THIS TIME, NORTHRIDGE MADE THE RIGHT DECISION.

Byline: Chris Branam Staff Writer

After years of financial instability, disorganization and scandal, Cal State Northridge athletics has some good news.

Finally.

The move to the Big West Conference gives the athletic department a chance to balance its budget, play regularly against teams from the Los Angeles area and, most importantly, give the Matadors an identity.

``From my vantage point, certainly I think it is a decision in the right direction,'' CSUN athletic director Dick Dull said. ``I'm convinced it is the right decision.''

According to Dull, there are three great advantages in getting out of the Big Sky and into the Big West.

First, the department can define itself with an emphasis on sports (baseball, softball and women's volleyball are examples) which are followed intently by Southern Californians.

Second, by joining a conference in which almost every member school is part of the state's public education system, Northridge can be part of the greater good. An athletic director at Big West member Long Beach State is more sympathetic to CSUN's strengths and weaknesses than an AD in Montana - especially when it comes to compliance with the Cal-NOW agreement.

Third, travel time is slashed. On a recent trip for games at Sacramento State and Weber State, the men's basketball players missed three days of classes. They'll miss half that much when they can travel by bus to Irvine and Fullerton.

``Obviously, doing some bus travel is cheaper than flying airplanes to Idaho and Montana,'' Dull said. ``But we're not doing it because of the financial considerations. Student-athletes belong in class as much as they can, and playing in a California conference, it will . . . definitely eliminate some missed class time.''

The athletes are the greatest benefactors of this move, and they should be.

The women's volleyball team can now promise a top-notch Orange County recruit she will play in front of family and friends. The same can be said for men's and women's basketball.

Who knows how many players Northridge has lost in the last five years because 17-year-olds from the Southland have no desire to play in Bozeman, Mont., or Pocatello, Idaho? The connection to Los Angeles is important for Northridge, which has become increasingly isolated among L.A.-area college sports fans because of the conference in which it plays.

The move may benefit the men's basketball program the most. The men's team, in the midst of its best Division I season, won't play on national TV this season - unless it makes the Big Sky championship game.

However, teams from the Big West, including sub-.500 programs like UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Fullerton, regularly play on ESPN's ``Big Monday'' and additional regional telecasts.

More exposure for the men's - and women's - basketball teams means more excitement, which makes it easier to draw larger crowds. Eventually, Dull would like to see Northridge build a basketball arena. He's also like to see students lining up at the ticket office hours before a big game.

It's not just in basketball, though, out of which regional rivalries will grow. More than 2,000 people showed up for the Matadors' men's soccer game against UCLA last fall, and that's almost as much as the football team drew playing against the likes of Idaho State and Weber State.

When Dull was hired last spring this was one of his major tasks, to steer Northridge out of the Big Sky and into the Big West. He did that; Dull met Big West Commissioner Dennis Farrell several times and stayed in contact with the presidents of the Big West schools.

Dull was an excellent lobbyist.

So were several people behind the scenes, most notably Grace Collins, an assistant athletic director in charge of the department's finances, and Louanne Kennedy, the school's interim president, who forced the issue when she took over last summer.

``The interesting thing that the Big West Conference will allow us to do,'' Dull said, ``is that from an institutional standpoint, we'll have the opportunity to define our program and not have the conference do it for us.''

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Photo: no caption (Dick Dull)