Great Western Conf. [Archive] - SDSUFans.com Forum

SDSUFAN

08-06-2003, 05:22 AM

As far as this conference I believe its still nameless. The good fans at Bisonville have come up with this name. *Once all the adminsitrators come to gather and form this conference, it may have a different name. *I guess for now the name is okay. Being speculative fans is what these message boards are all about.

Last month, while at coffee in Brookings one of the people in the group thought the travel for this conference was outrageous, but I told him, SDSU has had to travel Bellingham Washington and Oregan this year to fill the schedule if we stay D2. So why not travel a little more? This guy kind of shut up and did not say anymore.

Travel is not the big of an expense item as people think.
But SDSU is going to have to promote locally more to get more people interested. The big traget will need to be Sioux Falls.

St. Mary's appears to have a very small football facility. This was one of the big foes for Fordham College in the 1930's when Vince Lombardi played for Fordham according to his biography. Fordham and St. Mary's used to fill the Polo Grounds in the big Apple. The Polo Grounds has since been torn down, but it used to seat about 100,000. This was before Television. Also St. Mary's has made bowl appearences, like the Sugur Bowl I believe. So they have an interesting past, but will need to upgrade their facilities very soon I would think.

89rabbit

08-06-2003, 06:45 AM

You are right the name is tentative, but we have to call it something. St. Mary's is another school I was talking with last night. They have indeed been in some bowl games in the distant past. They won a Cotton Bowl by beating Texas Tech.

Go State!

1963Jack

08-09-2003, 01:14 PM

I think the likeliness of us going this way is high. I think we can be competitive right away in the GWC.

89rabbit

09-16-2003, 08:08 PM

News about the Great Western from UC-Davis land:

http://www.davisenterprise.com/articles/2003/09/16/sports/106spt0.txt?session=8hg7Pc9bB2NWg62f7v5eGAkXIf

Go State!

89rabbit

09-27-2003, 02:49 PM

Late in the 4th Qtr. UNC leads Montana St. 14-10! Go Bears! ;D

SDSU getting ready for I AA!

89rabbit

09-27-2003, 03:04 PM

UNC did it they beat Montana St. 14-10! (Montana St. lost to Cal Poly last week, two in a row to the Great Western)! I think with this win and NDSU's win over Montana we can safely say that we will be ok with our move up to I AA! Congrats to the Bears.

Go State!

filbert

09-28-2003, 09:13 AM

Great Western Conference Standings
September 18, 2003
Ranked by overall record

Northern Colorado
4-1
0-0

Cal Poly
3-1
0-0

North Dakota State
3-1
1-1

South Dakota State
2-2
0-1

UC Davis
1-2
1-0

Southern Utah
1-3
0-0

St. Mary's
0-4
0-0

1-1 vs. IA
5-7 vs. IAA
6-4 vs. II

Sat, Sep. 27 Scores
North Dakota State 24, South Dakota State 0
Nothern Colorado 14, Montana State 10
Northern Arizona 24, Cal Poly 7
Western Washington 42, St. Mary's 35

89rabbit

09-28-2003, 08:59 PM

Good stuff filbert. Wow St. Mary's is bad! :o Kind of the Morningside of the new leauge.

Go SDSU, I AA all the way!

89rabbit

10-04-2003, 08:21 AM

Today Western Oregon plays Southern Utah (one of the I-AA schools that has been talked about as being in our new football Conf., The Great Western). It will be interesting to see how this game turns out. A measuring stick of sorts.

Thunderbirds Host Western Oregon

Southern Utah stays home this week to begin a three-game homestand against Western Oregon. The Thunderbirds will spend all of October at home, with the second of two bye weeks scheduled for Oct. 25 following games against WOU, Texas State (formerly Southwest Texas State) and McNeese State.
The Thunderbirds (1-3) are coming off a bye week that was preceded by a 49-21 loss at Eastern Washington. In the loss at EWU the Thunderbirds struggled with a slow start, giving up 21 first-quarter points, and although they got stronger as the game went on they were never able to overcome that initial deficit.
Western Oregon (2-2) opened the season 2-0 but has suffered back-to-back setbacks coming into Saturday’s game, including a 29-21 home loss to Mesa State last week. The Wolves opened with a 23-22 win at Humboldt State and followed that with a 23-20 home decision over Western Washington but suffered their first defeat at the hands of South Dakota State (37-10) before falling to Mesa.

