Good morning!  I hope your week is off to a great start. 

Last week was all about momentum—on the field, in the boardroom, and in our vision for the future of The Big West. From championships and broadcasting to new partnerships, we are moving boldly forward. 

Song of the day is from *NSYNC – “Here We Go,” which is rated as the best song to wake up to by Cosmopolitan.  

Get out of bed!  Here we go!  Time for The Bold Type. Let’s GOOO! 

   CONGRATULATIONS   

• To Big West Director of Communications Quentin Rodriguez was named to the College Sports Communicators Inclusion Fellowship for the 2025-26 season!  Inclusion Fellowship is a year-long educational series for selected members of CSC designed to provide insights into inclusive issues, values and opportunities for communication professionals in college sports. The program, a partnership between CSC and the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, encourages a greater understanding of how those in athletics communications offices at all levels become effective champions for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in college athletics.  Congratulations, Q! 
• To CSUN alum Trey Knight who placed 10th in the hammer throw at the Track & Field World Championships! Read more >>> 
• To Paula Smith, Director of Athletics at UC Irvine, who was named a member of the NACDA 2025-26 DI-AAA ADA Executive Committee and will join me in serving on the committee!  Read more >>> 
• To Long Beach State men’s golf, who won the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate to start the fall with back-to-back team wins for the first time in program history! Read more >>> 
• To Cal State Fullerton women’s soccer who enjoyed their best start in program history, with the first time going undefeated in non-conference play with a 7-0-1 record! 
• To UC Irvine men’s soccer, who is ranked No. 20 in the latest United Soccer Coaches national poll! 
• To UC Santa Barbara women’s volleyball, receiving votes in the latest AVCA poll!  
• To the five teams ranked in the CWPA varsity poll!! 
  • No. 7 Long Beach State 
  • No. 8 UC Irvine 
  • No. 11 UC Davis 
  • No. 14 UC San Diego 
  • No. 17 UC Santa Barbara 
• To our amazing reigning PLAYERS OF THE WEEK!! 
  • Women's Soccer - Sail Bozinovic, Cal State Fullerton (offensive); Emily Caughey, UC Santa Barbara (defensive); Natelle El Mokbel, Long Beach State (freshman) 
  • Men's Water Polo - Luka Krstic, UC Irvine 
  • Cross Country - Donavan Cheruiyot, UC Davis (men); Sylvana Northrop, UC San Diego (women) 
  • Women's Volleyball- Emma Frederick, Cal Poly (offensive); Victoria Leyva, Hawai‘i (defensive); Emme Bullis, Cal Poly (setter); Cha’lei Reid, Hawai‘i (freshman)   
  • Men's Soccer- Edward Castro, UC Riverside (offensive); Joe O’Shaughnessy, UC Irvine (defensive); Gustavo Gonzalez, UC Irvine (freshman) 
• And to this weekend’s BIG WINners – Cal Poly women’s volleyball and UC San Diego men’s water polo!

   BOLD ACTIVISM IN THE BIG WEST: A JOURNEY OF SELF-DISCOVERY WITH CAL STATE FULLERTON'S ISAAC RANSON   

Isaac Ranson’s journey of self-discovery and acceptance is one of courage, empowerment, and the power of creating a safe and inclusive environment in college athletics. Read more >>>   

Thank  you for sharing your story, Isaac! 

   THE BIG WEST UNVEILS NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH SPORTSTRIP  

This is a great service! The Big West has announced an official partnership with SportsTrip to provide travel services in support of Big West championship events. SportsTrip will assist Big West member institutions in booking hotel rooms when traveling for conference championships. The Big West will sponsor 21 championships in 2025-26 with more than 175 teams participating. Read more >>> 

   THE BIG WEST CELEBRATES HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH   

   NCAA CROSS COUNTRY NEWS   

An additional men's team and an additional women's team will have the opportunity to compete in the 2025 Division I Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships. Read more >>> 

