Following yesterday’s news that the University of California San Diego would be jumping to Division I and joining the Big West conference, the Big West announced today that California State University Bakersfield would also be joining the conference.
CSUB will officially join the conference on July 1, 2020. As of that date, they’ll be eligible for conference titles and considered a full members of the conference. UC San Diego has a trickier transition, with a four-year reclassification period from Division II to Division I. That means UCSD will begin competing as an associate member of the Big West in the 2020-2021 school year, but won’t become an official member until July 1, 2024. At that point, the Triton teams will be eligible for conference titles and NCAA berths.
CSUB isn’t too far removed from the same reclassification process. They moved up from Division II between 2006 and 2010. Bakersfield began its Division I years as part of the Western Athletic Conference, but will now jump into the Big West.
The move pushes the Big West up to 11 total schools. CSUB was tied for third in this year’s WAC standings for women’s volleyball. The Roadrunners don’t have a men’s volleyball team, but do sport a beach program. That team already competed within the Big West.
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