Good morning to all!
With the new year underway, welcome back after a week dominated by virtual meetings, as The Big West and NCAA governance activity accelerated quickly the first week in January. Big West leadership met twice this week with representatives of the NCAA Board of Directors and participated in multiple NCAA Cabinet and Basketball Oversight Committee meetings (LINK).
In addition, meetings were held with Directors of Athletics, Compliance Coordinators, men’s soccer head coaches and SWAs, women’s volleyball head coaches and the conference budget subcommittee—making for a full and productive first week of 2026.
Song of the Day is “Learning to Fly” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. As NCAA Division I navigates unprecedented change and we head into the NCAA Convention, leadership often means learning in real time, staying grounded and moving forward—together.
Let’s get to The Bold Type!
CONGRATULATIONS
- Cal Poly’s “Jungle Jumpstart” rainforest float—highlighting how nature and technology can work together to create a better world—received the Sweepstakes Award at the 137th Rose Parade®, held on a rainy New Year’s Day. Congratulations to Cal Poly on this tremendous honor! Read more >>>
- To defending champion Hawai’i women’s water polo, picked to win The Big West by a slim margin. Read more >>>
- To our amazing student-athletes of the week!
CELEBRATING OFFICIALS' APPRECIATION WEEK WITH VIOLET PALMER
As part of the celebration of Officials' Appreciation Week, Big West Women’s Basketball Coordinator of Officials Violet Palmer sat down with Chloe Clark to reflect on a remarkable career, to date. Palmer shared some of the steps in the journey from Compton to Cal Poly Pomona as a Division II national champion. Trading playing shoes and layup lines for the Broncos for the whistle and running the baselines on professional courts around the country, Palmer reached the pinnacle of the profession and is now training others to follow in those footsteps. Read more at https://tinyurl.com/5n6dvanb
Violet Palmer is a true inspiration to all of us. I am proud to say she is our coordinator of women’s basketball officials.
A reminder that if you have interest in becoming a collegiate official, please visit www.sayyestoofficiating.com.
THE BIG WEST SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT - CSUN
CSUN began as a satellite campus of Cal State LA with classes being held in leased classrooms at San Fernando High School in 1952. The official groundbreaking of the present day campus was performed in 1956. The school separated itself as a satellite campus and was named San Fernando Valley State College in 1958. The college officially renamed itself to its present name, California State University, Northridge (CSUN), on June 1, 1972, by action of the Legislature and the Board of Trustees of the California State University.
CSUN has been a member of The Big West since 2001. At the Division II level, the Matadors won 30 national championships before making the transition to Division I in 1990, and then into The Big West in 2001. To date, CSUN has won 24 Big West postseason championships and 17 Big West regular-season titles. Learn more about CSUN in the January school spotlight here >>>
WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK
After two great games hosted by UC Irvine over the weekend, this week’s game featured in the Spectrum SportsNet basketball broadcast package is:
- UC San Diego at Cal State Bakersfield men’s basketball – Saturday, Jan. 17 at 1 p.m.
WESTERN MEN'S BASKETBALL ATTENDANCE COMPARISONS
National writer KC Smurthwaite (LINK) recently shared research comparing average men’s basketball attendance to facility capacity. The data below provides helpful context across western conferences. (Average Attendance/Capacity of Facility). I share only for informational purposes, as I found the data interesting.
Big West Men's Basketball Attendance
- Hawai‘i: 4,344 (42% of capacity)
- UC San Diego: 2,465 (62%)
- UC Santa Barbara: 2,366 (59%)
- UC Irvine: 1,692 (34%)
- UC Davis: 1,456 (24%)
- Cal Poly: 1,408 (46%)
- Long Beach: 1,226 (29%)
- CSUN: 756 (34%)
- Cal State Fullerton: 640 (16%)
- Cal State Bakersfield: 495 (14%)
- UC Riverside: 385 (14%)
West Coast Conference Men's Basketball Attendance
- Gonzaga: 6,847 (114%)
- Saint Mary’s: 3,229 (92%)
- Washington State: 3,201 (27%)
- Oregon State: 2,558 (28%)
- Seattle U: 1,601 (20%)
- San Francisco: 1,497 (50%)
- Pacific: 1,412 (23%)
- Santa Clara: 1,406 (31%)
- San Diego: 1,317 (26%)
- Pacific: 1,024 (21%)
- LMU: 824 (20%)
- Pepperdine: 681 (22%)
Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Attendance
- Sacramento State: 2,666 (89%)
- Montana: 2,540 (35%)
- Montana State: 2,533 (35%)
- Weber State: 1,983 (17%)
- Idaho: 1,877 (45%)
- Eastern Washington: 1,681 (34%)
- Northern Colorado: 1,329 (53%)
- Idaho State: 903 (28%)
- Portland State: 591 (19%)
- Northern Arizona: 403 (8%)
For added context from his earlier D1 posts, he posted the top 10 D2 men's basketball attendance.
- Washburn: 1,906
- Fort Hays: 1,895
- Northern State: 1,660
- Missouri Western: 1,358
- Black Hills State: 1,198
- Eastern New Mexico: 1,185
- Emporia: 1,136
- Southwest Minnesota State: 1,076
- Augusta: 1,075
- Minnesota State: 1,035
UPDATES FROM THE NCAA BOARD OF DIRECTORS CONSULTATION MEETING
The NCAA DI Board of Directors and Board of Governors do not meet until this week in Washington, D.C., but as noted previously, a representative of our Board of Directors and the commissioner were able to meet with Board representatives to review the agenda and express any thoughts or concerns on various topics the Boards will discuss. The Big West specifically focused comments on DI membership standards and the financial decisions made for conferences by the NCAA on upcoming legal settlements, so we do not face the challenges put forth by NCAA staff on the House settlement. I look forward to more productive conversations in the coming week at all levels of the NCAA membership.
