Great Northwest/Continental Divide Era

1981-82: Great Northwest Conference begins as men's basketball league with six charter members: Alaska Anchorage, Alaska Fairbanks, Eastern Washington, Eastern Montana (Montana State Billings), Puget Sound and Seattle Pacific. Alaska Anchorage wins inaugural men's basketball title.

1982-83: Continental Divide Conference begins after the Intermountain Conference splits. The CDC is a women's basketball and women's volleyball conference with four charter members: Air Force Academy, Colorado College, Denver and Northern Colorado. Colorado College wins inaugural women's basketball title and Northern Colorado wins inaugural women's volleyball title.

1983-84: Eastern Washington leaves the GNC.

1984-85: Five new members join the CDC: Alaska Anchorage, Alaska Fairbanks, Montana State Billings, Metro State Denver and Regis. Colorado College leaves CDC.

1986-87: Metro State Denver joins the GNC.

1988-89: Sacramento State joins the GNC.

1989-90: Northern Colorado leaves the CDC. Puget Sound leaves the GNC.

1990-91: Colorado Athletic Conference begins and Air Force, Denver, Metro State Denver and Regis leave the CDC. Sacramento State and Metro State Denver leave the GNC. Grand Canyon joins the GNC and CDC.

1991-92: Portland State joins the CDC. Chaminade becomes the first active PacWest member to join the GNC.
  1992-93: The Continental Divide Conference and the Great Northwest Conference merge to create the Pacific West Conference, which is an eight-member conference that sponsored men's and women's basketball and women's volleyball. The eight charter members are: Alaska Anchorage, Alaska Fairbanks, Chaminade, Grand Canyon, Hawai`i Hilo, Montana State Billings, Portland State and Seattle Pacific. Elwood "Woody" Hahn is selected as the first PacWest Commissioner.

1993-94: Men's and women's cross country become the fourth and fifth sports that the PacWest sponsors.

1994-95: Grand Canyon leaves the PacWest to join the CCAA. Western New Mexico joins the PacWest. Volleyball becomes a mandatory sport.

1996-97: Portland State leaves the PacWest to join the Big Sky Conference in all sports.

1998-99: The PacWest more than doubles in size, adding nine new members: BYU-Hawaii, Central Washington, Hawai`i Pacific, Humboldt State, Lewis-Clark State, Saint Martin's, Simon Fraser Western Oregon and Western Washington. The PacWest adds conference tournaments for men's and women's basketball and women's volleyball and adds three new sports: men's and women's soccer and softball.

1999-00: Northwest Nazarene and Seattle U join the PacWest. Lewis-Clark State returns to NAIA and Simon Fraser is denied entrance into NCAA. Men's and women track & field are added for a total of 16 members and 10 sports.

2000-01: The PacWest removes the tournaments in men's and women's basketball, and adds a conference tournament for softball.

2001-02: The Great Northwest Athletic Conference Begins, leaving six schools in the PacWest: BYU Hawaii, Chaminade, Hawai`i Hilo, Hawai`i Pacific, Montana State Billings and Western New Mexico. Men's basketball, women's volleyball, men's and women's tennis and softball are the five sponsored sports.

2005-06: Western New Mexico and Montana State Billings leave the PacWest, which loses its automatic qualifiers. The PacWest adds back women's basketball and removes men's tennis. Grand Canyon leaves the CCAA. 2006-07: The PacWest returns to minimum of six members as Grand Canyon officially joins the PacWest, and Notre Dame de Namur becomes the first California school since Cal Poly Humboldt to join the conference. The PacWest adds back men's and women's soccer and men's and women's cross country.

2007-08: Bob Hogue is named commissioner of the PacWest. Dixie State joins the PacWest, adding Utah to the list of 11 different states that have been involved in the PacWest since the GNC/CDC era. The PacWest adds men's golf. 

2008-09: Notre Dame de Namur and Dixie State complete transition to NCAA Division II. Automatic bids are returned to the conference.

2009-10: Academy of Art and Dominican join the PacWest. The PacWest adds baseball.

2011-12: California Baptist joins the PacWest. Grand Canyon wins the Director's Cup

2012-13: Four more schools join the PacWest: Azusa Pacific, Fresno Pacific, Holy Names and Point Loma. Conference tournaments are added for men's and women's basketball, men's and women's track & field and men's tennis. The PacWest adds women's golf to reach its current total of 15 sports. Grrand Canyon wins Director's Cup.

2013-14: Grand Canyon leaves the PacWest for NCAA Division I.

2015-16: Concordia joins the PacWest.

2017-18: Biola joins the PacWest. BYU Hawaii cuts athletics. California Baptist wins Director's Cup.

2018-19: California Baptist leaves PacWest for NCAA Division I and Dixie State switches its membership to the RMAC before also going to NCAA Division I.

2019-20: Biola is accepted into NCAA Division II, meaning all 12 PacWest members have active NCAA Division II status.

2020-21: Notre Dame de Namur closes doors. PacWest schedules events in all sports during the spring, offering the widest return to play available for any NCAA Division II conference in the West Region.

2022-23: Conference tournaments for softball and baseball are added. The PacWest adds Westmont College, which will play a conference schedule beginning in 2023-24. The PacWest celebrates 30 years since its inception. Azusa Pacific wins NCAA championship in women's track and field.

2023-24: Holy Names closes its doors. Jessup, Menlo and Vanguard join conference, to begin play in 2024-25. Point Loma wins NCAA championship in women's soccer.

2024-25: Westmont is NCAA post-season eligible. PacWest adds conference tournaments in men's and women's soccer. Azusa Pacific announces move to Division III and the SCIAC for 2026-27. Fresno Pacific will move to the CCAA that same year. Academy of Art drops athletics at the end of the 2024-25 year.