Utah Valley University (UVU) will officially notify the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) that they will be withdrawing their membership following the 2025-26 academic year by June 30.
The school, which is located in Orem, Utah, will be joining the Big West from the WAC and will become the Big West’s only member school from Utah.
“Utah Valley is in a strong position, we’ve elevated ourselves to a point where we are an attractive university and part of that is being prepared for the future look of the NCAA,” said Utah Valley Athletic Director Jared Sumsion during a press conference on June 6.
A large part of how the Big West benefits from this move is from the addition of the Utah Valley Wolverine baseball team. The Wolverines reached a top-48 position in the NCAA baseball tournament this season. Their season came to an end as they lost to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo 7-6 in an 11 inning thriller on June 1, a preview of potential Big West Super Regional matchups.
The Wolverines’ baseball team were able to defeat a Big Ten team in their first game of the 2025 tournament, and with their addition to the Big West, it would seem likely that three Big West teams could qualify for the NCAA championship each season.
UVU’s men’s basketball team fell in the final of the WAC championship in 2025, 89-72 to Grand Canyon University. Although the men’s basketball team qualified for the National Invitation Tournament, the team would likely have placed between third and fifth in the Big West last season. A solid team which defeated future Mountain West member Grand Canyon in conference play last season, but not immediately a team which will be contending for a NCAA tournament appearance.
The women’s basketball team fell in the semifinals of the WAC championship 84-55 also to Grand Canyon. The women’s basketball team looks to be a contender for the top spot in the Big West after advancing to the second round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). They defeated the Mountain West’s Air Force 70-64 in the first round of the WNIT.
In 2024, UVU finished third in the WAC’s men’s cross country championship. However, another strong addition to the conference is the women’s cross country team, as they won the WAC championship in 2024 and finished fifth in the NCAA Mountain regional. The women’s cross country team looks like a top contender to place on top of the Big West once they join the conference.
During the press conference on June 6, it was shared that a football program at UVU is $150 million dollars away being established.
The Wolverine men’s golf team finished third in the WAC in 2025, while the women’s team finished eighth.
UVU’s men’s soccer team in 2024 fell in the quarterfinals of the WAC championship to San Jose State University, 1-0. The men’s soccer team could struggle once joining the Big West as Utah Valley fell to then-No. 22 UC Santa Barbara at home 4-1. At the top of the conference are typically nationally ranked teams which need to be defeated in order to advance to the NCAA tournament.
The women’s soccer team fell in the semifinals of the WAC championship to California Baptist University, 3-2. They could finish near the top of the Big West as it is much weaker on the women’s side and they claimed a number of key victories such as a 4-2 victory over the Mountain West’s San Diego State.
UVU’s softball team, a sport UC Irvine does not sponsor, fell in the semifinals of the 2025 WAC championship to Tarleton State, 4-0. The softball team currently does not have high expectations in the conference as they finished with a 18-33 record in 2025. However, they were able to pick up significant victories such as a 6-4 victory over Big 12 member Brigham Young University.
As is being discussed with Sacramento State’s addition to the Big West, it is unknown what UVU will decide to do with its indoor track and field teams. The men’s team came in second in the WAC indoor track and field championship in 2025, while the women’s team won the WAC championship. Indoor track and field is not a sport which the Big West excels in and this may continue to be the case. Despite winning the WAC, no one from UVU’s women’s team competed at the NCAA championship.
As for outdoor track and field, both the men and women won the WAC championship. The men’s 4×100 team qualified for the NCAA championship, while the women finished 63rd in the nation.
UVU fell in the semifinals of the 2024 WAC women’s volleyball championship to Grand Canyon 3-1. UVU could be the top team in the Big West in women’s volleyball when they join. They reached the second round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship following a first round win over the Pac-12’s Washington State 3-0.
The Wolverine’s men’s wrestling team, a sport UC Irvine does not sponsor, came in 12th at the Big 12 championships in 2025. While the Big West does not sponsor the sport, outside of indoor track and field, it seems like it will be the school’s only sport which will compete outside of the Big West.
Jack Fedor is a 2024-2025 Assistant Sports Editor. He can be reached at jfedor@uci.edu.
Edited by Benjamin Flores, Annabelle Aguirre
