Good morning after an exciting 2025 Big West Baseball Championship, presented by Ontario International Airport!
Today is Memorial Day, a day we honor and mourn the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Thank you to all that serve protecting the United States of America, particularly those that lost their lives.
I want to express my sincere thank you to Cal State Fullerton for hosting the first Big West Baseball Championship in 27 years, and their tremendous grounds crew for keeping the field in great condition throughout the week. Thank you, Titans!
Thank you to all of our member institutions that hosted a championship in 2024-25, and to The Big West staff for managing a record 21 championships this academic year. I have heard many positives comments and stories from our student-athletes for providing a championship experience for them and I thank each and every one of you for attending or supporting a championship and to our entire membership for making memorable postseason moments happen all year long.
Song choice today is the theme song from "Cheers" by Gary Portnoy. Not only to the passing of George Wendt last week, but also because with all of the issues we are currently managing in NCAA Division I athletics, the lyrics also apply:
Making your way in the world today
Takes everything you've got
Taking a break from all your worries
Sure would help a lot
Wouldn't you like to get away?
Sometimes you wanna go
Where everybody knows your name
And they're always glad you came
You wanna be where you can see
Our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows your name
Rest in Peace “Norm!” Let’s get to The Bold Type!
CONGRATULATIONS!
- To the 2025 Track & Field Championships Athletes of the Meet, as voted on by the league’s head coaches. Read more >>>
- To the 116 Big West qualifiers to the 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships First Round competitions! This is an increase from 84 student-athletes in 2024. Read more >>>
- To the six major award winners and the all-conference teams for the 2025 baseball season! Read more >>>
- To UC Irvine's Will Bermudez who was named the 2024-25 CalHOPE Courage Award winner! Read more >>>
- To Big West Golfer of the Year Charlie Forster and Long Beach State teammate Alejandro de Castro Piera who were named NCAA Division I PING All-West Region honorees! Read more >>>
- And to our final Big West Baseball Players of the Week!
- Tyler Bremner, UC Santa Barbara (pitcher); Jordan Donahue, Hawai‘i (field player)
UC IRVINE DESERVED TO HOST AN NCAA BASEBALL REGIONAL SITE
Toward the end of our baseball championship game, we learned the 16 NCAA Basketball Championship Regional sites, and it was with great disappointment we learned that UC Irvine was not selected to host a regional. In fact, nearly all sites designated to host were from “Power 4” conferences.
The Big West is the top baseball conference in the west. UC Irvine won the regular-season title. We anticipated a third site in the west may come down to UCLA and UC Irvine, and we had a tremendous argument for why UC Irvine should host. Here are just a few facts:
Road RPI:
Road Success:
Quadrant games:
UCLA just lost 0-5 to Nebraska (RPI 55) in the Big 10 championship.
UC Irvine beat Nebraska 10-5 earlier this year.
Our Champion had better competition and more Quad 1 and 2 games than what UCLA had to play . UC Irvine played in The Big West Baseball Championship Game against an exceptionally talented Cal Poly team, with Cal Poly winning The Big West AQ in a 6-4 final.
I may be biased, but I believe UC Irvine and Cal Poly were two of the three best teams in the west. The Big West is the best baseball conference in the west. I do not envy the task the NCAA Baseball Committee has placed upon them, but the Anteaters should be hosting one of the 16 NCAA regionals.
As we look toward the proposed future of the NCAA, think about this NCAA sports fans, under the proposed NCAA governance structure, all key decisions will be made by conferences based in the Eastern and Central time zones. Does the proposed structure work better or worse for the rest of the country? Are those in the East watching games in the Pacific and Hawaiian time zones? Watching games is a very important aspect for selection committee members to get beyond rankings. The “eye test” of watching teams play is a very important function of serving on a selection committee. Let’s hope the perceived east coast bias does not increase with the angst the west coast feels. Many of us in the west are tired of having our champion play at UCLA, USC or Stanford in what feels like every sport.
SPEAKING OF THE NCAA - STRENGTHENING DIVISIONI I THROUGH EQUITABLE GOVERNANCE
As the NCAA Division I Decision-Making Working Group continues its efforts to reshape the governance framework of college athletics (LINK), I want to thank commissioners, our campus leaders and staff for engaging deeply with this evolving process.
