The Pacific West Conference (also known as the PacWest) is a

college athletic conference In college athletics in the United States, institutions typically join in conferences for regular play under different governing bodies. Varsity sports There are several national and regional associations governing the varsity teams of colleges ...

affiliated with the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. The conference sponsors the following sports:

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, cross country,

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

and track & field outdoor for both men and women;

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

for men only;

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

for women only. The newest PacWest sports are men's tennis and women's golf, both added in 2012–13.

History

Formation

The PacWest was formed in 1992 when the Great Northwest Conference (a men's conference) merged with the Continental Divide Conference (a women's conference containing some of the same members), in response to the departures of several members and new NCAA legislation requiring conferences to have at least six members. In addition, some Hawai'i-based colleges joined the new conference. At one point the conference expanded to 16 members, but in 2001, member schools from Washington, Alaska, California, and Oregon left to form the new

Great Northwest Athletic Conference The Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. It has historically operated in the northwestern United States, but al ...

. With the departure of the final two mainland members, Montana State University–Billings and

Western New Mexico University Western New Mexico University is a public university in Silver City, New Mexico. It was founded in 1893. History Founded in the Territory of New Mexico on February 11, 1893 as the New Mexico Normal School, the school began to offer classes on S ...

, to join the Heartland Conference in 2005, the four Hawai'i universities played one season as “independents” after receiving a waiver from the NCAA to keep the conference in name, while searching for new members, because in order to be eligible for conference membership in the NCAA, a conference must consist of a minimum of six member institutions who sponsor at least ten sports, with two team sports for each gender.

New PacWest Conference

To comply with conference membership regulations, Hawai'i Pacific (HPU), Chaminade, BYU–Hawai'i and Hawai'i–Hilo added new sports to their programs. In July 2005, the Pacific West Conference voted to admit

Notre Dame de Namur University Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU) is a private Catholic university in Belmont, California. It is the third oldest college in California and the first college in the state authorized to grant the baccalaureate degree to women. In 2021, the ...

as a provisional member, as it moved from the NAIA to the NCAA Division II.

Grand Canyon University Grand Canyon University (GCU) is a private for-profit Christian university in Phoenix, Arizona. Based on student enrollment, Grand Canyon University was the largest Christian university in the world in 2018, with 20,000 attending students on ...

, formerly an NCAA D-II Independent, also joined the conference, returning the Pacific West Conference to full conference status with six members. Dixie State College of Utah joined the conference for the 2007–08 seaso
1
In 2008, it was announced that

Academy of Art University The Academy of Art University (AAU or ART U), formerly Academy of Art College and Richard Stephens Academy of Art, is a private for-profit art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded as the Academy of Advertising Art by Richard S. ...

would join the conference in the 2009–10 season as the conference's 8th member. In 2009 it was announced that

Dominican University of California Dominican University of California is a private university in San Rafael, California. It was founded in 1890 as Dominican College by the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael. It is one of the oldest universities in California. Dominican is accredite ...

would join the conference in the 2009–10 season as the conference's 9th member. That same year, the conference announced it would sponsor baseball as its 11th sport, with Hawai'i Pacific University, University of Hawai'i–Hilo, Dixie State College of Utah (now Utah Tech University), and Grand Canyon University competing on a Division II level.

Recent expansion and contraction

The conference began expansion in 2010 when the PacWest invited

California Baptist University California Baptist University (Cal Baptist or CBU) is a private Christian university in Riverside, California. Founded in 1950 as California Baptist College, it is affiliated with the California Southern Baptist Convention, an organization affi ...

, from the NAIA's

Golden State Athletic Conference The Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference commissioner is Mike Daniels. Conference leadership is shared among the membe ...

(GSAC) to join the conference beginning with the 2011–12 school year. On June 1, 2011, the conference announced the additions of

Azusa Pacific University Azusa Pacific University (APU) is a private, evangelical Christian university in Azusa, California. The university was founded in 1899, with classes opening on March 3, 1900, in Whittier, California, and began offering degrees in 1939. The uni ...

Fresno Pacific University Fresno Pacific University (FPU) is a private Christian university in Fresno, California. It was founded as the Pacific Bible Institute in 1944 by the Pacific District Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches. The university awarded its first Bac ...

and

Point Loma Nazarene University Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) is a private Christian liberal arts college with its main campus on the Point Loma oceanfront in San Diego, California, United States. It was founded in 1902 as a Bible college by the Church of the Nazarene ...

