The Big West will become the first division 1 conference to sponsor men's volleyball. UC San Diego finally joins the conference - as an affiliate.

http://www.bigwest.org//story.asp?story_id=19222

In making the announcement, Big West Commissioner Dennis Farrell noted that men’s volleyball will become the 18th sport in which the conference conducts an annual championship.

“The Big West Conference is thrilled to add a sport that is so popular in our region and is growing on the national level,” said Farrell. “Because the NCAA championship is conducted across Divisions I and II, UC San Diego despite its Division II status in its other sports, is eligible to compete in the Big West in this sport.

“It should be noted that the creation of this championship is the culmination of a year’s worth of work within the conference that has engaged both the sport’s coaches and administrators. UC San Diego’s consideration as a member in men’s volleyball has been discussed throughout that process and has no relation to its current consideration of Division I membership.”

That's right, folks. We are going all in on the sports nobody outside of the SoCal bubble cares about

The Big West becomes the only full time bona-fide DI conference to sponsor men's volleyball. Congrats!

Now to invite Concordia-Irvine, Holy Names (Ca), and Cal Baptist!

The MPSF M VB is down to:

BYU
Cal Baptist
Pepperdine
Stanford
USC
UCLA

Don't see the PAC12 sponsoring M VB.

I'll be darned, I didn't even know 6v6 court volleyball was a thing for men. I've never seen that on TV, even for the olympics.

Seen it plenty on TV for women, both NCAA and olympics. Also a fairly big participation sport in high school for girls, both club and school teams, while again there is no varsity equivalent for boys.


I have seen 2v2 sand volleyball in men's on TV, of course. That's been on TV for some time.

(06-01-2016 07:42 AM)MplsBison Wrote:  I'll be darned, I didn't even know 6v6 court volleyball was a thing for men. I've never seen that on TV, even for the olympics.

Seen it plenty on TV for women, both NCAA and olympics. Also a fairly big participation sport in high school for girls, both club and school teams, while again there is no varsity equivalent for boys.


I have seen 2v2 sand volleyball in men's on TV, of course. That's been on TV for some time.

How could you not see it during the Olympics? It's basically the only time men's volleyball is on TV.

Guess I don't watch enough olympics TV coverage! I'll look for it this year.

In my opinion, team sports don't belong in the olympics. Neither do golf or tennis. It should be solely for individual sports where the olympics is the greatest competition in the sport. Obvious examples being: track & field, swimming & diving, wrestling, weightlifting.

(06-01-2016 06:16 AM)NoDak Wrote:  The Big West becomes the only full time bona-fide DI conference to sponsor men's volleyball. Congrats!

Now to invite Concordia-Irvine, Holy Names (Ca), and Cal Baptist!

The MPSF M VB is down to:

BYU
Cal Baptist
Pepperdine
Stanford
USC
UCLA

Don't see the PAC12 sponsoring M VB.

Grand Canyon is the next Big West invite

(06-01-2016 07:56 AM)MplsBison Wrote:  Guess I don't watch enough olympics TV coverage! I'll look for it this year.

In my opinion, team sports don't belong in the olympics. Neither do golf or tennis. It should be solely for individual sports where the olympics is the greatest competition in the sport. Obvious examples being: track & field, swimming & diving, wrestling, weightlifting.

Not even water polo?

(06-01-2016 07:46 AM)MWC Tex Wrote:  

(06-01-2016 07:42 AM)MplsBison Wrote:  I'll be darned, I didn't even know 6v6 court volleyball was a thing for men. I've never seen that on TV, even for the olympics.

Seen it plenty on TV for women, both NCAA and olympics. Also a fairly big participation sport in high school for girls, both club and school teams, while again there is no varsity equivalent for boys.


I have seen 2v2 sand volleyball in men's on TV, of course. That's been on TV for some time.

How could you not see it during the Olympics? It's basically the only time men's volleyball is on TV.

