Association | NCAA |
---|---|
Founded | 1992 |
Commissioner | Foti Mellis (since 2021) |
Sports fielded |
|
Division | Division I |
No. of teams | 38 (37 in 2024) |
Headquarters | Seattle, Washington |
Region | Western United States, Southwestern United States, Southern United States, Northwestern United States |
Official website | www |
Locations | |
The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) is a college athletic conference with members located mostly in the western United States, although it now has members as far east as Pennsylvania. The conference participates at the NCAA Division I level, primarily in Olympic sports that are not directly sponsored by a school's home conference (such as the Pac-12 and Big West, many of whose members participate in MPSF competition in at least one of its sports).
The MPSF was founded in 1992 and specifically created to provide an outlet for competition in non-revenue-producing Olympic sports. The MPSF conducts championships in men's volleyball, as well as indoor track, gymnastics, and water polo for both men and women. In 2010 the MPSF added women's swimming and diving to its list of sports, and added that sport for men in the 2011–12 season. The 2012–13 school year was the last for MPSF competition in men's soccer, and the 2016–17 school year was the last for MPSF women's lacrosse.
The conference's membership varies by sport; 38 schools are MPSF members in at least one of its sponsored sports. Schools are not required to participate in the MPSF competition for each sponsored sport if their primary conference affiliation sponsors a competition in that sport (e.g. Pac-12 soccer and women's gymnastics).
All MPSF members have a primary conference affiliation. All Big West Conference members house at least one sport in the MPSF. The West Coast Conference is represented by six schools (Pacific, Pepperdine, Portland, Saint Mary's, San Diego, San Francisco). The Pac-12 Conference is represented by five (Arizona State, California, Stanford, UCLA, USC). Two conferences are represented by 2 schools: the Big 12 Conference (BYU, Oklahoma) and the Mountain West Conference (Air Force and San Jose State). Twelve conferences are represented by one school each – the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (Penn State Behrend), the Big Sky Conference (Sacramento State), the Big Ten Conference (Indiana), the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (Augustana (IL)), the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (Alaska Anchorage), the Lone Star Conference (Texas Woman's), the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (Wheaton (MA)), the Pacific West Conference (Concordia–Irvine), the Presidents' Athletic Conference (Washington & Jefferson), the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (Austin), the Southland Conference (Incarnate Word), and the Western Athletic Conference (Grand Canyon).
All of the MPSF members from the Pac-12 will leave the latter conference at the end of the 2023–24 school year, at which time the Big Ten will be represented by three schools (adding UCLA and USC), and the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12 will each be represented by two (ACC: California and Stanford; Big 12: adding Arizona State but losing Oklahoma). Also in 2024–25, the Pacific West representation will increase to four schools with the arrival of Jessup, Menlo, and Vanguard; the Southeastern Conference will be represented by Oklahoma; and three Big West members (Bakersfield, Cal Poly, and UC Santa Barbara) will leave the MPSF.
Al Beaird was the first Executive Director of the MPSF for 24 years, from 1998 to 2021. Foti Mellis became the second executive director on June 1, 2021. Mellis was a Senior Associate Athletic Director at the University of California.
Source: [1]
Institution | Location | Nickname | Primary conference | Division |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jessup University | Rocklin, California | Warriors | GSAC (PacWest in 2024) | NAIA (NCAA D-II in 2024) |
Menlo College | Atherton, California | Oaks | ||
University of Oregon | Eugene, Oregon | Ducks | Pac-12 (Big Ten in 2024) | NCAA D-I |
Vanguard University | Costa Mesa, California | Lions | GSAC (PacWest in 2024) | NAIA (NCAA D-II in 2024) |
University of Washington | Seattle, Washington | Huskies | Pac-12 (Big Ten in 2024) | NCAA D-I |
The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation sponsors championship competition in five men's and five women's NCAA sanctioned sports [3] The MPSF dropped men's soccer after the 2012 season. The moves of Denver (all sports) and New Mexico (soccer only) to other conferences left the MPSF with six soccer members, but all six would soon leave due to moves by the Western Athletic Conference. MPSF soccer member Seattle was already in the WAC, and another MPSF soccer school, CSU Bakersfield, was already committed to join the WAC in 2013. Because the WAC dropped football after the 2012 season due to a near-complete membership turnover, it needed to add another men's sport to maintain its Division I status. To that end, it invited the four remaining MPSF soccer schools to join them; all accepted, and the WAC began sponsoring men's soccer in 2013–14. [4]
In October 2015, Arizona State announced that it would elevate its club team in women's lacrosse to full varsity status starting in the 2017–18 school year (2018 season), which will give the Pac-12 six women's lacrosse schools. This number is required by league bylaws for official sponsorship of a sport, and is also the number of teams required for a conference to be an automatic NCAA tournament qualifier. This led the Pac-12 to announce that all of its women's lacrosse teams would leave the MPSF for the new Pac-12 lacrosse league for the 2018 season. The four remaining MPSF lacrosse schools would have retained that league's automatic NCAA tournament bid for the 2018 and 2019 seasons while the MPSF sought to add new members in that sport, [5] but the MPSF chose to drop the sport at that time.