We appreciate the NCAA’s commitment to seeking feedback and refining its proposals. In the most recent update, the working group introduced a more detailed look at potential sport oversight committee compositions and outlined areas for continued decentralization of national legislation.
While some progress has been made, several serious concerns remain and new issues have emerged:
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Weighted Voting: The working group proposes weighted voting not just for administrative bodies but also for sport oversight committees, granting additional influence to autonomy and “success-based” conferences. This risks undermining what should be the core principle of equitable representation in NCAA governance. Oversight committees were developed to focus on the “good of the game”. To diminish the vote and strongest voice to all but four conferences is truly not in the best interest of the sports we represent nor the NCAA. A reminder, there are 370 and 32 conferences playing DI basketball.
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Success-Based Representation: Tying committee representation and voting power to past competitive success disadvantages emerging programs and conferences striving to elevate performance. The Big West has made great strides in improved competitiveness and performance in NCAA championships the past few years. We have gone from a conference that ranked in the mid-20's in 2019-20 to being ranked in the Top 10 during the 2024-25 season. We had our best season since Ken Pomeroy started his rankings. However, even with our improvement and success, governance should not become a closed loop of privilege.
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Decentralization Ambiguity: We continue to see vague proposals on how and where regulatory authority will be delegated. Without firm guidelines, we risk creating a fragmented and inconsistent rules environment across institutions and subdivisions.
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Student-Athlete Involvement: While we support student-athlete involvement, the suggestion that only some may vote—or be present at meetings—does not fully empower their voice. We urge the NCAA to ensure student-athletes are full, voting members on all relevant committees.
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Minimum Standards Must Be Meaningful: National regulations described as “minimum standards” cannot be a license for erosion of academic integrity, competitive fairness, or compliance uniformity.
As we prepare to submit additional feedback to the working group, we remain committed to a future where all Division I conferences—regardless of size or profile—have a seat and a voice at the table. Strong governance begins with balanced representation, diversity of thought, clear accountability, and student-centered principles.
We encourage our peers across the country to review the updated materials and share their perspectives.
Together, we can shape a model that works for all of Division I, not just the most powerful parts of it.
KNIGHT COMMISSION CALLS FOR BOLDER CHANGES TO NCAA DIVISION I GOVERNANCE
At its recent meeting, the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics urged leaders to make far more sweeping changes to the governance of NCAA Division I sports than the NCAA currently has under review. Reflecting the new realities of the looming House v. NCAA settlement, the Commission reiterated its proposal for a new entity to govern the sport of FBS football, separate from the NCAA. (LINK)
MEDIA REPORTS ON THE NCAA AND LEGAL MATTERS
- America’s College Towns Go From Boom to Bust: “Large flagship universities—blessed with strong academic reputations and high-profile sports programs—continue to boost local economies” (LINK)
- Cal Poly has launched the Players Trust, an initiative aimed at helping to attract and retain student-athletes through the support of alumni, parents and friends. Specifically, the Players Trust will allow alumni and boosters to personally invest in ensuring the future success of their favorite teams by helping fund scholarships, Alston awards, and incentive-based scholarship supplements specific to each athletic program and where supporters want to invest. (link)
- The New Mexico Board of Regents has approved a student fee increase of $45 per semester next year and an additional $60 in two years that will go directly to athletics. UNM President Garnett Stokes: “This university has suffered greatly from a failure to invest in athletics. I think that we’ve been able to see with some of the successes (in men’s basketball, in particular) and some of the investments that we can be competitive, but we’re now operating in an environment where the need for continued investment is very important. What we tell the world about what it is we want to be in athletics is very important.” The Albuquerque Journal’s Goeff Grammer notes the increases are in addition to the $120 already going to athletics from student fees and will generate approximately an additional $1.7M in FY26 and $4.1M in FY27. (link)