The Game: Western Oregon (2-2) at Southern Utah (1-3), 7:00 p.m. (Mountain), Eccles Coliseum (8,500/Grass).

Go South Dakota State!

89rabbit

10-04-2003, 08:24 AM

Here is this weeks Great Western Match ups:

Oct 4th Games
North Dakota State @ Minnesota State-Mankato
South Dakota State @ Nebraska-Omaha
UC-Davis @ Sacramento State
Cal-Poly @ Montana
Montana State @ St Mary's
Western Oregon @ Southern Utah
Northern Colorado Bye

Go SDSU!

filbert

10-05-2003, 02:25 PM

89rabbit

10-05-2003, 06:49 PM

Great Western Conference Standings
October 5, 2003
Ranked by overall record

North Dakota State4-11-1
Northern Colorado4-10-0
Cal Poly3-20-0
UC Davis2-21-0
South Dakota State2-30-1
Southern Utah2-30-0
St. Mary's0-50-0

1-1 vs. IA
5-8 vs. IAA
8-5 vs. II

Sat., Oct. 4 Scores:
NDSU 20, Minn. State-Mankato 9
Northern Colorado (idle)
Montana 17, Cal Poly 14
UC Davis 31, Sac State 27
Nebraska-Omaha 34, SDSU 17
Southern Utah 17, W. Oregon 10
Montana State 40, St. Mary's 0

The things I take away from this weeks games are that St. Mary's and Southern Utah are people we should beat coming out of the blocks. *I also think that SDSU should be competitive with most of I-AA. *UC-Davis a team we know and have beaten, not so long ago, handed yet another Big Sky team a loss from the Great Western.

Huge game for UC-Davis, Sac State is their USD. *Looks like Western Oregon gave Southern Utah all they wanted. *I will end by recapping the fact that UNC, NDSU, UC-Davis, and Cal Poly have all beaten Big Sky Schools and the Big Sky is a very well respected I-AA conf. *Cal Poly even has a win over a I-A. *They opened the season by beating Texas El-Paso! Looks like a very strong conf. *Thanks for the update filbert.

Go SDSU!

89rabbit

10-11-2003, 02:07 PM

Week: 10/11

Nebraska-Omaha @ North Dakota State
North Dakota @ South Dakota State
Western Oregon @ UC-Davis
Cal-Poly @ Akron
St Marys @ Lehigh
Texas State @ Southern Utah
Western Washington @ Northern Colorado

Go SDSU!

filbert

10-12-2003, 12:34 PM

Great Western Conference Standings
October12, 2003
Ranked by overall record

North Dakota State5-11-1
Northern Colorado5-10-0
UC Davis3-21-0
Cal Poly3-30-0
Southern Utah3-30-0
South Dakota State2-40-1
St. Mary's0-60-0

1-2 vs. IA
5-9 vs. IAA
11-6 vs. II

Sat., Oct.11 Scores:
NDSU 34, Nebraska-Omaha 7
Northern Colorado 48, W. Washington 14
UC Davis 27, W. Oregon 7
Akron 45, Cal Poly 14
Southern Utah 31, Texas State 28
North Dakota 25, South Dakota State 24
Lehigh 35, St. Mary's 7

SDSUFAN

10-12-2003, 03:55 PM

This is very interesting. Knowing comparative scores are often of no value, it interesting to see that UCD took WOU by 20 and SDSU got them by 27, 37-10. I really wonder how we would do against Davis. Its a very good possiblity that we will find out next year.

bisonguy

10-12-2003, 06:48 PM

This is very interesting. Knowing comparative scores are often of no value, it interesting to see that UCD took WOU by 20 and SDSU got them by 27, 37-10. *I really wonder how we would do against Davis. Its a very good possiblity that we will find out next year. *

You could also look at it as NDSU beat SDSU by 24, and Davis beat NDSU by 9.
Davis had a very athletic team that didn't make many mistakes. Their line was huge and fast, a combo that doesn't happen very often. The defense was very quick and the QB didn't miss.