The next major change in conference membership came in January 2016, when the Golden Coast Conference, a water polo-only league that previously operated only a women's competition, announced it would add a men's division effective with the 2016–17 season. The GCC took six of the 10 members of the MPSF men's water polo league, leaving the MPSF with only the four Pac-12 members that sponsor the sport. [6]
On May 31, 2016, the Big West Conference announced that it would begin sponsoring men's volleyball in the 2017–18 school year (2018 season). The Big West men's volleyball league launched with full members Long Beach State, Cal State Northridge, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and Hawai'i, plus associate member UC San Diego (which joined the Big West full-time in July 2020). UC San Diego left the federation with the launch of Big West men's volleyball, but the other Big West members remain in the MPSF in other sports. [7] California Baptist also exited the MPSF after dropping its only conference sport of men's volleyball shortly after the 2017 season, and Cal State Bakersfield (now being rebranded athletically as Bakersfield) left the MPSF after dropping its last remaining conference sport of women's water polo at the same time. [8]
It was announced in August 2021 that the MPSF would add men's and women's fencing to the conference as the tenth sport. [9]
It was announced in September 2021 that the MPSF would add women's artistic swimming to the conference as the eleventh sport. [10]
On November 9, 2023, the MPSF announced that it would add beach volleyball, a women-only sport at the NCAA level, for the 2025 season (2024–25 school year). The inaugural membership in that sport will consist mainly of schools that are leaving the Pac-12 Conference, which sponsors beach volleyball, after 2023–24: California, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, and Washington. The only member not coming from the Pac-12 is Grand Canyon. [11] The following month, the MPSF announced that Saint Mary's, which had been an MPSF member in women's lacrosse before the conference dropped the sport in 2017, had returned to the conference in women's indoor track & field. [12]
Sport | Men's | Women's |
---|---|---|
Artistic Swimming | - | 4 |
Gymnastics | 4 | 3 |
Fencing | 4 | 4 |
Swimming & Diving | 7 | 10 |
Indoor Track & Field | 5 | 11 |
Volleyball | 7 | - |
Water polo | 8 | 7 |
School | Artistic Swimming | Fencing [lower-alpha 1] | Men's Gymnastics | Women's Gymnastics | Men's Indoor Track & Field | Women's Indoor Track & Field | Men's Swimming & diving | Women's Swimming & diving | Men's Volleyball | Men's Water Polo | Women's Water Polo | Total MPSF Sports |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Air Force | 2 | |||||||||||
Alaska Anchorage | 1 | |||||||||||
Arizona State | 1 | |||||||||||
Augustana (IL) | 1 | |||||||||||
Austin | 1 | |||||||||||
BYU | 1 | |||||||||||
Cal Poly | 2 | |||||||||||
Cal State Bakersfield | 2 | |||||||||||
Cal State Fullerton | 2 | |||||||||||
Cal State Northridge | 2 | |||||||||||
California | 3 | |||||||||||
Concordia–Irvine | 1 | |||||||||||
Grand Canyon | 1 | |||||||||||
Hawaii | 3 | |||||||||||
Incarnate Word | 4 | |||||||||||
Indiana | 1 | |||||||||||
Long Beach State | 2 | |||||||||||
Oklahoma | 1 | |||||||||||
Pacific | 2 | |||||||||||
Penn State Behrend | 1 | |||||||||||
Pepperdine | 2 | |||||||||||
Portland | 2 | |||||||||||
Sacramento State | 1 | |||||||||||
Saint Mary's | 1 | |||||||||||
San Diego | 1 | |||||||||||
San Francisco | 1 | |||||||||||
San Jose State | 1 | |||||||||||
Southern California | 3 | |||||||||||
Stanford | 6 | |||||||||||
Texas Woman's | 1 | |||||||||||
UC Davis | 3 | |||||||||||
UC Irvine | 1 | |||||||||||
UCLA | 3 | |||||||||||
UC Riverside | 2 | |||||||||||
UC San Diego | 3 | |||||||||||
UC Santa Barbara | 2 | |||||||||||
Washington & Jefferson | 1 | |||||||||||
Wheaton (MA) | 1 | |||||||||||
Totals | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
There are three sports that are sponsored under the aquatics section. Men's and women's swimming and diving were launched in the 2010-11 season. Artistic swimming was later added in the 2021-22 season.
