Last week I participated in Division I Collegiate Commissioners Association meetings in Chicago and I'm returning with plenty to share. The Senate’s passage of the Protect College Sports Act marked a significant step toward a national framework for college athletics. The bill now moves to the House, where important work remains before it can become law. 

Our conversations in Chicago covered the issues shaping our institutions’ work every day: federal legislation, legal challenges, NCAA governance, the College Sports Commission and basketball postseason opportunities. Each discussion comes back to a question that matters deeply to The Big West: How do we preserve meaningful opportunities for our student-athletes and the broad range of sports our institutions sponsor? 

That work continues alongside an exciting fall across our conference. All six Big West men’s water polo teams are nationally ranked, three student-athletes have earned places on the Cutino Award Watchlist, and our fall championship season is less than a month away. 

Last week also saw our men’s and women’s basketball preseason preview show on The Field of 68, featuring all 24 head coaches, student-athlete interviews and a conversation with me. It was a great opportunity to introduce the people and programs who will help write our next chapter. (LINK) 

With fall competition in full swing and basketball coming into view, Lionel Richie’s "Can't Slow Down" feels like the right song for the week. 

  

Let’s get to The Bold Type! 

 

   THE BIG WEST – IN CASE YOU MISSED IT   

Chloe Clark takes us through some top highlights of conference action over the weekend including a double-digit winning streak stopped, late-game drama and more!

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   CONGRATULATIONS!  
 

• To No. 13 UC Santa Barbara men's water polo, for the Big Win over No. T-9 San Jose State on Saturday night in OT, taking down the Spartans 13-12! We look forward to San Jose State water polo joining The Big West in 2027-28! 

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• To our Big West trio of Dan Butterly, Shondell Reed (Cal State Fullerton AD) and Todd Okeson (Utah Valley Associate Head Coach), all members of the Roots 66 Class of 2026! More >>> 
• To Sacramento State Senior Associate Athletics Director Andy Fiske who was named the new Director of Athletics at Cal State Bakerfield! Read more >>> 
• To the winners from The Big West Women’s Tennis Fall Selection Event, UC Santa Barbara’s Ekua Youri and Cal Poly doubles pair of Natalie Lynch and Jessica MacCallum! They get the first rights to The Big West’s automatic bids into the ITA Conference Masters, one of four ways to qualify for NCAA Championships. More >>> 
• To the three former Big West players on 2026 MLB playoff rosters! Read more >>> 
• To Utah Valley men’s soccer who is receiving votes in the latest United Soccer Coaches national rankings! 
• To the SIX men’s water polo programs nationally ranked in the latest CWPA varsity poll! 
  • No. 6 UC Irvine
  • No. 7 Long Beach State
  • No. 12 UC San Diego
  • No. 13 UC Santa Barbara
  • No. 16 California Baptist 
  • No, 20 Cal State Fullerton
• To the three men’s water polo student-athletes from The Big West named to the Cutino Award Watchlist! Read more >>> 
• AND to our AMAZING ATHLETES OF THE WEEK AND MONTH! 
  • Women's Soccer - Sadie Beardall, Utah Valley (offense); Charlotte Wilfert, UC San Diego (defense); Madison Lujan, Cal Poly (rookie) 
  • Men's Soccer - Hiroshi Yang, Sacramento State (offense); Asger Hemmer, Cal State Fullerton (defense); Adrian Alvarenga, Sacramento State (rookie) 
  • Women's Volleyball - Miley Thunstrom, Utah Valley (offense); Madi Maxwell, Long Beach State (defense); Makenna Wiepert, Sacramento State (setter); Nikola Gamlin, Sacramento State (rookie) 
  • Cross Country - Dheeraj Gurusamy, Cal Poly (men); Tatiana Cornejo, Cal Poly (women) 
  • Men's Water Polo - Alex Lopez, UC Irvine  
  • Men's Golf - Norwin Gohm, Long Beach State 
  • Women's Golf - Mitzi Duarte, Cal State Fullerton 

   “JOURNEY OUT WEST” WITH DAN TORTORA   

Friday's episode of “Journey Out West” with Dan Tortora featured Utah Valley Athletic Director Jared Sumsion. 

Wake Up Call starts at 6 a.m. PT daily, with Journey Out West each Friday beginning at 7:15 a.m. PT. MIXLR Internet Radio | YouTube | Facebook 

 

   THE BIG WEST CROWNS SIX CHAMPIONS IN LESS THAN 30 DAYS   

The Big West’s fall championship season gets underway on Halloween and races through Thanksgiving weekend, with conference titles on the line in men’s and women’s cross country, women’s soccer, men’s soccer, men’s water polo and women’s volleyball. Read more >>> 

  

 

   SECURE YOUR SEATS TO THE 2026 BIG WEST WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP AT CAL POLY   

San Luis Obispo becomes the center of The Big West volleyball universe this Thanksgiving week when Cal Poly hosts the 2026 Big West Women’s Volleyball Championship. Read more and purchase tickets >>> 

   CELEBRATING HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH WITH MARIA RAMOS   

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From celebrating with Guatemalan food and traditions to drawing inspiration from fellow Latino student-athletes at Cal State Fullerton, Ramos sees culture as a source of connection, pride, and perseverance.  Read more >>> 

 

   BIG WEST BASKETBALL PREVIEW SHOW   

If you did not get to watch The Big West Basketball Preseason Show live on the Field of 68, the link for all six hours of coverage on YouTube is available HERE.  I thought the show was highly engaging and the coaches did a great job.  Thank you to The Big West staff for their tremendous work with The Field of 68 on producing the show!! 

