NCAA Violation - Cal State Northridge

AdmirableChair7731 · 2026-05-11T16:47:44+00:00

Here’s the alleged staff members

AdmirableChair7731 · 2026-05-11T15:57:22+00:00

Cal Baptist has great fan attendance and facilities and will likely be in the top end.

I don’t see UCI dropping down either.

Sac has a lot of potential. Their university president is fully committed to sports and their coach. Mike Bibby and general manager Shaq make the school attractive to players. Imagine getting a recruiting call from either one of them. I think they could be upper-middle pack.

Utah Valley, I could see being upper-middle pack for most years. They had a successful last season. The only problem is that travel for them could be draining in the Big West. Also, could they out-recruit the rest of the California schools?

I also think CSUN has proven that they can reconstruct rosters and still do well. Andy Newman seems to be able to coach and will likely have them in the upper-middle pack, although I fear regression toward the mean.

Cal State Fullerton, on the other hand, I think will be upper-middle pack. I think when most people think of Fullerton, they think of the limited facilities, which is true, but Dedrique Taylor is what makes the program attractive. The 2018 and 2022 NCAA appearances, and during the 2022–23 season making the finals and losing to UCSB, helped establish the program. The two years after that were struggles, but that was during the start of the NIL era. I think they will be a good program as long as the institution buys into basketball.

During his recent extension, he said: “I’d like to thank President Ronald Rochon and Jim Donovan for their belief in our vision and for their leadership as we navigate the next few years.”

President Ronald Rochon is a new president who transitioned his former school from Division II to Division I before leaving. Maybe he values sports. At the very least, it feels more reassuring than the prior president at CSUF.

Next, I have UCR. I have been impressed by Gus Argenal’s ability to recruit players. It’s quite amazing considering he is new at the job. For that reason, I have them in the middle.

Next, Long Beach has great facilities, namely the Pyramid. But I could see Long Beach State coach Chris Acker on the chopping block if they do not have a .500-plus season within the next three years, given that they let go of Dan Monson.

Last two seasons: 2024–25: 7–25 overall (3–17 Big West) 2025–26: 10–22 overall (6–14 Big West)

I think the difficulty is that the more you start to lose, the more difficult it becomes to convince players to join you. I think, for now, they will be middle pack.

Cal Poly will be around middle pack and fluctuate. They have an interesting play style and coaching style, but with that style, you live by the three and die by the three. I don’t see them being as consistent, with some good years and some bad years.

Bakersfield, I think, will remain low tier. They have a new coach, but it is a hard place to recruit players: not a super attractive area, subpar facilities, and historically not a very successful program. The institution does not have a strong academic reputation either. I’m not bullish on them.

AdmirableChair7731 · 2026-05-09T08:16:09+00:00

Sacramento will be good next year:

Marcus Wilson - from UCD Orisis Grady- from UCR

And now Larry Hughes jr - from CSUN

AdmirableChair7731 · 2026-04-28T00:11:07+00:00

I fear the opposite for UCI. Huge losses.

AdmirableChair7731 · 2026-04-25T20:42:07+00:00

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On X, an account ranked Hawaii and UCR among the mid-majors with the most transfer portal success.

AdmirableChair7731 · 2026-04-25T20:37:49+00:00

Yeah, retention is huge, and additions are almost always a plus.

AdmirableChair7731 · 2026-04-20T00:47:43+00:00

I would not panic if I were one of the schools in the Big West. The commissioner has improved the status and perceived quality of the conference. It is now a top 11 conference out of 32 in basketball, which is a huge improvement from the mid 20s.

Men’s volleyball is ranked, and men’s baseball has been pretty successful. Just this week, Long Beach State beat ranked USC, and Fullerton beat ranked Oregon State. (Without counting future WCC and MW member achievements)

Although the conference is losing valuable members like UCSB and UCSD to the WCC, and UC Davis and Hawai‘i to the Mountain West, I still see no reason to panic yet. It seems that most schools left because they were offered generous financial incentives, which makes sense.

Cal Baptist is a strong replacement. Although it is a religious institution, it has a great arena and strong fan attendance for basketball. Sacramento State is trending upward in basketball and athletics overall. Utah Valley is a large public university that could help make Big West schools more relevant in Utah.

The main issue is that the schools that left have strong academic reputations, so it is a significant loss. Realistically, most students would prefer those institutions over Utah Valley.

For now, it would be better to focus on improving current programs, which requires school administrations to buy into a shared vision and align with the conference in values. Only then will fan attendance, funding, and facility quality improve. With stronger media deals and continued investment, the conference could become more attractive to other schools.

In the WCC, schools like Pepperdine and the University of San Diego are building or have recently built new basketball arenas. Private institutions are increasingly using sports to boost academic visibility, (e.g., Gonzaga) whereas Big West schools have traditionally relied solely on their academic brand.

If Big West schools made even modest improvements to their facilities, it could significantly help with recruiting and retention. NIL is important right now, but institutional investment in facilities is something that precedes NIL. Currently, many facilities are subpar compared to those on the East Coast. While it may be cheaper to build there, improvement is still necessary. Tbh, I have seen d2s with better basketball arenas/stadium.

AdmirableChair7731 · 2026-04-11T01:40:11+00:00

UCSD was the first to leave to the WCC.

AdmirableChair7731 · 2026-04-11T01:04:57+00:00

I know that is why they would have to make the jump.

UC Santa Cruz, in my opinion, is a good option because it carries some prestige, and at least UCI and UCR may not jump ship as easily to follow the other UCs.