MEDIA REPORTS ON NCAA AND LEGAL MATTERS
- If you want to see how men’s and women’s basketball programs stack up in a variety of metrics, including Wins Above Bubble, check out the D1.ticker Comparative MBB and WBB Rankings. (link - MBB, link - WBB)
- Boise State Asst. Professor Sam Ehrlich reports “a federal district court in California has granted preliminary approval to the NCAA's $303M settlement of a lawsuit by ex-’volunteer’ coaches (non-baseball) who were barred from receiving pay under a since-repealed NCAA rule. A final fairness hearing is set for May 11.” (link)
- The Arizona Daily Star’s Greg Hansen reflects on the decade-long transformation of college sports administration, noting that Arizona AD Desireé Reed-Francois estimates the job has shifted from "75% competition, 25% other stuff" to "75% finances, 25% competition." Hansen points to Colorado’s new contract for AD Fernando Lovo—featuring six-figure bonuses tied explicitly to fundraising thresholds ($25M and $35M)—as evidence of the new priorities, contrasting it with past incentives based on Learfield Directors’ Cup standings. (link)
- New Colorado AD Fernando Lovo stays in headlines, says creating a premier game day fan experience will be a critical focus for the Buffs: “I’m fanatical about the game day experience. It’s something that I took from my time at the University of Texas. I saw how impactful it was to create. It’s not just a game. It’s got to be an event. It’s got to be engaging. It’s got to be dynamic.” (link)
- The Denver Post’s Sean Keeler captures the frustration of longtime Colorado donors like Dan Stroh, a 43-year Buffs Club member who attended new AD Fernando Lovo's introductory press conference only to voice deep disillusionment with the NIL and transfer portal era. Stroh, described as "realty royalty" in Loveland, stated he is "about tapped out" and refuses to fund players with no loyalty: "You give them [that] check and the guy’s gone tomorrow. To hell with that. That ain’t happening to me. No allegiance, no money.” (link)
- The Missouri Valley Conference will begin publicizing men’s and women’s basketball player availability reports the night before and two hours before games through a partnership with HD Intelligence. (link)
- California Baptist will eliminate men’s golf, men’s swimming and diving and men’s wrestling at the end of this academic year ahead of its transition to the Big West. Lancers AD Micah Parker: “While we had hoped to continue offering our full slate of athletic programs in this new environment, it has become clear that changes are required to realize the university's goal of achieving greater competitive excellence that the new Division I era demands. … As the university looks toward competing in the Big West Conference starting in July 2026, it was necessary to discontinue some athletic programs in order to offer remaining student-athletes and teams the best chance to succeed.” (link)
- Objectors to House settlement approval between the NCAA and former Division I student-athletes represented by the House, Hubbard and Carter antitrust litigations “have raised unpersuasive and unsupported arguments,” per a brief filed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by the NCAA and power leagues, according to Sportico’s Michael McCann, who notes Association attorneys hope to persuade the Ninth Circuit that it should affirm the House ruling. More. (link)
- Hawai’i AD Matt Elliott provides perspective on how he’s adjusted to the job over his first six months in the big chair. Elliott: “It's been a major transition but … it's actually way better than I thought it was going to be. (link)
- More from NCAA President Charlie Baker with SI’s Pat Forde. On efforts to address allegations of point shaving, game fixing and performance manipulation due to gambling: “We were the only people talking about it when I started talking about it. I have the professional sports leagues talking about it, which I think is actually good, and my hope is that we can figure out some way to create a coalition around some of this stuff. And in a perfect world, we get some of these folks to make some decisions. I mean, the NBA did manage to get certain kinds of bets taken off at the professional level, which was great. (link)
- Yahoo's Jeff Eisenberg investigates the NCAA's recent leniency in granting eligibility to professional men’s hoops players like Baylor’s James Nnaji and various G League/European pros, suggesting the governing body may be strategically inviting "mass chaos" to pressure Congress into granting an antitrust exemption. Legal experts argue the NCAA is "exercising discretion" on its amateurism bylaws to avoid further litigation losses following the Alston ruling, with Boies Schiller Flexner attorney Sabria McElroy noting: "It’s becoming harder for the NCAA to defend eligibility restraints. They might have decided to allow these exemptions rather than open themselves up to more litigation challenges as they continue to hope that Congress will step in and do something." However, Eisenberg contends this open-door policy creates a slippery slope: if a player earning six figures in Spain is eligible, defending a ban on NBA two-way players becomes legally tenuous. McElroy: “Once you allow one exemption it becomes much harder to draw other lines, to stop players who have signed NBA contracts and things like that.” (link)
- Rising exit velocities and the associated injury risks were a focal point of Day 1 at the ABCA Convention in Columbus, with Cincinnati HC Jordan Bischel saying it’s “partially dumb luck that there hasn’t already been an accident on the field due to a ball coming off of a bat at well over 100 mph. ... The hope is that the coaches can be proactive in helping come up with solutions before an accident happens on the field and solutions are thrust upon the sport by those who don’t live and breathe baseball." (link)
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Go at it boldly, and you’ll find unexpected forces closing round you and coming to your aid.” Credited to Basil King
Thanks to our Big West leaders, as always, for your leadership, engagement, and partnership as we navigate an evolving Division I landscape together. I appreciate the continued commitment of our presidents, chancellors, athletics directors, SWAs, FARs and campus teams to The Big West and to serving our student-athletes with integrity and purpose. Safe travels to those heading to the NCAA Convention, and I look forward to connecting with many of my colleagues in Washington, D.C.
Be Bold!
Dan