SDSUFAN

10-12-2003, 07:04 PM

Bison Guy:
I dont think we want UCD this year at least based on how we have played the past three games. So your comparison without doubt carries some weight.

bisonguy

10-13-2003, 06:58 PM

Here's the UC-Davis schedule for 2004-
Note who is playing on Sept. 18th ;D
Date
Opponent
Location
Time
Result

Sept. 4
OPEN
OPEN
OPEN
OPEN

Sept. 11
Texas State, San Marcos
UC Davis
TBA

Sept. 18
South Dakota State
UC Davis
TBA

Sept. 25
Sacramento State
UC Davis
TBA

Oct. 2
Northern Colorado
Northern Colorado
TBA

Oct. 9
Western Oregon
Western Oregon
TBA

Oct. 16
Stephen F Austin (Homecoming)
UC Davis
TBA

Oct. 23
Southern Utah
Southern Utah
TBA

Oct. 30
Cal Poly
Cal Poly
TBA

Nov. 6
North Dakota State
UC Davis
TBA

Nov. 13
St. Mary's
UC Davis
TBA

Nov. 20
Portland State
Portland State
TBA

filbert

10-19-2003, 10:49 AM

Great Western Conference Standings
October 19, 2003
Ranked by overall record

North Dakota State5-21-1
Northern Colorado5-20-0
UC Davis4-21-0
Cal Poly4-31-0
Southern Utah3-40-0
South Dakota State3-40-1
St. Mary's0-70-1

1-2 vs. IA
5-11 vs. IAA
13-7 vs. II

Sat., Oct.18 Scores:
North Dakota 28, North Dakota State 21 (OT)
Florida Atlantic 21, Northern Colorado 19
UC Davis 48, Western Washington 19
Cal Poly 54, St. Mary's 10
McNeese State 33, Southern Utah 20
South Dakota State 38, Minnesota State-Mankato 6

filbert

10-27-2003, 04:15 AM

Great Western Conference Standings
October26, 2003
Ranked by overall record

North Dakota State6-21-1
Northern Colorado5-20-0
UC Davis4-21-0
Cal Poly4-31-0
South Dakota State4-40-1
Southern Utah3-40-0
St. Mary's1-70-1

1-2 vs. IA
6-11 vs. IAA
16-7 vs. II

Sat., Oct.25 Scores:
North Dakota State 42, Augustana 10
Norhtern Colorado idle
UC Davis idle
Cal Poly idle
South Dakota State 22, South Dakota 11
Southern Utah idle
St. Mary's 33, SE Louisiana 27

89rabbit

10-30-2003, 01:05 PM

St. Mary's did it. They got a win. Way to go Gales! ;)

Go SDSU!

filbert

11-02-2003, 03:25 PM

Great Western Conference Standings
November 2, 2003
Ranked by overall record

North Dakota State7-21-1
Northern Colorado6-20-0
UC Davis5-22-0
Cal Poly5-32-0
South Dakota State5-40-1
Southern Utah3-50-1
St. Mary's1-80-2

1-2 vs. IA
6-11 vs. other IAA
18-7 vs. other II

Sat., Nov. 1 Scores:
North Dakota State 35, South Dakota 3
Norhtern Colorado idle
UC Davis 45, St. Mary's 14
Cal Poly 33, Southern Utah 21
South Dakota State 27, St. Cloud State 24

Sat., Oct. 25 score (screwed up last week, sorry Bears)
Northern Colorado 55, Adams State 14

filbert

11-09-2003, 09:10 AM

Great Western Conference Standings
November 9, 2003
Ranked by overall record

Northern Colorado7-21-0
North Dakota State7-31-1
Cal Poly6-33-0
UC Davis5-32-1
South Dakota State6-40-1
Southern Utah3-60-2
St. Mary's1-90-2

