The 2000-2001 season of the Western Region was one of the most competitive seasons to date. With a new format of Northern and Southern Conferences, a 20 game season, and a new schedule comprised of a balanced inter-conference play, along with games verses traditional conference rivals, made this one of the more interesting seasons yet. The Northern Conference consisted of University of California, Davis, California State University, Chico, Sonoma State University, California State University, Sacramento, and new Active Member California State University, Monterey Bay. The Southern Conference of University of California, Santa Barbara, Grossmont College (Division III), University of Nevada, Las Vegas, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and University of San Diego (Division II).

In the Northern Conference, Chico State established itself as the team to beat, going 7-0 in their conference games before finally being defeated by UC Davis. They finished with a conference record of 13-1, going 15-4-0-1 overall, and winning the conference by eight points over UC Davis. Sonoma State University finished third followed by CSU Monterey Bay, and Sacramento State.

The Southern Conference featured a battle between UC Santa Barbara, regional champions in 1999 and 2000, and Cal Poly SLO, regional champion in 1998. After their strong finish in 2000, Cal Poly SLO looked like the team to beat, and they were as they went 3-0 verses UC Santa Barbara on their way to a 14-1 conference record, the only loss coming at the hands of Cal Poly Pomona. UC Santa Barbara finished second, eight points behind, and two points ahead of both Cal Poly Pomona and Grossmont College. UNLV finished in fifth place, followed by San Diego.

Cal Poly SLO, Chico State, and Cal Poly Pomona all participated in the CRHL's Elite Tournament Series NARCh Winternationals College Division, held in January in Las Vegas, NV. The three representatives of the Western Region had weekends they would all like to forget as they each finished 0-2-1, finishing in the last three spots in the eight-team field.

At the 4^th annual Far West Invitational held in Davis, CA, Cal Poly SLO defeated last years' winner UC Santa Barbara to win the event. Other teams participating were Chico State, Cal Poly Pomona, UC Davis, and University of Colorado.

The Regional Championship featured Southern Conference winner Cal Poly SLO, Northern Conference winner Chico State, and top teams UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly Pomona and UC Davis. Grossmont College was unable to attend, and a team comprised of B team players from Cal Poly SLO and Cal Poly Pomona replaced them. UC Davis had the most to gain from the event, as a win would give them an automatic bid to the National Championship Tournament. Cal Poly SLO and Chico State had already received automatic bids, and UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly Pomona had both received bids from the CRHL committee. However, a win by UC Davis would knock Cal Poly Pomona out of the NCT. In a battle of hard fought games, Cal Poly SLO defeated Cal Poly Pomona to win the Regional Championship. Cal Poly Pomona finished 2^nd, followed by UC Santa Barbara, Chico State and UC Davis.

Tom Weibe of Cal Poly Pomona led the Western Region in scoring and goals for the second consecutive season, with 46 goals and 27 assists for a total of 73 points in 18 games. Jamie Pham of Grossmont College led the league in assists, with 32 in 16 games. Brian Woolard of UNLV was the leading scorer among rookies, with 20 goals and 21 assists for 41 points. Rookie Matt Corsetti of Cal Poly SLO lead all goaltenders in wins (17), goals against average (1.88), and save percentage (.928) in 18 games.