When the Big West lifted their moratorium on expansion in preparation of Hawaii’s move to the conference, D1 independent CSU-Bakersfield also applied to join the Big West…along with D2 UCSD.

Well, it now appears that UCSD is preparing to officially make the move. The only hold-up will be that due to NCAA rules, UCSD will need to have a formal invitation from the Big West to join as schools are no longer permitted to upgrade to D1 without a conference invite.

The North County Times and SignOnSanDiego have pieces laying out the timeline and what types of votes are needed for an upgrade. At this point, it appears there is enough support so the Big West invite is the final piece. That could be a problem though. With Hawaii slated to become the 10th member, it means a UCSD invite would create an awkward 11 school lineup. The Big West might be less interested in the scenario. The alternative would be to expand to 12 and include CSU-Bakersfield, although there has been some opposition to do such. Big West commissioner Dennis Farrell praised UCSD but again pointed to the membership number problem in the Big West regarding a spot for UCSD. Such a reference could hint to CSU Bakersfield opposition.