1-2 vs. IA
6-12 vs. other IAA
16-8 vs. other II

Sat., Nov. 8 Scores:
Northern Colorado 29, Southern Utah 25
St. Cloud State 33, North Dakota 30 (OT)
Cal Poly 18, UC Davis 14
South Dakota State 42, Augustana 22
Drake 20, St. Mary's 13

UNC turns back SUU with a touchdown in the last 30 seconds.
NDSU rallies from a 27-10 halftime deficit, but loses a heartbreaker at St. Cloud in overtime.
Cal Poly comes back from being down 14 to beat the Aggies.
SDSU spots Augie 10 points then roars back to win going away.
St. Mary's can't protect a 13-0 lead at Des Moines.

This could be a very, very fun conference. Hope to see most of you on next year's schedule!

Next Week:
Augustana at Northern Colorado
Concordia St. Paul at North Dakota State
Idaho State at Cal Poly
Central Washington at UC Davis
Humboldt State at South Dakota State
Southern Utah at St. Mary's

filbert

11-16-2003, 08:12 PM

Great Western Conference Standings
November 16, 2003
Ranked by overall record

Northern Colorado8-21-0
North Dakota State8-31-1
UC Davis6-32-1
South Dakota State7-40-1
Cal Poly6-43-0
Southern Utah4-61-2
St. Mary's1-100-3

1-2 vs. IA
6-13 vs. other IAA
20-8 vs. other II

Sat., Nov. 15 Scores:
Northern Colorado 41, Augustana 0
North Dakota State 58, Concordia-St. Paul 24
Idaho State 38, Cal Poly 31
UC Davis 41, Central washington 7
South Dakota State 47, Humboldt State 6
Southern Utah 40, St. Mary's 7

Hope I got everything right...I'm working remote right now. Lots of points this week.

89rabbit

11-21-2003, 01:42 PM

Big game in the Great Western this weekend. UNC (8-2) is playing UC-Davis (6-3) (first meeting ever, can you believe that! :o) at Davis in what is being called Provisional Bowl 2003. Should be a good one.

Go SDSU!

Lurking_Dog

11-21-2003, 02:31 PM

I don't want to be a wet blanket, but the chances of San Diego joining your conference are slim and none. I think they'll stay nonscholarship.

C'mon by the PFL message board and take the St. Mary's poll at the top of the page.
http://www.voy.com/27650/

89rabbit

11-21-2003, 02:47 PM

I don't want to be a wet blanket, but the chances of San Diego joining your conference are slim and none. *I think they'll stay nonscholarship.

C'mon by the PFL message board and take the St. Mary's poll at the top of the page.
http://www.voy.com/27650/

Dog,

you are talking about some ancient history. *That post is from Aug. *It was before the Toreros had their new AD. *I was only commenting that a couple of posters from USD were expressing hope that they might be able to take their program to the next level (I-AA playoffs) depending on how things worked out. *The fun part for us Rabbits was "USD" (University of San Diego rather then University of South Dakota ;)) *it was never too serious. *

Go Jacks! *

89rabbit

11-22-2003, 01:24 PM

To me it is looking more and more like the Mid-Con and Great Western for us.

College football: NDSU eyes football-only conference

By Jeff Kolpack
The Forum - 11/22/2003

Athletic directors from six Division I-AA schools will meet next month in what appears to be a serious step in forming a football-only conference.

North Dakota State athletic director Gene Taylor will be joined by representatives from South Dakota State, Southern Utah, Cal Poly, California Davis and Northern Colorado Dec. 8-9 in Las Vegas.

St. Mary’s College (Calif.) is allied with the group, but its athletic director will not be present. The agenda includes issues such as bylaws, schedules, conference management and possible names and logos.

“A little bit of everything,” Taylor said.