, all members of the GSAC, which began Pacific West Conference play during the 2012–13 season.

Holy Names University Holy Names University is a private Roman Catholic university in Oakland, California. It was founded by and remains affiliated with the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. It was founded in 1868 and plans to close in 2023. History The ...

was also added to the PacWest in 2011, but did not begin the NCAA Division II membership process from the NAIA until July 13, 2012. As part of the transition process from NAIA to NCAA Holy Names remained ineligible for NCAA postseason play through 2015–16. On November 27, 2012, Grand Canyon announced it would leave the PacWest after the 2012–13 school year to accept an invitation to join the Division I

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

. In July 2016, it was announced that

Biola University Biola University () is a private, nondenominational, evangelical Christian university in La Mirada, California. It was founded in 1908 as the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. It has over 150 programs of study in nine schools offering bachelor's ...

would join the PacWest for the 2017–18 season. In October 2016, Dixie State announced that it would transition from the PacWest to the

Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) from approximately 1910 through the late 1960s, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (N ...

after the 2017–18 school year. On January 13, 2017, California Baptist announced that it will leave the PacWest in favor of moving up to

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

. On March 23, 2020, Notre Dame de Namur announced the cessation of all its athletics after the 2019–20 school year.

Chronological timeline

* 1992 - The Pacific West Conference (PacWest) was founded due to a merger of the men's sports-only Great Northwest Conference and the women's sports-only Continental Divide Conference (which contained some of the same members). Charter members included the University of Alaska at Anchorage, the University of Alaska at Fairbanks,

Chaminade University of Honolulu Chaminade University of Honolulu is a private Marianist university in Honolulu, Hawaii. Founded in 1955 by the Society of Mary, Chaminade is located in Kaimuki, Honolulu at the base of St. Louis Heights. Chaminade offers bachelor's degrees in ...

, the

University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo The University of Hawaii at Hilo (UH Hilo) is a public university in Hilo, Hawaii. It is one of ten general campuses of the University of Hawaii system. It was founded as Hilo Center at Lyman Hall of the Hilo Boys School in 1945 and was a bran ...

, Montana State University at Billings,

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

(only for women's sports) and

Seattle Pacific University Seattle Pacific University (SPU) is a private Christian university in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1891 in conjunction with the Oregon and Washington Conference of the Free Methodist Church as the Seattle Seminary. It became the Seat ...

, effective beginning the 1992-93 academic year. * 1994 - Grand Canyon left the PacWest to join the

California Collegiate Athletic Association The California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. All of its current members are public universities, and upon U ...

(CCAA), effective after the 1993-94 academic year. * 1996 - Portland State's women's sports left the PacWest to fully align with their men's sports to join the Division I ranks of the

(NCAA) and the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eigh ...

, effective after the 1995-96 academic year. * 1998 - Brigham Young University–Hawai'i,

Central Washington University Central Washington University (CWU) is a public university in Ellensburg, Washington. Founded in 1891, the university consists of four divisions: the President's Division, Business and Financial Affairs, Operations, and Academic and Student Lif ...

, Hawai'i Pacific University,

Humboldt State University California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt also known as Cal Poly Humboldt, Humboldt or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California or California State Polytechnic Universi ...

Saint Martin's University Saint Martin's University is a private Benedictine university in Lacey, Washington. It was founded in 1895 as an all-boys boarding school by monks of the Benedictine Order. Saint Martin's began offering college-level courses in 1900 and became a ...

Western Oregon University Western Oregon University (WOU) is a public university in Monmouth, Oregon. It was originally established in 1856 by Disciples of Christ pioneers as Monmouth University. Subsequent names included Oregon State Normal School, Oregon College of E ...

and

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, succeeding a pri ...

joined the PacWest, effective in the 1998-99 academic year. * 1999 -

Northwest Nazarene University Northwest Nazarene University (NNU) is a private Nazarene university in Nampa, Idaho. History Eugene Emerson organized a combination grade school and Bible school in 1913 as Idaho Holiness School. It was renamed twice in 1916, first to North ...

and

Seattle University Seattle University (SeattleU) is a private Jesuit university in Seattle, Washington. Seattle University is the largest independent university in the Northwestern United States, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate prog ...