   MEDIA REPORTS ON NCAA AND LEGAL ISSUES   

• A California federal court has granted final approval to settle Smart v. NCAA, a challenge of the NCAA's (now rescinded) volunteer coach rule for baseball. Boise State assistant professor Sam Ehrlich notes the settlement will pay out roughly $33M to those who served as volunteer baseball coaches from November 2018 to July 2023. (link) 
• D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers provides more context on the $49M Smart v. NCAA settlement connected to back pay for volunteer baseball coaches who were part of coaching staffs from late-2019 to mid-2023. Rogers: “The overall settlement figure is $49.25 million. Of that total, $32.9 million is expected to go directly to former volunteer and unpaid coaches — the figure for the number of coaches receiving those funds is expected to be over 1,000. Of the remaining funds, $14.8 will go toward attorney fees, $1.4 million will go toward various costs and expenses related to the class-action settlement, $30,150 will go to the settlement administrator, $35,000 will go to an economist, $7,500 in incentives will be paid out, and $100,000 will go straight into a contingency fund. The amount that volunteer coaches around the country will receive is expected to vary, although the average funds received is expected to be around $36,000.” (link) 
• Outgoing Cal Poly AD Don Oberhelman and his wife, D., have made a $250K gift commitment to support the completion of the John Madden Football Center, which will serve as a state-of-the-art hub for the Mustangs football program, offering enhanced training, meeting, and support spaces. Oberhelman: "It's my hope that our gift will inspire others in the Cal Poly community to give back in whatever way they can. The John Madden Football Center represents the most ambitious and transformative project Cal Poly Athletics has undertaken in a generation. To realize its full potential as a best-in-class facility, we need the support of alumni, fans, and friends." (link)  
• West Virginia’s Board of Governors has voted unanimously for a resolution in support of WVU Athletics, directing athletics leadership to be in regular collaboration with the BOG to develop and present a financial operational plan that not only strengthens athletics but also the University's paramount core academic mission. AD Wren Baker: “WVU Athletics serves as a source of pride to our state, it bolsters our brand, and it connects our 210,000-plus Mountaineers around the world to the University they know and love. We look forward to a trajectory of continued success for our student-athletes as our Board of Governors, University administration, committed alumni and corporate partners rally together to build its future.” (link)   
• Texas Tech Board of Trustees Chair Cody Campbell pens a USA Today opinion column in which he encourages Congress to meet President Trump’s mandate by modernizing the Sports Broadcasting Act, dismantling the NCAA’s outdated model and building a “governing body where student-athletes aren’t pawns but partners.” (link) 
• Imagine if the NCAA didn’t exist and a federally commissioned corporation governed collegiate athletics. In his latest column for On3, Ross Dellenger observes scenarios like that “are or were on the table” as proposed SCORE Act changes from Cody Campbell’s Savings College Sports non-profit as the legislation works its way through the House. More. (link) 
• Higher Ed Dive’s Naaz Modan reports the U.S. Energy Department has cancelled plans to issue a rule, meant to level the playing field between women and men in athletics, that would have removed a regulatory requirement for colleges and schools receiving funding from the agency by no longer requiring them to provide women or girls a chance to try out for contactless men’s or boys’ sports teams in cases where no equivalent sports team exists for them. (link)  
• The Knight Commission has sent a letter to leaders of the House Judiciary, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Workforce committees related to the SCORE Act. The commission reiterates its past recommendation to shift “all financial incentives related to the sport of FBS football to the CFP, thus removing FBS football-related incentives from the NCAA distribution. … This shift would immediately increase the value of NCAA incentives to all Division I schools for offering sports other than FBS football by more than $60M annually, according to an independent analysis produced for the Commission by [CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP]. Full letter. (link) 
• The Athletic’s Ralph Russo, Justin Williams and Chris Vannini share some behind-the-scenes details of what’s holding up the SCORE Act from a floor vote in the House and note Group of 6 commissioners met about two weeks ago “to try to get aligned on various issues.” After the meeting, a letter was drafted advocating for the SCORE Act to address amending the Sports Broadcasting Act and circulated among those conferences. Russo, et al: “The purpose was to continue the discussion, consolidate ideas among the group and then bring them to the P4 for further discussion. Multiple people involved with those conferences say the letter did not have enough support to be signed and sent to lawmakers. No big deal, right? Nope. The letter broke contain, first ending up with [SEC Commissioner Greg] Sankey, who fired off a scolding email to the G6 commissioners about not working well with others. That email somehow found its way to [U.S. Congressman Michael] Baumgartner (R-WA), who blasted it out on social media. That brought a behind-the-scenes spat into the open, helping SCORE Act opponents cultivate a perception of dissent in the ranks of the very leaders who have been pleading with Congress for help.” Neither changes to a bill nor lawmaker deliberations at this stage are unusual, and Russo, et al. note: “The fact that the SCORE Act hasn’t been brought to the floor isn’t necessarily a reason for those who support it to panic, but after so much work has gone into pushing for legislation, the pressure is on to keep the momentum going.” (link) 
• The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman reports “six Wofford players have been deemed ineligible by the NCAA due to a communications issue involving off-campus housing that ultimately resulted in the firing of head coach Dwight Perry and associate head coach Tysor Anderson last week.“ (link)  

   QUOTE OF THE DAY   

"The grass isn't greener on the other side; it's greener where you water it" - attributed to Robert Fulghum 

   IN CLOSING   

We’re building real momentum—on campus, in competition, and in the boardroom. As we head into conference play, let’s show who we are: support your teams, model great sportsmanship, and invite your communities to be part of the Big West story. The Pacific Spirit is alive across our campuses—fearless innovation, bold activm, and enduring integrity in action. The grass is greener where we water it—let’s keep watering, together. 

Big matches, Big moments, Big West. Be loud, be classy, be there. 

The Future's So Bright …… 

Dan