 

   INSTAGRAM PHOTO OF THE WEEK   

Cal State Bakersfield women's soccer was used as the lead image on Instagram during NCAASoccer's #NCAAWSoccer Top Shots of the Week:

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   NCAA CUTS FIELD SIZED FOR NIT AND WBIT   

The National Invitation Tournament and Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament have announced changes to their respective 2027 fields, with both tournaments featuring 24 teams and adopting updated selection policies and procedures. The NIT championship will once again be held alongside the Men’s Final Four, with Detroit Mercy hosting the game on Sunday, April 4. The WBIT semifinals and championship will be hosted by Wichita State on March 29 and 31. 

For The Big West, the selection changes deserve particular attention. NIT conference exempt bids will be based on the top 10 conferences rather than the top 12, with additional exempt bids for the ACC and SEC. The WBIT will require a .500 overall record for at-large consideration and will use an average NET/WAB ranking of 110 or better for automatic qualification by regular-season conference champions. With the NCAA championships expanding to 76 teams, total NCAA-supported postseason participation remains 100 teams per gender, however, this change will have a significant impact on mid-major program access to the postseason. Our focus will be on what these changes mean for access by Big West programs. (LINK) 

  


   FROM THE NCAA - REVENUE SHARING AND NIL   

In 2025-26 (the first academic year under the House injunction), Division I schools provided $1.8 billion to student-athletes in direct financial benefits. https://t.co/Lph3xbCb7W

— NCAA News (@NCAA_PR) October 1, 2026

As you may be aware, one of the terms of the House injunction included annual reporting to the court about membership spending on student-athlete financial benefits.  
 
As such, the NCAA filed school-specific reporting to the court that outlines each member institution’s spending from the 2025-26 year for the schools that opted into the House injunction rules on Thursday. This includes each school’s total, with additional specific totals for: 

• Revenue-sharing benefits. 

• Alston benefits. 

• Scholarships offered above previous years’ totals. 

The publicly accessible version of the documents redacts each school’s name and affiliated conference. The court will receive unredacted versions for its review. 
 
Overall, this reporting illustrates how much Division I has modernized and increased direct support for NCAA student-athletes. In just the first year of the House injunction being fully effective, student-athletes received more than $1.8 billion in direct financial benefits from their schools. If adopted into federal law, the Protect College Sports Act would allow for schools to double those already impressive figures. 
 
This is all in addition to the $3.4 billion Division I schools reported providing in athletics scholarships last year. 

  
   MEDIA REPORTS ON THE BIG WEST, NCAA,  LEGAL AND LEGISLATIVE UPDATES   

• Cal State Fullerton AD Shondell Reed Q&As with the Journey Out West podcast about the return to his alma mater, the recent wave of 5-for-5 eligibility injunctions, the economics of competing in the Big West and more. Here’s what he had to say… 
  • The economics of the Big West not sponsoring football: "Your revenue is a little bit higher, your payouts are a little bit higher and you have a little bit more resources to work with when you have a football program and you have a football conference. So, in some respects in terms of rules and some of the different headaches that may come with running a football league, you don't have to deal with those. But there's also the flip side of that, which is sometimes the revenues aren't as high." 
  • Finding stability amid NIL and revenue-sharing changes: "If you got into this business to work with young people, to work with student-athletes … you can still do that in college athletics. ... Irrespective of how revenue sharing changes or NIL or irrespective of how any of those things spin, at the heart of it, if you're an athletic administrator, you're still doing that." (link) 
• Cal State Bakersfield selects Sacramento State Senior Assoc. AD for External Affairs Andy Fiske as its new AD. President Vernon Harper Jr.: “Collegiate athletics is a new world today, and every NCAA university program in the nation is reckoning with this moment. Andy brings an enviable track record in all aspects of athletics administration, making him the right leader at the right time for Kern County's University. Andy also has a heart for student-athletes, providing them with the foundation they need for fulfilling competitive careers in college and – more importantly – successful lives beyond graduation. I can't wait to introduce this exciting leader to the 'Runner family and our community.” CSA Search & Consulting assisted with the process. (link) 
• The Protect College Sports Act has passed the Senate by a vote of 77-22. During last night’s proceedings, the body adopted a number of amendments including increasing the cap on Power 4 conference membership from 19 to 20 members, limiting the scope of federal preemption to allow for personal injury claims and disclosure of funding from persons “relating to intercollegiate athletics from a foreign government, a foreign adversary, a state-owned enterprise, or a sovereign wealth fund” in excess of $600. (link) 

  • COMMISSIONER NOTE: 
    John Curtis (R-Utah), yes 
    Mike Lee (R-Utah), yes 
    Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), yes 
    Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), no 

