UC Santa Barbara Athletics and the West Coast Conference held a joint press conference on Monday in Isla Vista to welcome UCSB as the newest member of the conference.
UCSB Director of Athletics Kelly Barsky, UCSB Chancellor Dennis Assanis and WCC Commissioner Stu Jackson began the press conference with opening statements before fielding questions from the media.
“UC Santa Barbara is thrilled to become the 12th member of the West Coast Conference,” Assanis said. “This move is part of a strategic vision that we have to elevate our athletics, our brand, our spirit, the experiences for all our students, for the fans, for the alumni, everybody around the world who is a Gaucho.”
The Gauchos are set to join the conference on July 1, 2027, officially. They will compete against conference foes Loyola Marymount University, University of the Pacific, Pepperdine University, University of Portland, Saint Mary’s, University of San Diego, University of San Francisco, Seattle University, Denver University, Santa Clara University and UC San Diego.
“We’re thrilled to broaden our footprint from Seattle to San Diego and everywhere between. This is a really special conference with really great members,” Barsky said. “I hope that Gauchos will show up everywhere and travel. We look forward to sharing our story throughout the West Coast as well as national exposure.”
While there is plenty of excitement around Isla Vista and the Gaucho athletic department, Jackson and the WCC share that excitement.
“From the outset, our focus has been on the Western region and on universities that share what has always defined this conference, that is academic achievement, competitive success, and an unwavering commitment to the student-athlete experience and welfare. UC Santa Barbara embodies those values,” Jackson said.
“UC Santa Barbara is a perfect fit for the West Coast Conference. Their values align with ours. Their aspirations match our trajectory, their addition strengthens the WCC competitively, academically and geographically.”
Jackson revealed that the conference reached out to UCSB over a year ago with no success, but when Assanis was appointed the school’s chancellor last summer, negotiations resumed and the two sides worked towards a partnership.
“We really want to expand and compete at the highest levels, and give others the opportunity to do that,” Assanis said. “We’re attracted to the fact that the WCC gets multiple bids to get in the big dance.
“We do think that the move to the WCC will help us increase the external revenue generation by a factor of five or six from today’s levels, hence (making) the programs much more sustainable and successful and less reliant on the university, quote unquote, subsidy if you like to think about that.”
Barsky and Assanis made it clear that the move into the WCC is the first step in a series of steps to improve the student experience with athletics and turn UCSB games, matches or meets into must-see campus events.
“The conference move is one step into a number of different prongs that would help in increasing revenue and also supporting our programs at the level that can really support our elite student-athletes, support our coaches’ programs, also bring community, students, everyone together,” Barsky said.
“I’m really excited about it, but just at the start, we need [the students’] help. We need your engagement. We need you to help us know what students want and then get you into these amazing, high-performing teams that are competing at the highest level. We want to create a destination for our students, for our parents, for our alumni, to come together, share in our school spirit and athletics can be a true ambassador for that.”
Many of those must-see campus events for decades have been the Blue-Green Rivalry series against Big West rival Cal Poly San Luis Obispo across all sports. Barsky made it clear that UCSB plans to continue the rivalry in non-conference action.
“We will look to host those (Big West) rivalries for sure and the Blue-Green rivalry being something exceptionally special as we know both here on our campus and on their campus,” Barsky said.
While many of the specifics in terms of scheduling and integration of UCSB into the pre-existing conference rivalries are set to be ironed out in the next year, the move to the WCC shows that Gaucho athletics is ready to grow its reach far past Isla Vista.
“Our expectation is going to be to win, be successful, but that’s in all areas, that’s doing it the right way,” Barsky said. “So that’s academically, that’s athletically, we also recognize there’s a time for development.
“So when we fall down, we’re going to get back up, and we’re going to expect to win again. That’s how the great people, great Gauchos here at UCSB do it.”