The Western Football Conference was an

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

scholarship-awarding football conference that existed from 1982 to 1993. Among its member schools were (from 1982 to 1992 unless otherwise noted): * Santa Clara *

Cal Poly SLO California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (California Polytechnic State University, Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt in Arcata, California or California State Polytechnic Univ ...

Cal State Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...

Cal Lutheran California Lutheran University (CLU, Cal Lutheran, or Cal Lu) is a private university in Thousand Oaks, California. It was founded in 1959 and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, but is nonsectarian. It opened in 1960 ...

(1985–1989) *

Sacramento State California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus California ...

(1985–1992) *

Southern Utah Southern Utah University (SUU) is a public university in Cedar City, Utah. Founded in 1897 as a normal school, Southern Utah University now graduates over 1,800 students each year with baccalaureate and graduate degrees from its six colleges. ...

(1986–1992) *

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 ...

Cal Poly Pomona California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona, CPP, or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in San Luis Obispo. See the ''name'' section of this article for more infor ...

(1982) Its founding, and only, commissioner was Vic Buccola, who had been the athletic director at Cal Poly from 1973 to 1981. He then became a founder and commissioner of the multi-sport

American West Conference The American West Conference (AWC) was a college athletic conference in the United States from 1993 to 1996. It consisted of schools in California and Utah. The charter members of the conference were California Polytechnic State University; Cal ...

, which was chartered after the WFC folded in 1993. The WFC folded in part because of a new NCAA rule that prohibited member institutions who competed at the Division I (D-I) level in other sports from competing at the Division II (D-II) level in football. Cal State Northridge, Cal Poly SLO, Southern Utah, and Sacramento State, plus

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

for football, were the first announced members of the American West Conference. Of the eight member schools: * Four (Cal Poly SLO, Sacramento State, Southern Utah, and Portland State) are currently members of the

Division I FCS The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...

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 ...

. * One (California Lutheran) is a member of the

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) is a college athletic conference that operates in the NCAA's Division III. The conference was founded in 1915 and it consists of twelve small private schools that are located in ...

(SCIAC). * Three have dropped football as a varsity sport - Cal Poly Pomona in 1983, Santa Clara in 1993, and Cal State Northridge in 2001 (following a brief stint in the Big Sky). In all other sports, Cal Poly Pomona is currently a member of the Division II

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 UC ...

, Santa Clara is a member of the Division I

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

, and Cal State Northridge is a member of the Division I

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

. The WFC Scholar Athlete of the Year Award was named for Santa Clara's coach

Pat Malley George Patrick Malley (February 28, 1931 – May 18, 1985) was an American football coach. He served as the Santa Clara University head coach from 1959 until his death in 1985. Early life and education Born in San Francisco, Malley graduated fro ...

. Its recipients include: * 1987: Tracy Morris Downs, M.D., Cal Lutheran

References

{{Reflist * Sports organizations established in 1982 Organizations disestablished in 1993 1982 establishments in the United States