Good morning! 

  

While much of the national conversation is focused on what Congress may do next, our student-athletes continue to show what is happening right now across The Big West. Utah Valley and California Baptist are earning national recognition in cross country, Utah Valley men’s soccer is ranked, and all six of our men’s water polo teams appear in the national poll—including Cal State Fullerton for the first time in program history. 

There is important work ahead off the field as well. The Protect College Sports Act has cleared a significant Senate procedural hurdle, our fall Council meetings are taking shape, and preparations for basketball season are underway. We will keep our attention on each of those developments while celebrating the people and programs giving us so much to cheer for this fall. 

Song of the week: “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen "Don't Stop Me Now". With our fall teams making national noise, conference play beginning or already underway across The Big West and one of college soccer’s great rivalries on our mind, it feels like the right soundtrack. 

  

Let’s get to The Bold Type! 

 

   THE BIG WEST – IN CASE YOU MISSED IT   

Chloe Clark takes us through some top highlights, streaking teams and the start of Big West conference play after the weekend: 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Big West (@bigwestsports)

 

   CONGRATULATIONS!  
 

• To Utah Valley cross country who is ranked No. 22 and California Baptist who is ranked No. 27 in the latest USTFCCCA men's cross country poll!  
• To Utah Valley men’s soccer ranked No. 24 and UC Santa Barbara receiving votes in latest United Soccer Coaches national rankings! 
• To Sacramento State men's soccer who made it on SportsCenter Top 10 Plays (No. 9) after Hiroshi Yang ripped it from distance for a goal in a 3-1 win over UC Riverside. Watch >>> 
• To all six men’s water polo programs nationally ranked in the latest CWPA varsity poll! 
  • No. 6. Long Beach State
  • No. 7. UC San Diego
  • No. 8. UC Irvine
  • No. 14. UC Santa Barbara
  • No. 15. California Baptist 
  • Tied at No, 20 Cal State Fullerton – This is the first time the Titans have been nationally ranked in program history. 
• And to our amazing student-athletes of the week! 
  • Women's Soccer - Cherrie Cox, Long Beach State (offensive); Mikayla O’Brien, California Baptist (defensive); Olivia Shih, UC San Diego (rookie) 
  • Men's Soccer - Zac Giles, Sacramento State (offensive); Scott Williams, UC Irvine (defensive); James Arteaga, UC Irvine (rookie) 
  • Women's Volleyball - Suelen Lima, Cal State Bakersfield (offensive); Whitney Wallace, UC Irvine (defensive); Makenna Wiepert, Sacramento State (setter); Leylah Duran, Cal State Bakersfield (rookie) 
  • Cross Country - Pedro Marin, California Baptist (men); Emma Hadley, UC Irvine (women)  
  • Men's Water Polo - Federico Gulisano, Long Beach State 

 

 

   “JOURNEY OUT WEST” WITH DAN TORTORA   

Friday's episode of “Journey Out West” with Dan Tortora featured new Cal State Fullerton Director of Athletics Shondell Reed.

Next week's guest is scheduled to be Utah Valley Director of Athletics Dr. Jared Sumsion on Oct. 2. 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 

   CELEBRATING HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH WITH MAYA VENEGAS   

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Big West (@bigwestsports)

Raised in a predominantly Hispanic community, Cal Poly softball student-athlete Maya Venegas carries Mexican heritage onto the diamond through Spanish-language walk-up songs and ribbons featuring the colors of the Mexican flag. At Cal Poly, Venegas has embraced the opportunity to proudly share those roots with teammates and the greater campus community.  Read more >>> 

If you are a student-athlete, coach, administrator or alumni that would like to share your heritage, traditions and stories as we celebrate the many Hispanic and Latino voices that make up our conference, please visit bigwest.org/HHM to participate. 

 

   PROTECT COLLEGE SPORTS ACT UPDATE FROM OUR LOBBYIST   

“The Senate held several more successful procedural votes on the Protect College Sports Act on Thursday, including a cloture vote to end debate.  This had a 60 vote hurdle and the motion passed easily 74-25. 

This means that the last significant hurdle in the Senate has been cleared.  Because it does not appear that opponents of the bill will agree to a deal on time, and because Senate Leadership has decided to consider additional, unrelated legislation next week, the Senate will reconvene at 5:30pm, on Monday, September 28th for final passage of the PCSA then.  A simple majority vote is needed, and it will likely receive 70+ votes. 

The bill will then be sent to the House where it will likely be voted on in mid-November.  Outreach to House members will be a priority in October. 

Here are some helpful resources:  

• Updated Bill Text 

• Updated Section-By-Section Breakdown 

• PCSA One-Pager 

 

   SPEAKING OF LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVES   

CSUN women’s water polo student-athlete Marin Byars recently represented The Big West and the Matadors on Capitol Hill. Before traveling to Washington, D.C., Byars shared how leadership, service, and a summer internship in Congresswoman Doris Matsui’s district office helped pave a path from the cage to Capitol Hill. On Sept. 14, the CSUN SAAC president completed that journey by representing CSUN and The Big West at a press conference supporting the Protect College Sports Act. 

