Big West Looks to South for New Members

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--will compete in football only, beginning in 1993 if the move is approved.

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.

“This is something that the athletic directors and the 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.”

When Fresno State announced that it will leave the conference for the Western Athletic Conference next fall and Cal State Long Beach dropped football for financial reasons after the 1991 season, the Big West was left with 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 Midwest and Southwest independents to strengthen the conference.

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