Girls Of The Big West

Each year, as Playboy prepares its October issue, there's a charge in the air—fashion editors launch their fall-wardrobe forecasts, sports editors and researchers crunch football data, graphic artists begin giving our pages that golden autumn feel. And over in the Photo Department, a debate is under way. "Traditionally, October is the month we present a back-to-school Girls of ... pictorial," says Managing Photo Editor Jeff Cohen. "And every year, the question is the same: Which conference should we select?" The choice is never easy: Cohen is always looking for something special. This year, he found it in the Big West. Made up of ten schools—seven in California, one each in Nevada, New Mexico and Utah—the Big West offers a few pluses not often found in your typical N.C.A.A. conference: small towns, beaches within Frisbee-tossing distance of ivory towers, backdrops ranging from desert to Sierras—and, of course, women ripened by constant sunshine. As usual, Contributing Photographer David Chan did the seek-and-shoot honors for us—a 12-week trek that covered nearly half a million square miles (they aren't kidding when they call the Big West big). Chan came back with the accompanying portfolio—guaranteed to take the chill out of the fall air in your territory. In keeping with the spirit of academic achievement, we give him an A-plus. We think you'll agree.