joined the PacWest, effective in the 1999-2000 academic year. * 2001 - Alaska–Anchorage, Alaska–Fairbanks, Central Washington, Humboldt State, Northwest Nazarene, Saint Martin's, Seattle, Seattle Pacific, Western Oregon and Western Washington left the PacWest to form the

(GNAC), effective after the 2000-01 academic year. * 2005 - Montana State–Billings and Western New Mexico left the PacWest to join the Heartland Conference, effective after the 2004-05 academic year. * 2005 -

joined the PacWest as a provisional full member (along with Grand Canyon re-joining), effective in the 2005-06 academic year. * 2007 -

Dixie State University Utah Tech University (UT), formerly known as Dixie State University (DSU) and similar names, is a public university in St. George, Utah. The university offers about 240 programs (4 master's degrees, 53 bachelor's degrees, 18 associate degrees, 4 ...

joined the PacWest, effective in the 2007-08 academic year. * 2009 -

and

joined the PacWest, effective in the 2009-10 academic year. * 2011 -

(Cal Baptist) joined the PacWest, effective in the 2011-12 academic year. * 2012 -

and

joined the PacWest, effective in the 2012-13 academic year. * 2013 - Grand Canyon left the PacWest to join the NCAA Division I ranks and the

(WAC), effective after the 2012-13 academic year. * 2013 -

Sonoma State University Sonoma State University (SSU, Sonoma State, or Sonoma) is a public university in Rohnert Park in Sonoma County, California, US. It is one of the smallest members of the California State University (CSU) system. Sonoma State offers 92 Bachelor's ...

joined the PacWest as an affiliate member for men's and women's tennis, effective in the 2014 spring season (2013-14 academic year). * 2014 -

California State University, Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public university in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degrees, 122 master's degrees, ...

and

California State University, Stanislaus California State University, Stanislaus (Stanislaus State, Stan State) is a public university in Turlock, Stanislaus County, California. It is part of the California State University system. It was established in 1957 and is also the only cam ...

joined the PacWest as affiliate members for women's tennis, effective in the 2014 spring season (2013-14 academic year). * 2015 -

Concordia University Irvine Concordia University Irvine is a private Lutheran university in Irvine, California, United States. It was established in 1976 to provide a Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod college to serve the Pacific Southwest and provide training for pastors, ...

joined the PacWest, effective in the 2015-16 academic year. * 2017 - BYU–Hawaii left the PacWest as the school announced that it would discontinue its athletic program, effective after the 2016-17 academic year. * 2017 -

joined the PacWest, effective in the 2017-18 academic year. * 2018 - Two institutions left the PacWest to join their respective new home primary conferences: Dixie State to join the

(RMAC), and Cal Baptist to join the NCAA Division I ranks and the WAC, both effective after the 2017-18 academic year. * 2020 - Notre Dame de Namur left the PacWest as the school announced that it would discontinue its athletic program, effective after the 2019-20 academic year. * 2022 -

Westmont College Westmont College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Montecito, California. It was founded in 1937. History Ruth Kerr, owner and CEO of the Kerr Glass Manufacturing Company, established the school as the Bible Missionary Institute in ...

joined the PacWest, effective in the 2023-24 academic year. * 2022 - Holy Names announced it would discontinue its athletic program following the 2022-23 season, making it their last in the PacWest.

Member schools

Current members

The PacWest currently has 11 full members, all but one are

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

schools: * Holy Names will drop their entire athletic department following the 2022-23 athletics season.
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Future members

Affiliate members

The PacWest currently has two affiliate members, both are Public university, public schools:

Former members

The PacWest had 18 former full members, all but seven were Public university, public schools: ;Notes:

Former affiliate members

The PacWest had one former affiliate member, which was also a Public university, public school:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1992 till:2025 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:20 top:5 Colors = id:line value:black id:Full value:rgb(0.63,0.88,0.755) # all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.88,0.755,0.63) # non-football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.88,0.63,0.63) # football-only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.755,0.755,0.63) # associate PlotData = width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:FullxF from:1992 till:2001 text: Alaska–Anchorage (1992–2001) bar:2 color:FullxF from:1992 till:2001 text: Alaska–Fairbanks (1992–2001) bar:3 color:FullxF from:1992 till:end text: Chaminade (1992–present) bar:4 color:FullxF from:1992 till:1994 text:

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...

