In the football world, Hawai’i has announced they are leaving the Big-West to join the Mountain West. As the BW has WWP, this could result in Hawai’i leaving the BW. An article stated their future in the BW in sports not offered by the MW was uncertain. This opens a slate of questions - would Hawai’i join another conference?
Can MPSF schools afford flights to Indiana, Arizona, and Hawai’i?
Do the GCC schools want Hawai’i? They’d instantly be a champ contender. Can the GCC schools afford a trip to Hawai’i every other year?
Do the BW schools want to lose Hawai’i? The BW is the 2nd best conference on the women’s side, losing their #1 would instantly make their conference weaker but also frees up $$ and more BW teams have a chance at NCAAs
I imagine there’s no chance the CWPA takes Hawai’i, I can’t imagine the flight from Rhode Island to Hawai’i
Does Hawai’i go independent? Hard to see as there has only been one at-large NCAA bid to go to a non-MPSF team (UCI in 2015, only time ever with 4 at-large bids).
The press release from The Big West had noted that women’s water polo, men’s volleyball, beach volleyball, and men’s swimming and diving are in discussion to remain affiliates of the Big West.
I personally think that is the best course of action as the other sports in addition to women’s water polo benefit from having this type of affiliation. If Fresno State and San Diego State were both still Mountain West members, you could make a case for the Mountain West to add women’s water polo (as San Jose State is also a MW school).
The other big thing to consider is that some sports are likely to be on the chopping block financially unless they can make travel feasible. CSU East Bay had cited the travel women’s water polo had was proving to eventually be a burden. If the Big West can keep those sports as affiliates, it will provide much needed sustainability.
East Bay also had other issues; ex: 70% of the students are over the age of 22 = not ideal for athletics
East Bay also saw a 30% decline in enrollment from their pre-Covid numbers.
I agree that staying in the BW is best for Hawai’i, but it’s not up to us, the coaches of the other Big West schools have to vote to accept Hawai’i and that may be a tough sell. For example, if you’re the Head Coach of UC Davis, you have to fundraise for your program / travel and you’ve lost 24 straight games to Hawai’i - what would you do?