08-04-2023, 10:10 PM
I'm still hoping for the Big Ten, even in the face of this week's bitter news.
But if we do go independent, I'm going to cast a vote for joining the Big West. Maybe it won't do much for basketball or soccer, but it does have its strengths in baseball and volleyball. And, as a personal bonus for me, it is the conference that contains the schools that my siblings attended for undergrad and (starting in a few weeks) for med school. So I'd be able to replace my family's annual showdown that was Stanford-UCLA with matchups in other sports.
And if we care even a little bit about what used to be the Pac's brand (all R1, and mostly AAU universities,) the Big West is home to 5 UC campuses (all of them in the AAU) plus Hawai'i. That's not something we'd find in the WCC. And, finally, if Stanford and Cal can manage to stay linked, the Big West will probably be an even better fit for the school across the bay.
Anyway, I hope it all works out. Go Stanford.
But if we do go independent, I'm going to cast a vote for joining the Big West. Maybe it won't do much for basketball or soccer, but it does have its strengths in baseball and volleyball. And, as a personal bonus for me, it is the conference that contains the schools that my siblings attended for undergrad and (starting in a few weeks) for med school. So I'd be able to replace my family's annual showdown that was Stanford-UCLA with matchups in other sports.
And if we care even a little bit about what used to be the Pac's brand (all R1, and mostly AAU universities,) the Big West is home to 5 UC campuses (all of them in the AAU) plus Hawai'i. That's not something we'd find in the WCC. And, finally, if Stanford and Cal can manage to stay linked, the Big West will probably be an even better fit for the school across the bay.
Anyway, I hope it all works out. Go Stanford.