That and BYUtv. Men's volleyball is a pretty big deal in Provo - we consistently finish #1 in attendance, just ahead of Hawaii, with 3,500 or so per game. Many of the volleyball games (men's and women's) are televised on BYUtv. BYU and Hawaii had a rivalry match played in the Marriott Center a few years ago that drew over 15K attendance.

I'm actually pretty bummed about the Big West announcement. Hawaii, Long Beach St., UC Santa Barbara, and UC Irvine have been excellent competition in the MPFS.

Hopefully there are plenty of OOC matches between the Big West and MPFS leftovers moving forward.

Sorry jd. In my opinion -- which doesn't count for squat -- the olympics should be for individual glory in such sports that otherwise gain no visibility. Granted, you could argue then that track & field doesn't belong as there is an established pro race circuit.

YNot, there will be. The Big West Coast Conference alliance is alive and well. We all play each other in all sports every year. Pepperdine, USD, LMU are as much our peers as UC Irvine, Long Beach State or Hawaii.

Men's volleyball is only allowed 4.5 scholarships. DII Conference Carolinas is the only other full fledged conference that has a DI autobid, as DII doesn't sponsor it. Looks to be a relatively cheap way for DII schools to make a wave in DI.

BYU, Hawaii and Ball St appear to be the only G5 schools that offer it.
Ohio St, Penn St, USC, Stanford, and UCLA are the P5 schools with the sport.

The WAC could realistically be sponsoring this sport in 5-7 years. Grand Canyon already sponsors it, and then if it were to add California Baptist (Riverside, CA) and Lindenwood (St. Charles, MO) as full members from Division II, that would give them three members. It would be a cheap sport for any WAC member to add (*paging UMKC and Bakersfield*). The WAC could then finish off the MPSF for affiliates such as Pepperdine, BYU, USC, and Stanford.

The MIVA, where Grand Canyon and Lindenwood currently play, would still have six schools. Maybe *The* Ohio State University could beg two of its Big Ten mates to start programs.

Of course this only really works if UMKC stays in the WAC, and the WAC doesn't do something like sponsor football again.

(06-01-2016 06:19 PM)chargeradio Wrote:  The WAC could realistically be sponsoring this sport in 5-7 years. Grand Canyon already sponsors it, and then if it were to add California Baptist (Riverside, CA) and Lindenwood (St. Charles, MO) as full members from Division II, that would give them three members. It would be a cheap sport for any WAC member to add (*paging UMKC and Bakersfield*). The WAC could then finish off the MPSF for affiliates such as Pepperdine, BYU, USC, and Stanford.

The MIVA, where Grand Canyon and Lindenwood currently play, would still have six schools. Maybe *The* Ohio State University could beg two of its Big Ten mates to start programs.

Of course this only really works if UMKC stays in the WAC, and the WAC doesn't do something like sponsor football again.

Would seem a natural for UVU to start

(06-01-2016 06:19 PM)chargeradio Wrote:  The WAC could realistically be sponsoring this sport in 5-7 years. Grand Canyon already sponsors it, and then if it were to add California Baptist (Riverside, CA) and Lindenwood (St. Charles, MO) as full members from Division II, that would give them three members. It would be a cheap sport for any WAC member to add (*paging UMKC and Bakersfield*). The WAC could then finish off the MPSF for affiliates such as Pepperdine, BYU, USC, and Stanford.

The MIVA, where Grand Canyon and Lindenwood currently play, would still have six schools. Maybe *The* Ohio State University could beg two of its Big Ten mates to start programs.

Of course this only really works if UMKC stays in the WAC, and the WAC doesn't do something like sponsor football again.

For sure. This could be the answer to all the northern schools' weather problem. Forget baseball, start men's volleyball.

Michigan, Wisconsin and Rutgers - you're on the clock.

Actually, if the B1G adds the sport, Nebraska would probably be the key pickup - Nebraska's women's volleyball team has better attendance than most Division I basketball programs (men's or women's), so that could be a huge pickup if it carries over to a new men's volleyball program.

Is it a fall sport or spring sport?

I know Minnesota has a club team. Probably a fair number of schools have club teams.

Men's volleyball is a spring sport