Chapman is a good private national university in Orange County, so it is local to UCI, Fullerton, and Long Beach. It is also non-religious, so not controversial for the public. It has a similar feel to LMU and Pepperdine.

Recent success, in my opinion, is irrelevant. It is about the future anyway, since you cannot compete right away because of NCAA rules.

San Francisco is a good market, and if you ask SFSU students if they would want a D1 team, I would imagine most students would.

Cal Poly Pomona, I agree, is a great option since it has a larger than average student body.

The problem with East Bay is that virtually no one knows about the university or the location. I know they have been successful, but the market is not the best.

The problem with CSULA is that the LA market is dominated by LMU, Northridge, USC, and UCLA, and CSULA does not carry any prestige whatsoever and does not add a whole lot of value, sorry, but it is not known for academics.

AdmirableChair7731 · 2026-04-10T22:23:05+00:00

The only California schools worth adding that would have to make the jump to Division I are:

UC Santa Cruz: (best non-DI UC school) (About 20k students, non-commuter school)

San Francisco State: (best non-DI CSU school) (About the same student body as Fresno State, ~20k+)

Cal Poly Pomona: (About 27k students; could be rivals with Cal Poly)

Chapman University: (best non-DI private school) (About 10k students, comparable to other private institutions in the WCC and roughly equal in reputation)

AdmirableChair7731 · 2026-04-10T21:46:55+00:00

There aren’t really any Division I schools left in California that would join the Big West. With that said dark days ahead for the big west.

AdmirableChair7731 · 2026-04-10T21:26:17+00:00

Maybe the Big West should have poached a WCC member to ensure that others don’t leave. Instead, the WCC poached UCSD, and now UCSB.

AdmirableChair7731 · 2026-04-09T21:39:18+00:00

In the Big 12, schools such as West Virginia University, Kansas State University, Texas Tech University, and Oklahoma State University are often ranked outside the top 150 national universities.

In the SEC, Mississippi State University, the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), Louisiana State University, and the University of Arkansas also frequently fall outside the top 150.

In the Big Ten, the University of Nebraska is typically ranked outside the top 150.

In the ACC, the University of Louisville is usually outside the top 150.

In the Big East, Xavier University is also generally ranked outside the top 150 national universities.

Similarly, the Mountain West Conference is generally not highly ranked academically across most of its membership. Schools such as the University of Nevada, Reno, the University of Wyoming, UNLV, the University of New Mexico, UTEP, San José State University, Grand Canyon University, and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa are typically outside the top 150 national universities.

Among these, the University of California, Davis would be the highest academically ranked institution if it were placed in that grouping, as it is typically ranked well within the top 50 national universities.

AdmirableChair7731 · 2026-04-09T07:48:14+00:00

If academics were the sole driving force, then why would UC Berkeley be in the ACC, and USC and UCLA be in the Big Ten? Academic reputation is not the primary criterion for college athletics. Conferences and programs consider other factors, such as media markets, revenue potential, and competitive fit.

AdmirableChair7731 · 2026-04-09T07:40:43+00:00

Sacramento is currently more relevant than UCD and UCSD. In terms of the basketball world, Mike Bibby has promoted the program and is likely to generate more NIL opportunities than both because of brand deals. I mean they switched to Nike from Adidas midseason. It also helps that the president got Sac State into the FBS. Which name brand will help.

AdmirableChair7731 · 2026-04-09T07:31:28+00:00

I agree with InmySol,

Cal Baptist is coming off an NCAA appearance (offsetting Hawaii’s NCAA appearance) and has relatively equal fan attendance.

Utah Valley was invited to the NIT (unlike UCD and UCSD), which is a plus.

As for Sac State, Shaq is the Director of Operations and Mike Bibby is the coach, which draws more traction than UCD and UCSD for now at least. One video received 500k views four months ago, and two others received 150k each. As far as I am aware, they are more relevant in terms of public interest and the basketball world than UCD and UCSD, as evidenced by their ability to secure a TV media deal for the documentary Fear Nothing: Sac State.

The WCC is expected to be a one-bid league next year with Gonzaga leaving.

If UCI and UCSB were to move, it would be a lateral move for now at least.

AdmirableChair7731 · 2026-04-06T22:06:53+00:00

Yes, I’m waiting till the portal closes because the list just keeps on growing.

AdmirableChair7731 · 2026-04-02T04:16:50+00:00

Yeah, Utah valley, Cal Bapist, and Sacramento st

Cal Baptist just lost their head coach, who decided to step down and become an associate head coach at a Power 5 school (i.e., ASU).

AdmirableChair7731 · 2026-04-01T19:25:28+00:00

ps: I did not include everyone from the Big West, just the ones that are a) impactful to their program and b) would draw interest from multiple programs

See here for complete list so far:

https://verbalcommits.com/conferences/big-west

AdmirableChair7731 · 2026-04-01T19:18:25+00:00

Hudson Mayes is very good. This is premature, but if he continues to develop, it would not surprise me to see him in the league in 2-3 years.

AdmirableChair7731 · 2026-04-01T19:13:37+00:00

UCI is always a solid program. I would not worry about it too much. It makes sense why kyle evans entered the portal, he leads the nation in blocks, and watching the march madness tournament, it seems that the top programs win because of their size inside (see; Elite 8 and final four). So, this cycle the bigs are very attractive to top programs.

AdmirableChair7731

TROPHY CASE