With UCSD & UCSB joining the WCC 7/1/27, the 2027 season will be the last in the current conference structure as the BWC and GCC will fall under 6 teams each with the creation a new WCC conference.
WCC (6-8?) = LMU, UOP, SMC, SCU, UCSD, UCSB
BWC (4-6?) = CBU, CSUF, CSUN, Haw, LB, UCI
GCC (4) = FS, SDSU, SJSU, Davis
Some questions:
Will the new WCC be eligible for NCAAs or will they have to sit out for 2 years?
Will UCI stay in the Big West as the only remaining UC? (sorry UC Riverside)
Will CBU stay in the Big West now that the affluent core has fled?
If the GCC remaining teams join the BWC, will UC Davis be welcomed too?
Are any other schools looking to change conferences? Indiana? Michigan? Wagner?
Rational
In relation to the list you posted above. Where did you see that LMU and UOP women’s teams, are leaving the GCC, and also that SMC womens will only spend one year in the GCC?
We have knows about Davis and SJSU coming to the GCC and CBU leaving, but nothing about those others leaving, in women’s at least
SMC, UC Davis, and San Jose are all participating in the GCC. What the real question is going to be is how long will that conference last once UCSD and UCSB become WCC members?
I believe this has been posted to a previous thread, but the working talking points were on how the WCC occurred (Big West in Men’s Water Polo was sanctioned), and in that press release about of credit went to UOP’s administration.
I’m willing to bet James Graham is cooking something up but it won’t likely hold ground until after San Diego and Santa Barbara leave the BW
The conversation about women’s college water polo really should include a push to get 2 more Big 10 members to sanction the sport, getting 4 more new Pac 12 members. Get teams in Washington (Gonzaga or WSU), Oregon (OSU), Utah (Utah St) and Texas (Texas St) to expand the sports footprint. It shouldn’t be difficult to get a couple of Big 10 teams to opt in. To grow the sport further you need to get some of the big conferences in play.
Maryland had a team but their athletic department is still making cuts so it’s doubtful we’ll see it come back. Illinois was interested at one point but I’m guessing that’s dead as well.
It would be amazing to see water polo in the big 10, I just don’t see it happening.
Both LMU and UOP (and Santa Clara) are full WCC members. On the Men’s side, it took James Graham getting 3 affiliate members (SJSU, AFA, CBU) to be added to the 4 WCC members (those 3 plus Pepperdine) to create a WCC for MWP. With SMC (another full WCC member) adding WP and both UCSD and UCSB leaving the BW for the WCC, that makes 6 conference members fielding WWP teams (still no Pepp), making it Rational to think the WCC will have WWP once UCSD and UCSB arrive for the 2028 season (once your conference has enough schools to have a sport, the school and conference tend to think you should play in it). The GCC is a water polo only conference for schools that were in conference that didn’t have WP. MWP GCC died with BW and WCC able to field MWP. We will see what it’s fate is for WWP after next Spring.
The interesting part will be to see what the other schools do. SJSU has been a WCC affiliate for MWP and UCD is becoming an affiliate member this fall. Do the Women follow suit? Do any of them get sweet talked back into the BW (Big West MWP will only have 4 teams as of now for the 2027 season, but WWP still has 6 teams with Northridge and Hawaii, though Hawaii is downgraded from full member to affilliate with the school moving to the Mountain West, but they are not the only sport staying as a BW affiliate).
Current GCC new conference affilaitions:
Fresno State - Pac 12 (just moved from Mountain West)
San Diego State - Pac 12 (just moved from Mountain West)
San Jose State - Mountain West (WCC affiliate for MWP)
UC Davis - Mountain West (WCC affiliate for MWP)
I believe getting full athletic conferences to sponsor water polo has been a big push to expand our sport (as opposed to water polo only conferences). The idea is once there is enough teams to field conference (BW and WCC) the hope is other conference members become interested in adding the sport (can we get a Pepperdine WWP team?), but it is not easy at the D1 level in a non revenue sport as admission is not the driving factor at a lot of the top WP schools as it can be at the D3 level.
6 is the magic number, you have 6 you have a conference.
Getting big schools to add WP is a pipe dream, big schools are looking to cut, not add sports - latest example is Arkansas Tennis, Big powerful SEC school - axed both Men’s and Women’s Tennis programs - thought is this frees up $2.5m that the school can use towards the $20m they “have” to raise to pay their revenue sports.
Arkansas is a great example as their athletic expense/revenue has been online along with the cut. Their football team made almost 30M in 2025, basketball over 4M. Every other sport lost money bringing the overall department down to an 11.7M profit before transferring money to the university (Arkansas athletics reports $6.89 million surplus in 2025: What we learned from financial data | Whole Hog Sports). Still not enough to save tennis in the NIL days…there has been a lot of talk among water polo coaches about trying to fundraise/endow their collegiate programs as a protection from these kind of cuts.
It is extremely difficult to get an athletic department to add a new, non-revenue athletic program. Especially in today’s climate, where many departments are dropping sports. Having a nice facility in place actually makes it tougher. Typically, the facility itself is an income generator for departments through rentals, summer programming, events, etc. Asking AD’s to chop some of that income so they can spend more money on programs that don’t generate income is a very tough sell.
The best, and most effective way to grow the sport at the collegiate level is by appealing to small, private colleges that are tuition driven. These schools rely heavily on full-pay students…and water polo, being an affluent sport, is an excellent way to generate applications from those types of students. The Big 10, SEC, etc…not gonna have conference supported water polo anytime in the near future. The NIAC with schools like Amherst, Williams, etc. or the Northwest Conference with schools like Willamet, Puget Sound, etc…those are your best bets.
