Golden State Athletic Conference

The Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference commissioner is Mike Daniels. Conference leadership is shared among the member institutions. Nine of the ten members of the GSAC are Christian colleges located in California and Arizona. Conference teams have won 22 national championships.

History

The Golden State Athletic Conference was formed in the fall of 1986, with Azusa Pacific University, California Lutheran University, Fresno Pacific University, Point Loma Nazarene University, Vanguard University and Westmont College as the charter members. California Baptist University and Concordia University joined the GSAC in the fall of the following year (1987). Cal Lutheran left the GSAC after the spring of 1989. Biola University joined the GSAC in the fall of 1994. Hope International University and San Diego Christian College joined the GSAC in the fall of 1999. The Master's University, joined the GSAC in the fall of 2001. Lewis–Clark State College of Lewiston, Idaho joined the GSAC as an affiliate member for men's and women's tennis in 2016.

Recent years

In recent years, the conference has seen changes with members leaving the GSAC and the NAIA for the NCAA. In 2011 Cal Baptist left the GSAC to join the Pacific West Conference followed by the announcement that Azusa Pacific, Fresno Pacific and Point Loma Nazarene joined Cal Baptist in the PacWest in 2012. Concordia then left to join the PacWest in 2015, and Biola applied to make the same move in 2017. To replace these schools, the GSAC has added Arizona Christian, Menlo and William Jessup. Life Pacific joined in 2017 and Ottawa (AZ) joined in 2018 to bring the GSAC to 10 members.

Chronological timeline

* 1986 – The Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) was founded. Charter members included Azusa Pacific University, California Lutheran University (a.k.a. Cal Lutheran), Fresno Pacific College (now Fresno Pacific University), Point Loma Nazarene College (now Point Loma Nazarene University), Southern California College (now Vanguard University of Southern California) and Westmont College, effective beginning the 1986–87 academic year.
* 1987 – California Baptist College (now California Baptist University; a.k.a. Cal Baptist) and Christ College Irvine (now Concordia University Irvine) joined the GSAC, effective in the 1987–88 academic year.
* 1989 – Cal Lutheran left the GSAC, effective after the 1988–89 academic year.
* 1994 – Biola University joined the GSAC, effective in the 1994–95 academic year.
* 1999 – Pacific Christian College (now Hope International University) and San Diego Christian College joined the GSAC, effective in the 1999–2000 academic year.
* 2001 – The Master's College (now The Master's University) joined the GSAC, effective in the 2001–02 academic year.
* 2011 – Cal Baptist left the GSAC and the NAIA to join the Division II ranks and the Pacific West Conference (PacWest), effective after the 2010–11 academic year.
* 2012 – Azusa Pacific, Fresno Pacific and Point Loma Nazarene left the GSAC and the NAIA to join the Division II ranks and the PacWest, effective after the 2011–12 academic year.
* 2012 – Arizona Christian University joined the GSAC, effective in the 2012–13 academic year.
* 2014 – William Jessup University joined the GSAC, effective in the 2012–13 academic year.
* 2015 – Concordia–Irvine left the GSAC and the NAIA to join the Division II ranks and the PacWest, effective after the 2014–15 academic year.
* 2015 – Menlo College joined the GSAC, effective in the 2015–16 academic year.
* 2015 – Lewis–Clark State College joined the GSAC as an affiliate member for men's and women's tennis, effective in the 2016 spring season (2015–16 academic year).
* 2017 – Biola left the GSAC and the NAIA to join the Division II ranks and the PacWest, effective after the 2016–17 academic year.
* 2017 – Lewis–Clark State left the GSAC as an affiliate member for men's and women's tennis, effective after the 2017 spring season (2016–17 academic year).
* 2017 – Life Pacific College (now Life Pacific University) joined the GSAC, effective in the 2017–18 academic year.
* 2018 – Ottawa University–Arizona joined the GSAC, effective in the 2018–19 academic year.
* 2022 – Westmont announced that it will move to the NCAA Division II ranks and join the PacWest, effective beginning the 2023–24 academic year.

Member schools

Current members

The GSAC currently has ten full members, all are private schools:

;Notes:

Affiliate members

The GSAC currently has two affiliate members, both are private schools:

;Notes:

Former members

The GSAC had seven former full members, all were private schools:

;Notes:

Former affiliate members

The GSAC had two former affiliate members, one was a public school and one was a private school:

;Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1986 till:2026
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:50 top:5

Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7)
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb(0.7,0.9,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb(0.9,0.7,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.8,0.9,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for another sport only
id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference when the other color has already been used

PlotData =
width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s

bar:1 color:FullxF from:1986 till:2012 text:Azusa Pacific (1986–2012)
bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:end text: PacWest

bar:2 color:FullxF from:1986 till:1989 text: California Lutheran (1986–1989)
bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1989 till:1991 text:
bar:2 shift:(60) color:OtherC2 from:1991 till:end text:SCIAC

bar:3 color:FullxF from:1986 till:2012 text: Fresno Pacific (1986–2012)
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:end text: PacWest

bar:4 color:FullxF from:1986 till:2012 text: Point Loma Nazarene (1986–2012)
bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:end text: PacWest

bar:5 color:FullxF from:1986 till:end text:Vanguard (1986–present)

bar:6 color:FullxF from:1986 till:2023 text: Westmont (1986–present)
bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text: PacWest

bar:7 color:FullxF from:1987 till:2011 text: California Baptist (1987–2011)
bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:2011 till:2018 text: PacWest
bar:7 color:OtherC2 from:2018 till:end text: WAC

bar:8 color:FullxF from:1987 till:2015 text: Concordia–Irvine (1987–2015)
bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:2015 till:end text: PacWest

bar:9 color:FullxF from:1994 till:2017 text: Biola (1994–2017)
bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:2017 till:end text: PacWest

bar:10 color:FullxF from:1999 till:end text:Hope International (1999–present)

bar:11 color:FullxF from:1999 till:end text: San Diego Christian (1999–present)

bar:12 color:FullxF from:2001 till:end text: The Master's (2001–present)

bar:13 color:FullxF from:2012 till:end text: Arizona Christian (2012–present)

bar:14 color:FullxF from:2014 till:end text: William Jessup (2014–present)

bar:15 color:FullxF from:2015 till:end text: Menlo (2015–present)

bar:16 color:AssocOS from:2015 till:2017 text: Lewis–Clark State (2015–2017; m/w tennis)

bar:17 color:FullxF from:2017 till:end text: Life Pacific (2017–present)

bar:18 color:FullxF from:2018 till:end text: Ottawa–Arizona (2018–present)

bar:19 shift:(-40) color:AssocOS from:2020 till:2022 text: Marymount (Cal.) (2020–2022)

bar:20 shift:(-40) color:AssocOS from:2020 till:end text: Saint Katherine (2020–present)

bar:21 color:AssocOS from:2020 till:end text:Westcliff (2020–present)

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1986

TextData =
fontsize:M
textcolor:black
pos:(0,25) tabs:(400-center)
text:^"Golden State Athletic Conference membership history"

#> If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following three options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space.

<#

Sports sponsored

References

External links

*

{{NAIA conference navbox

College sports in California
1986 establishments in California