 

   "THE GREATEST RIVALRY IN COLLEGE SOCCER"   

“The Greatest Rivalry in College Soccer” is responsible for five of the top 10, and 18 of the top 25, largest regular-season crowds in NCAA men’s soccer history. Friday night in front of a sellout crowd of 11,075 at Spanos in San Luis Opispo can be added to the list as the Mustangs, affiliates of the Pac-12 in the 2026 season, earned a 2-1 victory in dramatic comeback fashion. The crowd stands as the largest for a men's college soccer game thus far this season surpassing the second-highest figure by more than 3,400 fans. Watch the game highlights >>> 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Big West (@bigwestsports)

  



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

• Long Beach State selects former Concordia Irvine (DII) Men’s Basketball HC Ken Ammann as Assoc. AD of Basketball Strategy & Revenue/Men’s & Women’s Basketball GM. (link) 
• Cal Poly has launched The Stampede, which will serve as the official philanthropic giving program. Mustangs AD Carter Henderson: “The Stampede reflects what is possible when the Cal Poly community rallies behind our student-athletes. Our alumni, parents, fans and friends have always been an essential part of Mustang Athletics. Through The Stampede, they have a clear and meaningful way to invest in our young people—helping them pursue excellence in competition, in the classroom and in life.” (link)  
• UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla has his sights set on building a state-of-the-art sports arena to showcase UCSD’s basketball programs as part of a broader effort to raise the university's national profile, per The San Diego Union-Tribune's Gary Robbins. Khosla: “It’s a dream of mine to build a new arena. … I may not be around (when it’s done), but it is 100% doable. We don’t have to always be on campus. We have to be proximal to campus.” Khosla’s idea is in the early stages but he’s pushing for a facility on par with their peers, as the early-stage arena proposal coincides with the Tritons' upcoming transition from the Big West to the WCC in July 2027. In the interim, UC San Diego AD Andy Fee plans to upgrade concessions at the 4,200-seat LionTree Arena, schedule higher-profile non-conference opponents and expand campus athletic merchandise sales into retail stores. Fee: “Our goal is to find more ways to get a USC or Fresno State to come here. It might require us to go on the road and play them. But we like that. We’re not afraid. We’ll play anybody, anywhere.” (link)  
• The NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports advanced two health and safety initiatives this week by supporting ongoing substance misuse work from the Prevention and Harm Reduction Advisory Group and approving the charter for the Cardiac Advisory Group. The Harm Reduction Advisory Group will finalize a unified policy framework addressing alcohol, cannabis, and sports betting this fall, while the newly chartered cardiac unit—featuring representatives from the American Heart Association and the Sports Cardiology Society—will convene in 2027 to overhaul cardiovascular care best practices. Additionally, committee members reviewed a recent partnership with the FBI to combat cyber-enabled crimes and "sextortion" targeting student-athletes. (link) 
• Fox Sports’ Ben Portnoy shares a memo circulated by the NCAA to membership on continued focus on the Protect College Sports Act. Notably: “It is important to keep the pressure on Senators before the final vote. Your voice is making a difference. Now is the time to contact your Senators and tell them to vote YES on the Project College Sports Act.” More. (link) 
• While the Protect College Sports Act appears set to clear the Senate this week, questions remain about whether the House will return from its early recess to take up the legislation, and one lobbyist who worked on the PCSA tells The Hill’s Dominick Mastrangelo: “We remain pretty optimistic the House is going to make this a priority when they come back. The only reason you wouldn’t do that is because of sour grapes. They owe it to the American people, and especially for Republicans, to the expectations of the president on top of that.” If the lower chamber does come back, work remains to convince Congress members on both sides, including Chip Roy (R-TX), who says: “Ted’s got some good things in the bill and I’ve got some things that are concerning. We’ve got to do something, but it has to be sufficient enough. But right now, the last thing we need to do is campaign on sports when we need to do the SAVE [America] Act and cut spending.” (link) 
• House Republicans currently have no plans to return to D.C. prior to the mid-term elections to take up a permitting bill should one pass the Senate, per Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman. “They don't see it as a viable option to bring the chamber back at this point in the cycle. House Rs would be also wary of rubberstamping a Senate permitting bill. And with a three-vote margin, it would be very difficult to get it through. Plus, attendance issues. Could things change? Sure. But at this point, they are extraordinarily bearish about coming back.” (link) 
• Fox Sports broadcaster Tim Brando believes the role of the Sports Information Director has changed, telling Cellini & Domino of Atlanta’s 680 The Fan: “What has happened is the sports information people used to be respected by their head coaches. And now, they’re not. They all have operations people. The SIDs have to go through the operations guys to get close to the coaches themselves. Years ago, we had SIDs that were legends. Tennessee, you had Bud Ford, one of the most respected men in sports information history. Roger Valdiserri at Notre Dame. Paul Manasseh at LSU. I could run through the litany of big names that were SIDs. Then suddenly the schools started to pay less, hire children basically—kids coming right out that had been associates and assistants. And now they’re all scared of the coaches for the most part.” (link) 
• Louisiana Tech and Louisiana accidentally disclosed their internal athletic revenue-sharing budgets through documents posted for a recent University of Louisiana Board of Supervisors meeting, according to the Louisiana Illuminator's Piper Hutchinson, who notes a newly passed state law, Act 818, allows universities to shield team-specific financial distributions from public records requests. The documents revealed Louisiana Tech budgeted $1.98M to pay players (including $1.2M for football and roughly $500K for men’s basketball), while Louisiana allocated $1.5M ($591K for football and $647K for men’s basketball). Additional system disclosures included $750K at Northwestern State, $460K at Grambling State and $454K at Southeastern Louisiana. Following a request from UL System attorney Brandon DeCuir to delete the legally obtained documents, First Amendment attorney Scott Sternberg defended the publication of the data: "Documents that are made publicly available by the government are fair game, even if the government made a mistake. It’s a long-held principle in the law that as long as [journalists] obtained it legally, [they] can report on the documents." (link)