It will be the second meeting regarding the league. The same schools met in June at a national athletic directors convention in Orlando, Fla.

This time the group may get down to the fine details.

“It’s not a done deal at this point,” said Cal Poly Athletic Director John McCutcheon, “but I think all of us are encouraged by the nature and the spirit of the conversations. I’m real optimistic something will develop.”

Cal Poly, Davis, St. Mary’s, Northern Colorado and Southern Utah are independents in football. NDSU and SDSU will be starting their respective transition periods next year, most likely as independents in all sports.

“At this point, there doesn’t seem to be anything overwhelmingly challenging that lies ahead of us,” McCutcheon said.

That could change if the Big Sky Conference has a change of heart and begins looking seriously at NDSU and SDSU. Both would like to join.

But NDSU has to balance the issue of how long the school is willing to wait for the Big Sky vs. the probable formation of the new football league.

“If the Big Sky came knocking on our door, we obviously couldn’t say ‘let us join without football,’” Taylor said. “Yet, (the independents) are going to want a commitment.”

Asked if he anticipates any concrete resolution from the December meeting, Taylor isn’t sure.

“I don’t know if we’ll come out of it with a signed agreement or not,” he said.

Taylor said the proposed league might look to the Mid-Continent Conference to help manage it. Southern Utah is a member of the Mid-Con, which does not have football.

For a fee, the Mid-Con would act as the conference office and handle matters like statistics, media and NCAA regulations.

Most of the schools have already started scheduling each other. Davis has agreements to play the other six teams next year, according to The Davis Enterprise newspaper.

NDSU has UNC, Davis and St. Mary’s on its 2004 schedule -- all road games. Taylor said Cal Poly and Southern Utah remain possibilities.

It appears the earliest the league could get going with a full round-robin schedule would be 2005.

“It’s going to be fun to sit down and formally talk about some sort of conference,” Taylor said.

Go SDSU!

89rabbit

11-22-2003, 10:36 PM

Here is the Argus story:

http://www.argusleader.com/sports/Sundayarticle3.shtml

Football league moving forward
From staff and wire reports

published: 11/23/2003

Six athletic directors have scheduled another meeting to discuss forming a Division I-AA football conference.

Officials from South Dakota State, North Dakota State, Southern Utah, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, California Davis and Northern Colorado plan to meet Dec. 8-9 in Las Vegas.

The agenda includes bylaws, schedules, conference management and possible names and logos. St. Mary's College (Calif.) is allied with the group, but its athletic director will not attend.

"The game plan is to discuss issues," said SDSU Athletic Director Fred Oien said Saturday, adding that he thinks no decision will be made at that time to finalize the league.

This will be the second meeting regarding the proposed league. Oien said the officials will take details from the discussions back to their campuses for university presidents and coaches to fine-tune and analyze. Barring setbacks, a meeting to finalize the agreement likely will be held in January in Nashville when athletic directors attend the annual NCAA meetings.

"We're looking to go in with as much complete before making a final decision," Oien said.

The schools initially met in June at a national athletic directors' convention in Orlando, Fla.

NDSU athletic director Gene Taylor said he was unsure if the schools would come out the upcoming meeting with a signed agreement.

"It's going to be fun to sit down and formally talk about some sort of conference," Taylor said.

SDSU and NDSU will be starting their transition to Division I-AA football and Division I for all other sports next year, most likely as independents in all sports.

Cal Poly, Davis, St. Mary's, Northern Colorado and Southern Utah are independents in football.

"It's not a done deal at this point, but I think all of us are encouraged by the nature and the spirit of the conversations. I'm real optimistic something will develop," Cal Poly athletic director John McCutcheon said.

"At this point, there doesn't seem to be anything overwhelmingly challenging that lies ahead of us."

That could change if the Big Sky Conference begins looking seriously at NDSU and SDSU. Both schools would like to join the conference, which sponsors I-AA football and programs for the schools' other sports.

"If the Big Sky came knocking on our door, we obviously couldn't say 'Let us join without football,'" Taylor said. "Yet, (the independents) are going to want a commitment."

