The Western Football Conference was an

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

scholarship-awarding football conference that existed from 1982 to 1993. Among its member schools were (from 1982 to 1992 unless otherwise noted): * Santa Clara * Cal Poly SLO * Cal State Northridge * Cal Lutheran (1985–1989) * Sacramento State (1985–1992) *

Southern Utah Dixie is a nickname for the populated, lower-elevation area of south-central Washington County, the southwest corner of the State of Utah, bordering nearby Arizona to the south, and Nevada to the west. The area lies in the northeastern Mojave ...

(1986–1992) *

Portland State Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the next ...

Cal Poly Pomona California State Polytechnic University Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) is a public polytechnic research university in Pomona, California, United States. It is the largest of the three polytechnic universities in the California State University syst ...

(1982) The first discussion of the formation of the league was held by administrators in 1976. Its founding, and only, commissioner was Vic Buccola, who had been the athletic director at Cal Poly from 1973 to 1981. He then became a founder and commissioner of the multi-sport American West Conference, which was chartered after the WFC folded in 1993. The WFC folded in part because of a new NCAA rule that prohibited member institutions who competed at the Division I (D-I) level in other sports from competing at the Division II (D-II) level in football. Cal State Northridge, Cal Poly SLO, Southern Utah, and Sacramento State, plus

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

for football, were the first announced members of the American West Conference. Of the eight WFC member schools: * Four (Cal Poly SLO, Sacramento State, Southern Utah, and Portland State) are currently members of the

Division I FCS The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Sponsored by the National Collegiate ...

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference, affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I with college football, football competing in the Football Cha ...

. * One (California Lutheran) is a member of the

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Third ...

Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that operates in NCAA Division III. The conference was founded in 1915 and it consists of twelve small private schools that are locat ...

(SCIAC). * Three have dropped football as a varsity sport: Cal Poly Pomona ahead of the 1983 season, Santa Clara in 1993, and CSUN in 2001 (following a brief stint in the Big Sky). In all other sports, Cal Poly Pomona is currently a member of the Division II

California Collegiate Athletic Association The California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division II, Division II level. All of its current m ...

, Santa Clara is a member of the Division I

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting o ...

, and Northridge is a member of the Division I

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's NCAA Division I, Division I. The conference was origina ...

. The WFC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award was named for Santa Clara coach Pat Malley. Its recipients include: * 1987: Tracy Morris Downs, M.D., Cal Lutheran

References

{{Reflist * Sports organizations established in 1982 Organizations disestablished in 1993 1982 establishments in the United States