Big West May Expand in Football

Seeking to bolster its sagging football fortunes, Big West Conference athletic directors Thursday endorsed the addition of four independent schools as associate members. The schools--Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, Northern Illinois and Southwestern Louisiana--would compete in football only.

Big West athletic directors voted, 6-0, in favor of the move, which will be acted on formally at the conference’s annual meetings May 11-15 at Las Vegas. The four schools would begin conference play in 1993.

“This is something that the athletic directors and commissioner (Jim Haney) have been working on for several months in dealing with the football issue,” said Bill Shumard, Cal State Fullerton athletic director. “We wanted to find compatible Division I opponents to schedule on a regular basis.”

The move would not affect UC Irvine, which does not field a football team.

When Fresno State announced that it would leave the conference for the Western Athletic Conference next fall and Cal State Long Beach dropped its football team for financial reasons after the 1991 season, the Big West was left with only six football-playing members.

The addition of Nevada, which leaves the Big Sky Conference to join the Big West this fall, pushed the number to seven, but Haney proposed a consortium of Eastern independents to strengthen the conference.

“This is a major step for the stability of our conference,” Haney told the Associated Press. “It’s a good arrangement for everyone involved. But we’re not going to stand still.”

Haney is reportedly considering two other schools from among: Boise State, Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis State, Northeast Louisiana, Tulsa and Tulane.

The current Big West schools would play six conference games, including two against the Eastern teams. If the conference is expanded, Haney suggested forming two six-team divisions.

Times staff writer Chris Foster contributed to this story.