Football Out as Big West Turns to Basketball

Even as the Big West basketball coaches held their media day Wednesday, the conference continued to be reshaped.

North Texas and New Mexico State officially accepted invitations to join the Sun Belt Conference in the fall of 2001, which will put an end to the Big West as a football conference.

Meanwhile, Utah State and Idaho turned down the Sun Belt’s offer to become football-only members. Officials from both schools said they would explore other options, including playing an independent schedule in football while remaining in the Big West for other sports.

“I don’t know where we will be playing a year from now or two years from now,” Utah State men’s basketball Coach Stew Morrill said at media day in Los Angeles. “I’m just going to focus on where we are this season.”

Coaches and media voted Long Beach State the top men’s basketball team in the conference’s West Division and New Mexico State the top team in the East Division. The UC Santa Barbara and North Texas women’s teams were picked by the media and coaches to win their respective divisions.

The New Mexico State and North Texas boards of education voted this week to become full members of the Sun Belt (as did Middle Tennessee). The conference had set a deadline of Tuesday for their decision. That time frame was not workable for Utah State or Idaho.

“We didn’t get the invitation in the mail until Friday,” Utah State Athletic Director Rance Pugmire said. “We could not make that decision with such time constraints. Our preference is to be in a conference where we played all sports.”

That will not be the Big West.

New Mexico State, North Texas and Arkansas State, which were football-only members of the Big West, head to the Sun Belt Conference after next season. Nevada joins the Western Athletic Conference next fall and Boise State goes to the WAC in 2001.

That leaves Utah State and Idaho as the only two Division I-A football schools in the Big West. Under NCAA rules, a conference must have six football-playing schools to remain Division I-A.

By the fall of 2001, officials from the six California schools will have the 75% voting block necessary to expand the conference. They are against adding schools for football and are expected to offer invitations to UC Riverside and Cal State Northridge.

“We have a good relationship with all the schools in the conference,” Pugmire said. “I know we will decide what is best for the conference and not what is best for individual institutions.”

Whether Idaho and Utah State can find homes in other conferences remains to be seen; each was rebuffed in attempts to join the WAC. Officials from both schools said they would not rule out an eventual move to the Sun Belt.

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The preseason basketball polls:

Men’s Coaches’ Poll

West Division: Long Beach State, nine first-place votes, 59 points; Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 2, 41; UC Santa Barbara, 36; Pacific, 1, 32; Cal State Fullerton, 26; UC Irvine 22.

East Division: New Mexico State, 11, 61; Boise State, 1, 41; Idaho, 37; North Texas, 37; Utah State, 29; Nevada, 11.

Men’s Media Poll

West Division: Long Beach State, 22, 150; UC Santa Barbara, 4, 114; Pacific, 87; Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 76; Cal State Fullerton, 65; UC Irvine 54.

East Division: New Mexico State, 24, 153; Boise State, 1, 100; Idaho, 1, 94; Utah State, 93; North Texas, 74; Nevada 32.

Women’s Coaches’ Poll

West Division: UC Santa Barbara, 10, 52; Long Beach State, 1, 46; Pacific, 35; UC Irvine, 30; Cal State Fullerton, 16; Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 13.

East Division: North Texas, 8, 45; Idaho, 3, 36; Boise State, 31; Nevada, 20; New Mexico State, 12.

Women’s Media Poll

West Division: UC Santa Barbara, 18, 119; Long Beach State, 2, 101; Pacific, 67; UC Irvine, 64; Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 40; Cal State Fullerton, 31.

East Division: North Texas, 11, 81; Idaho, 9, 79; Boise State, 61; Nevada, 46; New Mexico State, 33.