Northern Colorado is a full independent in all sports. Cal-Davis is joining the Big West, and the other schools are already members of other conferences for their remaining sports.

Taylor said the proposed league might look to the Mid-Continent Conference to help manage it. Southern Utah is a member of that conference, which does not offer football.

Most of the schools have started scheduling each other. Oien said the Jackrabbits have six games already under contract or agreed upon in principle for the 2004 football season.

Davis has agreements to play the other six teams next year. NDSU has games at Northern Colorado, Davis and St. Mary's on its 2004 schedule.

The earliest the new league could begin a full schedule would likely be 2005.

filbert

11-23-2003, 07:58 AM

Great Western Conference Standings
November 23, 2003
Ranked by overall record

Northern Colorado9-22-0
North Dakota State8-31-1
Cal Poly7-43-0
South Dakota State7-40-1
UC Davis6-42-2
Southern Utah4-71-2
St. Mary's1-110-3

1-2 vs. IA
6-15 vs. other IAA
24-8 vs. other II

Sat., Nov. 22 Scores:
Northern Colorado 35, UC Davis 28
Cal Poly 56, Humboldt State 21
Idaho State 36, Southern Utah 17
Weber State 35, St. Mary's 15

Wow . . . Cal Poly beat Cal in basketball, 63-62! Go Stangs!

filbert

11-23-2003, 08:31 AM

GWC 2003 Wrapup:

Season 0 of the Great Western Conference is done. *(OK, maybe it's season -1, as the first full year of the conference is likely to be 2005).

Cal Poly kicked off the year impressively by decisively beating D-IA UTEP. *Big wins over upper-division Big Sky rivals further highlight the year, as BSC champion Montana State fell to both Cal Poly and Northern Colorado, Montana lost to NDSU, Cal Poly knocked off Northern Arizona as well. *Idaho State proved to be the GWC's Big Sky nemesis this year, going 3-0 against the GWC.

Overall the GWC went 42-35 in all games, including a 6-15 record against DI-AA competition, and 24-9 against DII.

Northern Colorado had a great year, losing two games by a total of 11 points, and showing up in the DI-AA polls. * Their ex-North Central Conference opponents NDSU and SDSU also had good seasons; NDSU bouncing back from a sub-par 2002 season to come within an overtime field goal of making the DII playoffs, and SDSU finishing strong with 5 straight wins after a rough season start. *Southern Utah almost beat DIA Nevada in their opener, then struggled through an up-and-down year.

Of the California schools, both Cal Poly and UC Davis had some success. *A mid-season 3-game slump set the Mustangs back, while the Aggies discovered late in the season how competitive the GWC will be, with close losses to both Cal Poly and Northern Colorado. *St. Mary's struggled through an ambitious 12-game schedule.

In all, a good year for the best DI-AA conference that doesn't yet exist. *Let's hope the AD's get the conference off the ground for real when they meet in Las Vegas Dec. 8-9.

SDSUFAN

11-23-2003, 11:33 AM

Its interesting that on the agenda are such things as a conference name and logos. Lets see how close the name selected by posters on message boards fits the one actually selected. Logo!!!!, Did Bison Kent design one? He has been very productive in doing those things.

89rabbit

11-25-2003, 03:59 PM

Here is a story from UNC web site. *They want to crown a GWC champ in 2004.

http://uncbears.ocsn.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/112503aac.html

UNC Investigating New Football Conference
Athletic Director's of the proposed schools set a meeting for Dec. 8-9 in Las Vegas.

The UNC football is getting closer to establishing a football-only conference by next season.

DALE BUBLITZ
Associated Press

GREELEY, Colo. (AP) - It didn't take long for Northern Colorado to start looking for another conference.

One year after cutting ties with the Division II North Central Conference, officials at Northern Colorado said Tuesday they are looking forward to exploring the possibility of forming a seven-team Division I-AA football conference.