(1992–1994) bar:4 color:FullxF from:2005 till:2013 text:(2005–2013) bar:5 color:FullxF from:1992 till:end text: Hawai'i–Hilo (1992–present) bar:6 color:FullxF from:1992 till:2005 text: Montana State–Billings (1992–2005) bar:7 color:FullxF from:1992 till:1996 text:

Portland State Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

(1992–96) bar:8 color:FullxF from:1992 till:2001 text: Seattle Pacific (1992–2001) bar:9 color:FullxF from:1998 till:2017 text: BYU–Hawai'i (1998–2017) bar:10 color:FullxF from:1998 till:2001 text:

Central Washington Central Washington is a region of the U.S. state of Washington between the western and eastern parts of the state extending from the border with the Canadian province of British Columbia in the north to the border with the U.S. state of Oregon i ...

(1998–2001) bar:11 color:FullxF from:1998 till:end text: Hawai'i Pacific (1998–present) bar:12 color:FullxF from:1998 till:2001 text: Humboldt State (1998–2001) bar:13 color:FullxF from:1998 till:2001 text: Saint Martin's (1998–2001) bar:14 color:FullxF from:1998 till:2001 text:

Western Oregon Western Oregon is a geographical term that is generally taken to mean the part of the U.S. state of Oregon within of the Oregon Coast, on the west side of the crest of the Cascade Range. The term is applied somewhat loosely, however, and is somet ...

(1998–2001) bar:15 color:FullxF from:1998 till:2005 text: Western New Mexico (1998–2005) bar:16 color:FullxF from:1998 till:2001 text:

Western Washington Western Washington is a region of the United States defined as the area of Washington state west of the Cascade Mountains. This region is home to the state's largest city, Seattle, the state capital, Olympia, and most of the state's residents. T ...

(1998–2001) bar:17 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2001 text: Northwest Nazarene (1999–2001) bar:18 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2001 text:

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

(1999–2001) bar:19 color:FullxF from:2006 till:2020 text:

Notre Dame de Namur Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU) is a private Catholic university in Belmont, California. It is the third oldest college in California and the first college in the state authorized to grant the baccalaureate degree to women. In 2021, the u ...

(2006–2020) bar:20 color:FullxF from:2007 till:2018 text: Dixie State (2007–2018) bar:21 color:FullxF from:2009 till:end text: Academy of Art (2009–present) bar:22 color:FullxF from:2009 till:end text: Dominican (Cal.) (2009–present) bar:23 color:FullxF from:2011 till:2018 text: California Baptist (2011–2018) bar:24 color:FullxF from:2012 till:end text:

Azusa Pacific Azusa Pacific University (APU) is a private, evangelical Christian university in Azusa, California. The university was founded in 1899, with classes opening on March 3, 1900, in Whittier, California, and began offering degrees in 1939. The uni ...

(2012–present) bar:25 color:FullxF from:2012 till:end text: Fresno Pacific (2012–present) bar:26 color:FullxF from:2012 till:2023 text: Holy Names (2012–2023) bar:27 color:FullxF from:2012 till:end text: Point Loma Nazarene (2012–present) bar:28 color:AssocOS from:2013 till:2022 text: Sonoma State (2013–2022) bar:29 color:AssocOS from:2014 till:end text: Cal State–Los Angeles (2014–present) bar:30 color:AssocOS from:2014 till:end text: Cal State–Stanislaus (2014–present) bar:31 color:FullxF from:2015 till:end text: Concordia–Irvine (2015–present) bar:32 color:FullxF from:2017 till:end text: Biola (2017–present) bar:33 shift:(-60) color:FullxF from:2023 till:end text: Westmont (2023–future) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1993

National championships

Azusa Pacific * Women's Outdoor Track & Field (2021) BYU–Hawai'i * Men's Tennis (2002, 2003) * Women's Tennis (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007) * Women's Volleyball (1999, 2002) Grand Canyon * Men's Soccer (1996) * Men's Indoor Track & Field (2012) Hawai'i Pacific * Women's Volleyball (1998, 2000) * Softball (2010) * Men's Tennis (2016) Academy of Art * Women's Outdoor Track & Field (2013)

History

Formation

New PacWest Conference

Recent expansion and contraction

Chronological timeline

Member schools

Current members

Future members

Affiliate members

Former members

Former affiliate members

Membership timeline

National championships

Sports

Men's sponsored sports by school

Women's sponsored sports by school

Other sponsored sports by school

Conference facilities

References

External links