VB 03-04 MG.pmd - Montana State University - Billings

Pacific West Conference
The Pacific West Conference was formed in 1992 by the merger of the Great Northwest Conference and the Continental
Divide Conference. In the past ten years, the PacWest has undergone several changes, but has remained as one of the
most diverse athletic conferences in the NCAA. For the third year, the Pacific West is comprised of six schools:
Brigham Young University-Hawaii, Chaminade University, Hawaii Pacific University, Montana State University-
Billings, University of Hawaii-Hilo, and Western New Mexico University.
Woody Hahn has served as the PacWest Conference Commissioner since the conference was created in 1992. However,
he was also the Commissioner of the two conferences that eventually formed the PacWest: the GNC and CDC. He
became Commissioner of the GNC in 1982 while he was still the Athletics Director at Eastern Montana College. He has
been the conference’s only commissioner.
The formative years of the PacWest date back to 1981 when the Great Northwest Conference was formed as a men’s
basketball scheduling conference. The six charter members of the GNC were Alaska-Anchorage, Alaska-Fairbanks,
Eastern Montana (now MSU-Billings), Eastern Washington, Puget Sound, and Seattle Pacific. In 1982, the Continental
Divide Conference was formed. Alaska-Anchorage, Alaska-Fairbanks, and Eastern Montana moved to the CDC in
1984, expanding that conference to eight schools.
Discussions about a merger between the two conferences began in 1990 when the creation of the Colorado Athletic
Conference took four Colorado schools out of the CDC. With the loss of Colorado College, Air Force, Denver, and
Northern Colorado, the CDC and GNC were left with four and five schools respectively. With new NCAA legislation
requiring conferences to have six schools, it was an opportune time to merge the two conferences.
When the Pacific West Conference was formed by the merger of the CDC and GNC in 1992, it was comprised of seven
schools. The conference eventually expanded to 16 members by 2000, spanning Alaska, Montana, Washington, Oregon,
California, New Mexico, and Hawaii. In the 1999-2000 season, both the men’s and women’s basketball champions
from the PacWest reached the NCAA Final Four.
After becoming one of the most powerful and fastest growing conferences in Division II, the PacWest underwent
another monumental change in 2001, dividing once again into two conferences. Schools from Washington, Alaska,
California, and Oregon formed the new Great Northwest Athletic Conference, while the current six members remained
in the Pacific West Conference.
Last year the six-school PacWest Conference had three National Champions crowned. BYU-Hawaii began the
volleyball season unranked before claiming conference, regional, and national titles. The Seasiders also repeated as
National Champions in both men’s and women’s tennis, with BYUH’s men defeating PacWest rival Hawaii Pacific in
the title match. The PacWest sent two teams to the men’s basketball West Region Tournament (BYU-Hawaii and
Hawaii-Hilo), with PacWest Champion and No. 1 seed BYU-Hawaii hosting the regional in Laie, HI.
The success of its member schools and the vast diversity of its people make the Pacific West Conference one of the most
dynamic in the country. Following one if its most successful years ever, the PacWest plans to move into the future at
full speed. Over the next two years the conference will double the number of championships it sponsors from five to
ten, increasing the number of opportunities for its student-athletes.
24