Institution | Location | Nickname | Team | Primary conference | Joined | Left |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States Air Force Academy | USAF Academy, Colorado | Falcons | Men | Mountain West | 2011 | 2013 |
Brigham Young University | Provo, Utah | Cougars | Men Women | Big 12 | 2011 | 2023 |
University of Denver | Denver, Colorado | Pioneers | Men | Summit | 2012 | 2013 |
Loyola Marymount University | Los Angeles, California | Lions | Women | WCC | 2010 | 2014 |
University of Nevada, Las Vegas | Paradise, Nevada | Rebels | Men | Mountain West | 2011 | 2013 |
University of North Dakota | Grand Forks, North Dakota | Fighting Hawks | Men | Summit | 2011 | 2013 |
University of Northern Colorado | Greeley, Colorado | Bears | Women | Big Sky | 2010 | 2012 |
Seattle University | Seattle, Washington | Redhawks | Men | WAC | 2010 | 2013 |
Women | 2012 | |||||
University of Wyoming | Laramie, Wyoming | Cowboys & Cowgirls | Men | Mountain West | 2011 | 2013 |
All aquatic sports Men's & women's swimming & diving Women's swimming & divingMen's swimming & divingArtistic swimming
Year | Men | Women |
---|---|---|
2010–11 | CSU Bakersfield | UC Davis |
2011–12 | Brigham Young | Brigham Young |
2012–13 | UNLV | UC Davis |
2013–14 | Brigham Young | |
2014–15 | Hawaii | |
2015–16 | UC Davis | |
2016–17 | UC Santa Barbara | Hawaii |
2017–18 | ||
2018–19 | Hawaii | |
2019–20 | ||
2020–21 | Brigham Young | |
2021–22 | UC San Diego | |
2022–23 | Hawaii |
Fencing was introduced as an MPSF sport in the 2021-22 season.
The MPSF currently has four members that participate in fencing. Stanford will depart as a member when it moves its primary affiliation from the Pac-12 Conference to the Atlantic Coast Conference, which sponsors the sport, in 2024.
Institution | Location | Nickname | Primary conference | Joined |
---|---|---|---|---|
United States Air Force Academy | USAF Academy, Colorado | Falcons | Mountain West | 2021 |
University of California, San Diego | La Jolla, California | Tritons | Big West | |
University of the Incarnate Word | San Antonio, Texas | Cardinals | Southland | |
Stanford University | Stanford, California | Cardinal | Pac-12 (ACC in 2024) | 2021 |
Fencing members
Year | Team |
---|---|
2021-22 | Stanford |
2022-23 |
Men's gymnastics was introduced as an MPSF sport with the formation of the conference while women's gymnastics was initiated for the 2001-02 season.
The MPSF currently has four members that participate in men's gymnastics and four for women's.
Institution | Location | Nickname | Men | Women | Primary conference | Joined |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States Air Force Academy | USAF Academy, Colorado | Falcons | Mountain West | 1992 | ||
University of Alaska Anchorage | Anchorage, Alaska | Seawolves | GNAC (NCAA D-II) | 2002 | ||
University of California, Berkeley | Berkeley, California | Golden Bears | Pac-12 (ACC in 2024) | 1992 | ||
University of California, Davis | Davis, California | Aggies | Big West | 2001 | ||
California State University, Sacramento | Sacramento, California | Hornets | Big Sky | 2001 2013 | ||
University of Oklahoma | Norman, Oklahoma | Sooners | Big 12 (SEC in 2024) | 1992 | ||
Southern Utah University [13] | Cedar City, Utah | Thunderbirds | WAC | 2023 | ||
Stanford University | Stanford, California | Cardinal | Pac-12 (ACC in 2024) | 1992 |
Institution | Location | Nickname | Team | Primary conference | Joined | Left |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States Air Force Academy | USAF Academy, Colorado | Falcons | Women | Mountain West | 2001 | 2023 |
Brigham Young University | Provo, Utah | Cougars | Men | Big 12 | 1992 | 2000 |
University of California, Los Angeles | Los Angeles, California | Bruins | Men | Pac-12 (Big Ten in 2024) | 1992 | 1994 |
University of California, Santa Barbara | Isla Vista, California | Gauchos | Men | Big West | 1992 | 2002 |
Women | 2001 | |||||
University of Nebraska | Lincoln, Nebraska | Cornhuskers | Men | Big Ten | 1994 | 2011 |
University of New Mexico | Albuquerque, New Mexico | Lobos | Men | Mountain West | 1992 | 1999 |
San Jose State University | San Jose, California | Spartans | Men | Mountain West | 1992 | 1997 |
Women | 2001 | 2005 | ||||
2013 | 2023 | |||||
Seattle Pacific University | Seattle, Washington | Falcons | Women | GNAC (NCAA D-II) | 2002 | 2020 |
Utah State University | Logan, Utah | Aggies | Women | Mountain West | 2012 | 2013 |
Men's & women's gymnastics Women's gymnastics Men's gymnastics
Conference champions
| National champions
|
Men's and women's indoor track & field were introduced for the 1992–93 season as one of the conference's inaugural sports. Conference records before 1999 are incomplete.
