discussions this summer, if the new conference is a viable thing, we want to get it started immediately,” Hiegert said.

Even if a new conference is planned, Northridge might have to play an independent schedule in some sports while final administrative details are worked out.

Should such a situation occur, CSUN will try to gain conference affiliations in as many sports as possible. For example, if the basketball team competed as an independent, the baseball program could be affiliated with a conference like the WCAC, Hiegert said.