• House of Representatives Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) tells The Washington Sun’s Reese Gorman the House will not come back to vote on the Protect College Sports Act before the midterms: “We’re coming back as soon as the election's over and we have a lot of work we'll be doing.” (link) 
• As the industry waits to see whether the House takes up the Protect College Sports Act, New York Yankees President and Presidential Roundtable on Fixing College Sports Vice Chair Randy Levine defended the financial provisions and NIL restrictions: "There are no athletes under this bill that are losing any opportunities. ... If it’s as attractive as we think, it will turn out to be the largest investment in women’s and Olympic sports that we’ve ever had." Meanwhile, Rosenhaus Sports Representation Founder/CEO Drew Rosenhaus criticized capping athlete pay without similar limits on coaches or administrators, he supported establishing a uniform industry standard on agents: "I’m not sure I agree with the 5%, but I certainly don’t think it’s a mistake to come up with the uniform number for agent fees. I do like the fact that there’s a standard of professionalism now that you have to have." Athletes.org Co-Founder/Executive Director Brandon Copeland warned the 5% fee cap will leave lower-earning athletes without representation: "What agent is going to say, ‘I’m gonna go represent this athlete making $1,000. Then, I’m gonna get 5% of that.’ It’s just not going to happen." (link) 
• As the Protect College Sports Act neared a vote, power conference executives are drafting a "Plan B" self-governance framework to enforce a hard $48.8M revenue-share limit and restrict third-party NIL deals through the College Sports Commission. Key notes: 
  • Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger reports the aim is to finalize a unified spending cap prior to the January transfer portal to curb the ongoing practice of schools exceeding the current $21.3M base soft cap via school-affiliated corporate sponsors. 
  • Dellenger also reports the CSC recently denied nearly 500 deals worth $67M over a two-month span, while clearing over 12K contracts worth $225M, drawing resistance from plaintiff attorneys protective of the original antitrust settlement terms. 
  • House plaintiffs’ attorney Steve Berman warned that conferences cannot unilaterally mandate external spending constraints without judicial and plaintiff approval: "There is no cap on the amount of NIL deals. We would not agree to change that. That would be trying to restrict competition. We wouldn't favor that." 
  • Should the leagues develop their own cap in a self-governance model, Berman warns that it's "not possible without our permission. They have to come to the table. [U.S. District Court Judge Wilken] would be very suspicious of conference-generated changes, in particular the cap." (link) 
• Colorado State FAR and professor/Sacred Cow BBQ publisher Kyle Saunders assigned a 30-40% probability that the Protect College Sports Act will be enacted this Congress, noting the legislation faces a contentious lame-duck session when the House reconvenes on November 9. Saunders points out that House Republicans are pushing for an outright athlete employment ban and a 20% cap on international athletes, while the Congressional Black Caucus and other Democrats oppose the bill's antitrust exemptions. Saunders: "As I’ve said multiple times, this always seemed to me like, if it was going to happen, it would happen in a lame duck because it was the likely place for action on this all along. Remember though, even then and there, there’s a good chance the House doesn’t just adopt the Senate bill as is. It could fundamentally change it, which means a round of legislative ping-pong with very little time on the clock, or it could fail to find the votes at all, in which case the bill dies and we start this whole conversation over from scratch with the new Congress." (link) 
• The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has set oral arguments in objectors' appeals of the order approving the House settlement for December 7, at 12:00 pm ET in San Francisco, per Boise State Assoc. Professor Sam Ehrlich, who notes: “Most objector appeals challenge the settlement's standing under Title IX.” (link) 
• The Big Ten has announced “the unanimous adoption of a conference rule to prohibit men’s and women’s basketball players, who have signed a professional contract with the NBA, G-League or WNBA or any team that is a member of any such league, were on a roster for an NBA, G-League or WNBA team at any point or declared for the NBA or WNBA Draft but did not withdraw or declare an intent to return to college within the required timeframe, from maintaining eligibility for athletic competition at a conference institution.” The league will continue evaluating potential rules restricting pro athletes in other sports from conference competition. (link) 
• A drop in local media rights values and a shrinking pay TV subscriber base (now at 62M) signal a slowdown for upcoming national sports media rights negotiations, according to JohnWallStreet. More of what you need to know…
  •  Former Fox Sports President Bob Thompson says that teams are already getting “$4M, $5M, for deals that used to be worth $50M, ten cents on the dollar literally.” Thompson adds that a select few established sports rights distributors “can afford to pay leagues the large increases they’re going to be seeking the next time around, and those that can are too concerned about what is going on in AI and how much cash they need to hold for that.” 
  • Meanwhile, Crakes Media Principal Patrick Crakes warns that AI data center investments will restrain tech spending, leaving top-tier entities like the SEC, Big Ten, and NFL positioned to capture remaining value while lower-tier properties face stagnant or declining growth. "You can’t look at the engine that powers the economics of this business and the non-replacement from new bidding entities and say that should be your benchmark. Instead, rights owners should be looking at going up just 80%, which would be considered a failure in the old expectation environment." (link)