Conference champions
| National championsAll national champions are in men's volleyball.
|
Men's volleyball was introduced for the 1993 season (1992–93 school year) as one of the conference's inaugural sports. The MPSF will add beach volleyball in the 2025 season (2024–25 school year). The MPSF added the sport in the wake of the collapse of the Pac-12 Conference, which will see 10 of its 12 members leave for other conferences after the 2023–24 school year. Of the 10 departing schools, nine sponsor beach volleyball. Three left for the Big 12 Conference, which announced it would start sponsoring beach volleyball in 2024–25. [14] The other six, which will join either the Atlantic Coast Conference or the Big Ten Conference, will make up almost all of the inaugural MPSF beach volleyball membership. California, Stanford, UCLA, and USC are current MPSF members in other sports, and Oregon and Washington are returning MPSF members. The only inaugural beach volleyball member not arriving from the Pac-12 is Grand Canyon.
Institution | Location | Nickname | Men | Women (beach) | Primary conference | Joined |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brigham Young University | Provo, Utah | Cougars | Big 12 | 1992 | ||
University of California, Los Angeles | Los Angeles, California | Bruins | [lower-alpha 1] | Pac-12 (Big Ten in 2024) | 1992 (M) 2024 (W) | |
Concordia University Irvine | Irvine, California | Eagles | Pacific West | 2017 | ||
Grand Canyon University | Phoenix, Arizona | Antelopes | [lower-alpha 1] | WAC | 2017 (M) 2024 (W) | |
Pepperdine University | Malibu, California | Waves | WCC | 1992 | ||
University of Southern California | Los Angeles, California | Trojans | [lower-alpha 1] | Pac-12 (Big Ten in 2024) | 1992 (M) 2024 (W) | |
Stanford University | Stanford, California | Cardinal | [lower-alpha 1] | Pac-12 (ACC in 2024) | 1992 (M) 2024 (W) |
Institution | Location | Nickname | Men | Women (Beach) | Primary conference | Joining |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
University of California, Berkeley | Berkeley, California | Golden Bears | Pac-12 Conference (ACC in 2024) | 2024–25 | ||
University of California, Los Angeles | Los Angeles, California (Westwood) | Bruins | Pac-12 Conference (Big Ten in 2024) | |||
Grand Canyon University | Phoenix, Arizona | Antelopes | WAC | |||
Menlo College | Atherton, California | Oaks | GSAC (PacWest in 2024) | |||
University of Oregon | Eugene, Oregon | Ducks | Pac-12 Conference (Big Ten in 2024) | |||
University of Southern California | Los Angeles, California (South Los Angeles) | Trojans | Pac-12 Conference (Big Ten in 2024) | |||
Stanford University | Stanford, California | Cardinal | Pac-12 Conference (ACC in 2024) | |||
Vanguard University | Costa Mesa, California | Lions | GSAC (PacWest in 2024) | |||
University of Washington | Seattle, Washington | Huskies | Pac-12 Conference (Big Ten in 2024) | |||
Jessup University | Rocklin, California | Warriors | GSAC (PacWest in 2024) | TBD |
Men's & women's (beach) volleyball Women's (beach) volleyball Men's volleyball
Conference champions
| National championsAll national champions are in men's volleyball.
† — Vacated due to NCAA violations |
Source: [15]
Women's lacrosse
Men's soccer
| Men's track & field indoor
Women's track & field indoor
| Men's water polo
Women's water polo
|
The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation has won 100 NCAA titles in seven sports. UCLA has won 25 national titles. Stanford has won 20 titles. USC has won 16 titles. Oregon has won 12 titles. Oklahoma has won nine titles. California has won six titles. UC Irvine has won four titles. Arizona State and Brigham Young have won three titles. Pepperdine has won two titles. The MPSF has won every men's and women's water polo NCAA title since the inception of the conference.
Men's gymnastics
Men's soccer
| Men's water polo
Women's water polo
|
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