This interview with Dan Butterly was part of a two-part series. You can find Part 1 here.
Big West Commissioner Dan Butterly and his staff have spent much of their tenure proving that The Big West does not have to think small, just bold.
This has shown up in how the conference operates, from a remote staff model that has saved member institutions hundreds of thousands of dollars, to how it approaches growth, championships, and national relevance. College athletics is changing fast, and conferences like The Big West are being forced to answer harder questions about identity, investment, and survival. The Big West’s answer, at least so far, has been to stay active, stay creative, and keep looking for ways to elevate the league without losing its footing.
Nowhere was that clearer than in the recently announced men’s soccer partnership with the Pac-12.
For Butterly and his staff, the agreement was not just a scheduling solution. It was a signal that Western conferences can still work together with purpose.
“The collaborative partnership presents a valuable opportunity to expand and strengthen men’s soccer in the West beginning in Fall 2026,” Butterly said. “With only three men’s soccer programs remaining in the Pac-12 after significant conference realignment, the Pac-12 was exploring ways to sustain the sport — whether through an affiliate model or by developing a men’s soccer alliance of some kind — as it evaluated its broader sports sponsorship and FBS initiatives.”
The result was a new and innovative joint partnership designed to preserve Division I men’s soccer opportunities in the region. Beginning in 2026-27, California Baptist, Cal Poly, UC Riverside, and UC San Diego will compete as affiliate members in Pac-12 men’s soccer, while the Pac-12 and Big West will also implement strategic crossover scheduling between the two conferences.
The conversations began around October and gained momentum from there. Big West membership reviewed the concept during December league meetings and then brought the men’s soccer coaches into the process as soon as the structure began to take shape.
Assistant Commissioner Angie Allen, who oversees men’s soccer for The Big West, said, “As soon as we received the green light from the membership to vet the opportunity, we jumped right into the analytics. We drafted a couple of different models and presented them to our administrators and coaches. I give our coaches a lot of credit. They were very engaged throughout the entire process and were open and willing to be creative to position the league in a way that creates more postseason opportunities for Big West teams.”
The support was rooted in more than novelty. Butterly said the arrangement preserves NCAA access, protects regional opportunities for student-athletes, and creates a better competitive model than simply folding additional programs directly into the Big West could have done.
“It is a very strong affiliation for both conferences,” Butterly said. “It preserves the pathway and access to the national postseason for both the Pac-12 and the Big West. So now you’re looking at two automatic qualifiers and potential additional at-large opportunities instead of just one if those three programs had just joined the Big West as affiliates.”
There was also a practical side to it. Adding the Pac-12’s three men’s soccer members directly into The Big West would have created a 14-team league in the sport, something The Big West did not view as ideal.
“If we were to take those three programs on, then we’d be at 14. And I just don’t know how you manage a 14-team soccer conglomeration in that respect,” Butterly said.
Instead, the model became one rooted in cooperation, analytics, and mutual benefit.
“We really took the analytics and data into account,” Butterly said. “We also wanted to make sure to protect and continue strong traditions like the Blue-Green rivalry between Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara even as we look toward the future.”
Men’s soccer remains a vulnerable sport nationally, especially as conferences continue to make decisions based on football, media value, and broader sponsorship strategy. In that environment, The Big West sees the partnership as more than a smart fix; it is a philosophical statement and move.
“It’s nice to see conferences in the West working together instead of working against each other for the betterment of student-athletes and opportunities,” Butterly said. That approach is notable, especially given how easy it would have been for The Big West to say no.
“We absolutely could have said no to it,” he said. “Another league came to us a year ago about a similar initiative in another sport. I presented it to our membership because ultimately it’s their decision on what they want to do. And after we looked at it, we said, absolutely not and moved on.”
This time, the fit worked.
And the competitive upside is real. With guaranteed crossover games against Gonzaga, Oregon State, and San Diego State, The Big West’s men’s soccer profile stands to benefit immediately.
“For us to get Gonzaga, Oregon State, and San Diego State within this mix, that just boosts our opportunities for our teams and strengthens our footprint as a dominating soccer presence out West, which was important to our coaches,” Allen said.
Men’s soccer is likely not the last place where The Big West and the Pac-12 will find common ground.
According to Big West Deputy Commissioner Kristi Giddings, “As we work to bolster our overall sport portfolio, we will continue to explore other collaborative opportunities with the Pac-12, some of which may begin as early as this upcoming academic year.”
That openness to collaboration exists alongside The Big West’s broader responsibilities to protect and position the conference for sustained success in a shifting landscape. Realignment remains part of that. So does constant evaluation of what the conference should look like, who fits, and how geography serves as an asset instead of a burden.
That means The Big West is not simply reacting to what happens around it. Butterly said he and his staff continue to look at institutions that fit the conference footprint, whether in all sports or as affiliate members, especially as the cost of college athletics continues to rise.
“Yes, we are actively continuing to look at opportunities and institutions that want to join the Big West, particularly those within the existing or, possibly, an expanded Big West footprint.”
There is financial logic behind that thinking, too. In a time when travel costs and operating pressures keep climbing, regional alignment can save real money.
“Cal Baptist saved roughly $800,000 by joining the Big West just in travel expenses,” Butterly said.
That line may sound simple, but it helps explain the broader strategy for the league. The Big West is not selling a romantic idea of regionalism. It is making a practical case for a conference that wants to remain competitive while being realistic about what college athletics now demands.
That means building a Big West that is collaborative when collaboration helps, skeptical when it needs to be, and increasingly willing to think ahead instead of merely just hanging on.