Athletic director Jim Fallis said he plans to be in Las Vegas on Dec. 8-9 to meet with colleagues from Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, UC-Davis, Southern Utah, North Dakota State and South Dakota State to discuss the possibility. St. Mary's College in California is the seventh school.

"I don't think any of us would go to the trouble of going to the meeting if we didn't think that there was some merit and that we didn't think we could put the thing together," Fallis said.

"There is enough commonality and it seems like it would be a good enough and competitive enough conference that everybody would feel comfortable with it." *

The meeting is intended to see if the schools can agree on bylaws, rules and other details of running a conference.

"I think it's in the best interest of all the institutions, certainly because when you have a conference, it gives you some identification," Fallis said. "And also it makes it easier to make a connection with your boosters and your team in terms of who they are playing and that they are playing for something."

Ultimate approval would be up to school presidents and trustees. Fallis said there is no reason to wait until 2005.

"If everybody is in agreement, certainly by 2004 you could be playing a five-team championship," he said.

Earlier this week, North Dakota State athletic director Gene Taylor said the proposed league might look to the Mid-Continent Conference to help manage it. Southern Utah is a member of the conference, which does not have football.

North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Cal-Davis and Northern Colorado all are in the process of moving to the Division I.

North Dakota State and South Dakota State have expressed interest in joining the Big Sky Conference.

89rabbit

12-08-2003, 01:46 PM

Here is the latest:

http://www.argusleader.com/sports/Mondayarticle3.shtml

Football league meeting tonight

Chris Solari
csolari@argusleader.com

published: 12/8/2003

SDSU could join new conference

Athletic directors from six of the seven schools talking about forming a new Division I-AA football conference, including South Dakota State's Fred Oien, will begin meetings tonight in Las Vegas to finalize the league.

If all goes as planned, the yet-to-be-named conference will consist of SDSU, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Southern Utah, California-Davis, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo and St. Mary's (Calif.). All but St. Mary's will be represented in Las Vegas, where the leaders expect to hammer out the details of competition and scheduling.

"It's going to be, ÔWhat do you think about exchange of video tapes for scouting?'" Oien said. "I fully expect us to decide how the conference will be managed, how that will work, the assignments of officials and such."

SDSU football coach John Stiegelmeier said he reviewed the proposed conference manual - a thick booklet filled with such items as scheduling rules, bylaws, budgets and a constitution. Stiegelmeier passed along his comments and issues to Oien for discussion at the meeting.

This is expected to be a next-to-last meeting, with the formal agreement and announcement anticipated at January's NCAA meeting in Nashville. The athletic directors will start their meetings tonight, and then wrap things up by mid-afternoon Tuesday.

"I don't think we're going to come out of (Las Vegas) with an agreement," NDSU Athletic Director Gene Taylor said. "I think there's too much work left for less than 24 hours of meetings. The hope is that we come out of there with close to an agreement or an agreement, if you talk to some athletic directors."

A key topic will be the league's name. Greg Warzecka, athletic director at California-Davis, said a unique identity is essential to market the new conference.

"The schools are spread out in different regions of the country. We're not really sure what we'll call ourselves right now." said Warzecka, whose school just finished its first football season in Division I-AA.

SDSU and NDSU will start their first year at the Division I level in the fall of 2004.

"We're hoping to walk away with some kind of sense whether this is going to work or not," Oien said.

Taylor said he expects SDSU and NDSU to be asked about their commitment to the proposed league. Neither school has found a conference for its other sports, and both are actively keeping an eye on the Big Sky Conference. That league, which offers football, has been the top choice for both schools throughout the process. However, that league has told NDSU and SDSU to look elsewhere for conference affiliation because of travel distances.

"I know the California schools are very leery of us pulling out when we get things going," Taylor said.

Warzecka said including SDSU and NDSU would solidify the new league.

"We feel like this is going to be a significant I-AA football conference in the future," he said.

89rabbit

12-11-2003, 09:14 AM

Here is the latest from the Argus:

http://www.argusleader.com/sports/Wednesdayarticle4.shtml

Meetings adjourn without league

Chris Solari
csolari@argusleader.com

published: 12/10/2003

Seven schools, including SDSU, discuss procedural issues

Two days of meetings between athletic officials from universities interested in forming a Division I-AA football conference didn't yield a new league.