- The NCAA and defendant conferences have filed their reply in support of roster limit changes in which they argue: “All student-athletes on a roster during the current season (the 2024-25 Academic Year) who were or would have been removed from a roster because of the implementation of roster limits will not count against any school’s roster for the duration of their eligibility; all newly incoming student-athletes who were assured of a roster spot by a Member Institution, and then told they no longer had a roster spot because of the implementation of roster limits, will not count against any school’s roster for the duration of their eligibility; schools participating in the Pool structure will be required to prepare lists of the student-athletes falling in these two groups, called ‘Designated Student-Athletes,’ in good faith with copies of the lists going to Class Counsel; and Designated Student-Athletes will not count against roster limits wherever they go, e.g. if they transfer to another Member Institution; and Designated Student-Athletes will always have the opportunity to return to the school that had them on a roster, or assured them of a roster spot, regardless of NCAA rules. These features ensure that no class members ‘will be harmed’ by the implementation of the settlement’s roster limits provisions…because the class members identified by the Court are in the same position as prior to the settlement’s announcement.” Full response. (link)
- NCAA President Charlie Baker confirms the NCAA will cede its enforcement authority of amateurism to the College Sports Commission, explaining in remarks made to the Knight Commission that “the power conferences’ response to [the House settlement] is to create an entity, the College Sports Commission. The point behind that was to have an entity that would see the cap management system and the third-party NIL system. Have rules associated with both. Create enforcement parameters for violating those rules under the rubric that would be the theoretical injunction.” (link)
- Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger reports power conferences are working on a contract for those schools opting into the House settlement “as a way to bind the group and provide stability around the enforcement of rules. That includes, most notably, decisions from the new Deloitte-run NIL clearinghouse, dubbed ‘NIL Go,’ an entity expected to more strictly enforce booster pay. (link)
- ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports the CEO of the College Sports Commission “will have the final say in doling out punishments and deciding when rules have been violated, according to sources, a level of singular power that never existed during the NCAA's era of struggling to enforce its rules.” Thamel adds that the “CEO's hire is expected to come quickly after the House settlement is finalized” and the “hiring of a new CEO of the College Sports Commission already is deep in the process, per ESPN sources. (link)
- Officials at multiple schools, including coaches, are expressing concerns about the affiliation agreement being discussed by Power 4 schools, according to Front Office Sports’ Amanda Christovich, and Altius Sports Partners College President Andrew Donovan says: “I would say more [schools] are in the camp of, ‘We do want to get a level playing field. We do want to know what the rules are, and have an understanding that our peers are going to abide by the same rules that we plan to abide by.’ But then, there are others that are in this boat of uncertainty.” The enforceability of the memo is among the concerns being cited. (link)
- Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger reports plans for a presidential commission on college sports have been paused, “a move possibly rooted in its potential impact in Senate negotiations over college sports legislation.” (link)
- USA Today’s Steve Berkowitz reports that “with the ACC, Big 12 and Pac-12 providing their new returns this week in response to requests from USA Today Sports, and the Big Ten and SEC having done so previously, the combined revenue tally for fiscal 2024 was nearly $3.54B, compared to a little more than $3.55B for fiscal 2023. (link)
- Sportico’s Daniel Libit notes the Pac-12 reported spending $11.8M in legal fees during FY24, which is “believed to be the highest amount ever disclosed by a collegiate athletic conference. (link
- The ACC reported $12.3M in outside legal expenses during FY24, up 70.8% YoY and a more than 4x increase over the last four years, according to The Virginian-Pilot’s David Teel, who notes that “San Francisco-based Latham & Watkins ($2.8M) and Greensboro, North Carolina-based Fox Rothschild ($1.3M) were the league’s priciest outside representation, the escalating costs also reflecting the power conferences defending themselves in multiple antitrust lawsuits brought by former athletes, most prominently the House case. (link)
- In an attempt to dismiss an injury claims case, Seton Hall tells a New Jersey federal judge that the school’s head athletic trainers did not “misdiagnose, mistreat or mishandle injuries sustained by two basketball players now suing them for gross negligence.” More from behind the Law360 paywall. (link)
- The Trump administration has blocked Harvard from enrolling future international students and retaining currently enrolled foreign students. The Department of Homeland Security says it revoked Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification because the school’s leadership “has created an unsafe campus environment by permitting anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators to harass and physically assault individuals, including many Jewish students, and otherwise obstruct its once-venerable learning environment.” DHS adds that “many of these agitators are foreign students,” and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem adds: “Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.” (link)
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Have a great week everyone!
Dan