The Big West Conference Council will meet Wednesday at the Westin Hotel near Los Angeles International Airport to discuss the possibility of expanding the nine-team, all-California league, commissioner Dennis Farrell said.
The meeting will be conducted from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Farrell said Tuesday.
Hawaii, Cal State Bakersfield and UC San Diego expressed interest as last Wednesday’s deadline passed. Of the three, only Hawaii is a member of another conference, the Western Athletic Conference. CSUB competes independently at the Division I level while UCSD competes in Division II.
The 27-member council is made up of athletic directors, faculty athletics representatives and senior woman administrators. At Long Beach State, that would be Vic Cegles, Brenda Vogel and Cindy Masner, respectively.
“With the things that have happened in the landscape of college athletics in the last year or two about expansion in different conferences,” Cegles said, “there is some security in numbers.
“Someone like Hawaii certainly brings a little bit more status than someone like Bakersfield, who’s grown up from a Division II to Division I. But that’s not to say that Bakersfield doesn’t fit, either, somewhere down the road. We’re just trying to look at all the information and go from there.”
The council could make a recommendation via teleconference to the Big West Board of Directors, which is comprised of chancellors and presidents at each of the nine schools, including Long Beach State’s F. King Alexander. A school would need three-quarters approval, or seven of nine votes, for an invitation to the Big West.
“It is more of an offensive strategy instead of waiting around to have a couple of our members picked off,” Alexander said via e-mail Monday. “In this crazy conference shifting movement, playing defense only could decimate the conference.”
Farrell said the vote could be delayed if not all voting members are available for the conference call.
“It’s quite possible we could take an e-mail ballot (instead) after the conference call,” said Farrell, who does not have a vote.
Among the criteria the board will consider, Alexander listed:
• What a new university brings to the conference?
• Is it a comparable institution?
• Does it bring more viewers, media coverage, and a wider audience?
• Is the program well established and free from NCAA troubles?
• Is the athletic program sufficiently funded?
• Is the athletic program comprehensive?
Official announcement in the air
Farrell said the Big West, which lifted its membership moratorium Nov. 16, is “not under any time constraint” to expand. He added that any schools already affiliated with a conference — or, Hawaii in this case — would need notice by June 30, 2011.
“There’s not an ideal timeframe [to make an official announcement],” Farrell said, but added that it would help schools put together athletic schedules the sooner a decision is made.
Hawaii’s possible impact
Among the sports Hawaii could have a significant impact on are women’s softball (Women’s College World Series appearance last season) and women’s volleyball (ranked No. 7 in the nation and a No. 15 seed in this year’s NCAA tournament).
The biggest hurdle in the negotiation process with Hawaii would be travel, Cegles said.
“The challenge with Hawaii is the fact that there’s a cost factor that goes into travel for all of your teams,” said Cegles, who added that the addition of Hawaii would help LBSU and the competition in the conference. “Whether or not [Hawaii] comes and gives us some kind of a pool of funding for us to travel, that’s been discussed.
“There’s an increased cost for us in travel, and that’s something we have to take in consideration.”
A member of the WAC for 32 years, Hawaii travels to six different states to compete against eight schools in the conference: Boise State, Fresno State, San Jose State, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, New Mexico State and Utah State.
Hawaii, a former Big West member for 11 years in women’s athletics, spent $3.7 million on travel expenses during the 2008-09 athletic year, according to a USA Today database. LBSU spent $867,873 during the same period.
If all three schools are added, Farrell said a 12-team, two-division format would likely be implemented. LBSU, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly and the University of the Pacific make up the current Big West.
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