Official: Utah Valley Set To Leave WAC, Join Up With Big West

Google says that D.B Coulson once said: “The only thing that never changes is change itself.”

Not sure what his occupation is, but D.B. sounds like he would be a good fit in the world of college athletics.

In the modern day of college sports, change is more common than not, with players transferring to new schools at record rates, coaches riding the carousel at record speeds, and of course conference realignment/poaching more prevalent than ever before.

If money is the driving force, expect breakneck speeds.

Take just the last year into consideration and one would recall the Mountain West getting stripped of 5 teams to bolster the new iteration of the Pac-12 come 2026.

In doing so, the Mountain West had to lash out and steal a team from Conference-USA (UTEP) and the MAC. (NIU)

Through this year (2025) and next (2026) 11 teams are expected to shift conferences, and that number will likely grow.

And that’s just football.

In the world of Basketball, changes are being made at an equally rapid pace, some in line with the world of football (like Hawaii taking all sports to the Mountain West) and some are non-football schools taking advantage of open spots/new media deals.

In the next two seasons, we will see Gonzaga shunning the WCC for the new Pac-12, UC Davis and Grand Canyon University are taking their talents to the Mountain West, and Seattle will be filling the Gonzaga sized hole in the WCC.

Of course one of the common themes in these moves are the teams that are departing the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in Grand Canyon and Seattle U.

The WAC was directly impacted by such moves and has been whittled down to 7 teams as of the upcoming 2025 basketball season.

Yet, rock bottom was still apparently too far away for the WAC to rest easy as current members, Cal Baptist and Utah Valley University, were formally invited to join the Big West Conference this February.

The invitations would prove to be more than tempting as Cal Baptist announced their upcoming departure on March 5th to join the California conference come 2026.

Utah Valley took a bit more time to decide with hoops postseason play a top priority at the time, but with the season officially over, UVU announced today that they would follow the Lancers by heading west.

It’s a move that seems to be met with great anticipation by both sides.

The Wolverines are amped about the conference prestige, while the Big West is excited about having a footprint outside of the Golden State with Utah Valley replacing Hawaii as the only non-California team to play in the conference.

While UVU and the Big West celebrate new beginnings, the future is now in limbo for the Western Athletic Conference itself as well as the 5 teams who had planned of being a part of the it beyond 2026.

Those 5 teams consist of a Texas trio in Abilene Christian, UT Arlington and Tarleton State alongside two teams that share the same state as the departing Utah Valley in Utah Tech and Southern Utah University.

The WAC could and would need to add members by the time all the dearly departing take off, and who they could steal might be very limited.

Even if they have targets in mind, still existing members may abandon ship before a fallback plan is implemented.

With writing potentially on the wall, plan B’s are likely being put in place if the Iceberg proves to be too big for the WAC.

Tarleton State has been showing interest in jumping to the FBS level of football for some time, and this could push them to find something sooner rather than later.

If the Texans did something like that it would take the basketball program with them to whatever conference they attend just like Kennesaw State or Sam Houston in the C-USA.

The Southland conference could come calling for some of the other Texas schools, specifically Abilene Christian who was a member for 8 years prior to moving to the WAC.

The Southland conference has already reabsorbed Stephen F. Austin and Lamar from the WAC after those teams had left them for a short spell, proving they hold no grudges.

SUU’s old stomping grounds, the Summit League, could also be in the mix for a UT Arlington as a 10th member, or even the two Utah schools could be on the radar.

A lot of people like to link Utah Tech and SUU to the Big Sky Conference if the WAC folds, and although it could be a reality one day, SUU and the Big Sky are still fresh off a divorce and may not be on speaking terms.

Whatever happens remains to be seen, but like a game on the back of a cereal box, everything that has unfolded can be traced back to the Pac-12 nearly evaporating before swooping in on the Mountain West with the latest domino now being Utah Valley’s new home.

Who it has affected and who it continues to affect is the new reality of college athletics and will continuously unfurl in real time.

It’s not a matter of “If” the WAC responds but rather “how” and if they rise up or simply disband.

For the time being in non-football sports, what pastures the Trailblazers roam and what skies the T-Birds traverse are all but unknown after 2026, but you can be sure to find the Wolverines out west.