Good morning!
I spent most of last week in Asheville, North Carolina, attending the Division I Collegiate Commissioner’s Association meetings. To say there was tension in the room is an understatement, but the meetings remained professional, and valuable information was shared.
There is far too much occurring in NCAA Division I athletics and The Big West for me to take some time off this summer, but for those at the beach: Friday marked the 50th anniversary of Jaws, which premiered in theaters on June 20, 1975. Please be careful out there! Our song of the day is none other than the Jaws main theme — an appropriately ominous soundtrack for the CFP-4’s efforts to take full governance control over Division I.
Let’s dive in to The Bold Type!
WELCOME TO THE BIG WEST, SACRAMENTO STATE!
We proudly announced last week that Sacramento State will join The Big West as a full member beginning with the 2026–27 academic year — bringing our total membership to 12 institutions as of July 1, 2026. Read more >>>
The Big West staff and institutional athletic administrators have work to do on new regular-season scheduling models, reviewing championship formats and continuing to evaluate the impact of the House-NCAA settlement on budgets and sport programs, but the addition of Sac State is truly a historic moment for The Big West. Welcome to the Hornets!
See some of the initial reactions on social media here and watch the media press conference with Sacramento State President Dr. Luke Wood, Director of Athletics Mark Orr and myself here >>>.
CONGRATULATIONS
- To UC Santa Barbara alumnus and NBA rookie Ajay Mitchell, NBA Champion with the Oklahoma City Thunder! The former Gaucho guard was a three-time All-Big West selection, garnering First Team honors in the final two seasons, and was the league's Player of the Year and Championship MVP in 2022-23. In 2023-24, the Ans, Liege, Belgium product averaged 20.0 points, on 50.4 percent shooting, 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. Mitchell is the ninth Big West alum to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy.
- To the fifty-four student-athletes representing six Big West member-institutions who were honored as members of the College Sports Communicators (CSC) 2025 Academic All-District® Men's and Women's At-Large Teams! Read more >>>
- To The Big West student-athletes who took nine slots on the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-America First and Second Teams! Read more >>>
- To The Big West track & field individual award winners, announced Friday after votes from our head coaches! Read more >>>
MEET THE WOLVERINES WITH UVU BROADCAST VOICE BRICE LARSON
With Utah Valley University set to join The Big West in July 2026, excitement is already building. Hear from UVU broadcast voice Brice Larson on the transition and momentum surrounding Wolverine athletics. Read more >>>
NEW NCAA GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE
The DI Governance Working Group has submitted its final recommendations to the NCAA DI Board of Directors. The recommendations still include 65% weighted voting in favor of the CFP-4. If this passes the NCAA DI Board of Directors, four conferences will make the major decisions for all of NCAA Division I moving forward.
I remain vocal in opposing this model — it centralizes power inappropriately and undercuts the broader Division I membership. Read more >>>
MEDIA UPDATES THAT MAY BE INTERESTING
- Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger reports that “commissioners received the latest version of the new NCAA governance model on Wednesday. The primary piece of the proposal – 65% weighted voting powers for A4 – remains unchanged. The DI Board of Directors will discuss at their meeting next week but no action is expected yet. The 65% percent voting powers provides the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12 and ACC control over legislation and rule-making in certain aspects – if they all agree. In this model, three of the four voting in the same way fails to reach the 51% threshold – a key point. (link)
- Big West Commissioner Dan Butterly writes in his latest blog post that “by every measure, The Big West – and hundreds of Division I institutions like us — are advancing the mission of higher education through athletic opportunity. And yet, despite this strength, we may have no seat in the future Division I governance system – because of a proposal that would concentrate authority based primarily on financial strength. That cannot be the model for the future of Division I.” Butterly goes on to submit that “having served this past year on the NCAA Council, the Council Coordination Committee, and as Chair of the Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee, I have seen firsthand how robust discussion across conferences results in well-vetted legislation that ultimately benefits the entire Division I membership. … The proof is clear: most Council votes today pass with overwhelming or unanimous support because of the collaborative work that happens in that room. This is why weighted voting is unnecessary. When all conferences are engaged in the legislative process, consensus is achieved through shared understanding, not disproportionate influence. The structure itself produces balanced outcomes without the need to advantage any single group. We have already seen, in complex issues such as the NCAA’s unfortunate recent settlement calculations of institutional liability, how limiting input to a small group can lead to unintended consequences for many conferences and institutions. Broader representation allows for a more thorough evaluation of complex issues that affect every Division I member.” Ultimately, Butterly contends that “this is not simply a debate about football. This is a defining decision about who governs higher education and intercollegiate athletics. The question before you is simple: Will you lead for the full breadth of Division I — or allow governance to serve only those with the largest football revenues?” (link)
- Another House case appeal has hit the docket. USA Today’s Steve Berkowitz: “Another group of female athletes who objected to the House-NCAA settlement has filed notice that they are appealing to the 9th Circuit. This group is represented, in part, by lawyers from a firm called EQUITY IX, LLC, which works on Title IX, gender equity and NIL matters.” (link); Here’s the full filing. (link)
- Big West Commissioner Dan Butterly joins College.town's Kristen Eargle at the 2025 NACDA Convention for a candid conversation about the House Settlement, President Charlie Baker's address to the membership and Butterly's message to his counterparts on the proposed governance model. Regarding the governance proposal, Butterly notes: “You start to look at representation, and how we move forward as Division I, and if we’re not moving forward collaboratively and have diversity of thought in these meeting rooms because there’s a lot of diversity in Division I, I think we’re setting ourselves up for potential failure, potential additional lawsuits and other issues down the line if we try to shrink it too much and don’t have more voices in the room.” Butterly also points out the description of Big West schools as “smaller schools” is a misnomer because “if the Big West were a member of the CFP 5, we would have the second most enrollment within the CFP 5 conferences so if you’re calling them big schools and calling us little schools, the Big West would actually rank second within there. The Big Ten has a larger enrollment on average than the Big West Conference, but we would be the second most-attended or most-enrolled conference. … So, to call us small schools does a significant disservice to the Big West Conference or any conference that has pretty significant enrollments at public universities. Maybe, yes, we have smaller athletic department budgets because we don’t have major college football…but we’re not smaller schools.” Full Q&A. (link)
- Cal Poly will not reinstate its swimming and diving programs. A three-month fundraising campaign led by swimming and diving student-athletes raised nearly $9M, but fell short of the $15M threshold Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong required to save the program. A letter from Armstrong this week: “This is an unfortunate reality given the approved NCAA House settlement, state budget and the tenuous situation moving forward for both the state and the NCAA. I want to reiterate that the significant and unequitable changes in the NCAA and the House settlement (and new organizations resulting from this settlement) had an impact that weighed heavily in this decision.” (link)
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” Credited to Peter Drucker
I am motivated and excited this morning as I think about the future of The Big West. In 2026-27, we will have twelve like-minded institutions that are excited about their future in The Big West, believe in our strategic plan, our brand and sport philosophies. I am hopeful our current student-athletes are excited and future student-athletes see the tremendous benefits of competing in a strengthening DI conference that is based in a outstanding footprint in the west. To college sports fans and media, we welcome you to jump on The Big West bus and enjoy what is to be an outstanding ride ahead.
Have a great week ahead.
Be bold!
Dan