The Big West Conference announced Wednesday that California Baptist University (CBU) will join the conference as a full member beginning in the 2026-27 academic year. The conference described the move as one that enhances the Big West’s competitive landscape and reinforces its commitment to academic and athletic excellence. CBU accepting the invite to the conference also means its former conference, the Western Athletic Conference, will lose yet another member institution in 2026 after the departure of Seattle University & Grand Canyon University.
The announcement of the move comes after much uncertainty has been expressed about the future of the WAC. The conference lost its previous commissioner Brian Thornton in October of 2024 after he opted to become the Big 12 Vice President of Men’s Basketball. The move came just five months after the announce departures of GCU & SU. Marking yet another blow to the conference and raising more questions about its future.
With the departure of CBU, the WAC falls to eight full member institutions for 2026-27. But it isn’t clear whether Utah Valley is necessarily committed to sticking it out alongside fellow in-state conference running mates Southern Utah and Utah Tech.
Recent reports suggest Utah Valley was also included in discussions to potentially be added to The Big West Conference. One report from the Action Network’s Brett McMurphy, report that UVU has in fact already received an invitation to join the conference.
Cal Baptist informs Big West officials it will accept an invitation to join the league & leave the WAC in 2026, sources said. Utah Valley also has Big West invitation, but has not informed league of its decision yet, source said. Cal Baptist will pay a $1.2 million entry fee to…
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) March 5, 2025
The report that the invitation had been accepted by California Baptist at that time received a bit of pushback from The Big West Commissioner Dan Butterly:
“Contrary to a media report put forth by “America’s College Football Insider with Action Network”, no institution has officially accepted an invitation to join The Big West in 2026.”
The statement from the commissioner did not dispute that invites were sent out to both Utah Valley and California Baptist. It simply suggested that neither institution had informed the league of its intent to join at that time. The official announcement of CBU’s intent to accept the invitation was made on Wednesday, March 19th.
The recent announcement naturally leads one to ask where Utah Valley stands in regard to the purported Big West invitation?
While ESPN The Fan cannot confirm an invitation has been issued, A few things stick out that suggest The Big West has indeed sent an invitation to Utah Valley. The fact that Commissioner Butterly did not dispute the invites had been sent out but rather that no institution (at the time) had accepted the invitations suggests an invite has been issued to UVU. Butterly also said that the conference is willing to continue expansion talks during a press conference to discuss the addition of CBU on Thursday.
“Our name isn’t The Big California (conference) It’s The Big West,” Butterly said. “So we will continue to look at the institutions that fit the profile that we want to look at.”
“Our name isn’t the Big California, it’s the Big West.”
This morning I asked Big West Commissioner @DanButterly about the criteria that is considered & debated before the league sends an invite to a new member institution
His answer provided great insight into those discussions pic.twitter.com/PYVf8HsnxA
— Brice Larson (@LarsonSports) March 20, 2025
The criteria that a school would have to meet includes having a similar budget as current member institutions, sponsoring similar sports and having similar academic standards. All of which, despite maybe the academic situation, Utah Valley fits the profile of.
So, what is the hold up? Why hasn’t Utah Valley announced its intention to accept the invitation?
There could be a few potential roadblocks standing in the way of Utah Valley making the move. McMurphy’s original report included a line suggesting there is a $1.2 million entry fee to join the conference. Not only would UVU have to pay the entry fee, whatever it may be, but it would also have to pay an exit fee to the WAC upon its exit of the league.
Utah Valley could also be weighing its options. According to sources close to the situation, UVU has been in conversations with at least four different leagues over the last two years. One source has confirmed that at least one of those other four conferences includes the Summit League and that an announcement is not imminent, though UVU would need to inform the leagues of its decision by early summer.
