Big West Invites Two to Its Party
In a move anticipated for months, Cal State Northridge and UC Riverside on Wednesday accepted an invitation to join the Big West Conference beginning in July 2001.
Big West officials voted unanimously to admit the schools, bringing the conference to 10 full members for the 2001-02 season.
“We are delighted to accept this offer and to become a part of the Big West,” Louanne Kennedy, Northridge interim president, said at a campus news conference. “I don’t think there was any crucial reason [to switch conferences].
“There were a lot of issues. The ball went up in the air with the Big West and we thought, ‘Are we going to catch it? They might not throw it again.’ ”
Other reaction was also positive.
“It’s a milestone, to say the least,” said Jack Smitheran, whose Riverside baseball team has won two Division II titles. “The best thing is, it’s an excellent baseball conference, with Fullerton and Long Beach particularly.”
The feeling was similar in Long Beach.
“I look at my own school and can see where this will make for good, wholesome rivalries,” said Robert Maxson, Long Beach State president and chairman of the Big West board of directors. “The schools are close to where our fans can go see us play more conference games.”
The addition completes a long-anticipated move to bolster conference membership after a string of recent defections.
Nevada joins the Western Athletic Conference next fall. New Mexico State and North Texas go to the Sun Belt Conference after the 2000 football season. Boise State will join the WAC in 2001-02.
Northridge and Riverside will join a conference that includes Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, Idaho, Pacific and Utah State.
However, Utah State and Idaho are actively seeking membership in other conferences.
Conference officials hope a more concentrated conference will significantly cut travel costs and make a regional television contract for men’s basketball more attractive.
With the addition of Riverside and Northridge, the Big West will also form a men’s soccer conference. Its men’s teams, except for football and basketball, currently play in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
A source said Big West officials did not rule out further expansion, possibly involving Sacramento State and UC Davis.
Northridge, which currently plays in the Big Sky Conference, must decide what to do with its football program.
Athletic Director Dick Dull said Northridge likely will schedule football games with California schools and opponents throughout the West, including Big Sky teams.
Riverside is now a Division II school in transition to Division I.
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Staff writers Chris Foster and Martin Henderson contributed to this story.