However, South Dakota State and the six other schools involved, managed to address issues and work slightly closer to an agreement.

"We did the kind of things I expected," SDSU Athletic Director Fred Oien said Tuesday. "We went through the constitution and bylaws, we talked about the procedures of how a league would operate, we talked about

scheduling.

"I think we made good progress, but there's a lot of work left. We're not done yet."

The meetings were held at the Primm Valley Resorts and Casino, situated in the southern tip of Nevada about 40 miles southwest of Las Vegas, near the California and Arizona borders. The officials met from 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. (PST) on Monday, then again from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Tuesday before parting ways.

Athletic directors from six of the schools - SDSU, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, California-Davis, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo and Southern Utah - attended. St. Mary's (Calif.) sent an associate athletic director.

Oien said the schools will continue to talk via conference calls in the coming months, though he wouldn't estimate a timetable.

This proposed league would only be for football. SDSU's other sports would have to find another Division I conference to compete in.

Gene Taylor, NDSU's athletic director, said another face-to-face meeting could be held at January's NCAA convention in Nashville. He added that most of the meetings Monday and Tuesday were spent fine-tuning the administrative and financial aspects of a new conference.

"We knew it was going to take us more than the two days we had," Taylor said, "but we did get a significant amount of work done."

The initial estimation of beginning conference play in 2005 has been shuffled a bit, Taylor said.

"We tried to fill some holes (in the schedules) that we had, both Fred and I, and we talked about the future," Taylor said. "From here on, there's potential that everybody is going to play everybody in '05. I'm not sure that's going to happen. Definitely, everybody will play in '06 and '07."

One major sticking point is the sustained hope by SDSU and NDSU for an invitation to join the Big Sky Conference. That league offers Division I-AA football, along with Division I competition in other sports.

"We're not speculating that the Dakotas might go to the Big Sky or another conference. But for any of us, especially in this day and age, anything can happen," said Greg Warzecka, California-Davis' athletic director. "They've been up front about it, and we've all been cognizant of it."

Oien said every conference discusses proper ways to enter and exit.

"As we progress over the next few months, it may become a deeper topic," Oien said of a potential Big Sky invitation.

No one would give away potential names for the new league. Warzecka said a few are in the running, and that the marketing departments at the schools will be checking on possible trademark conflicts.

Warzecka said April is the target month to have everything in place. That's when the NCAA Division I Membership Committee meets to review applications.

In the interim, the schools will try to get their football coaches together for a meeting in January, then will use February for planning in hopes of having everything in order by March.

"That's what we're headed toward -Êgetting our application filled out and done to submit to the Membership Committee," Warzecka said.

Oien, who was to meet with SDSU alumni and donors Tuesday night in Las Vegas, said getting to know the other ADs and discussing the issues were keys he took out of Nevada.

"They're really good people. They all speak about the student-athlete first and what will be good for them," he said. "When you get a group of people together who believe that's the most important thing, that's pretty good stuff."

Go Jacks!

SDSUFAN

12-11-2003, 10:07 PM

Can you imagine, the Argus doing two articles on this meeting compared to maybe one in the Fargo Forum?

I glad the Argus is stopped the questioning the motives of SDSU and started to report the facts. Forming a new conference is not easy and involves more than a catered luncheon to get it going. So many details.

I honestly dont expect too much movement in the Big Sky expansion in 2004. SDSU, NDSU and UNC are making the right move in joining this conference.

If you read the history of the NCC, it started in the 1920's and included schools like St Thomas, Des Moines College and schools that subsequently dropped out, so I expect this same process to occur again with this conference. I believe in the 1920's they were trying to get the Michigan Aggies interested in the NCC. Of course the Michigan Aggies are now Big 10 member Michigan State. They were not yet members of the Big 10 but were looking west for a conference.

I guess as time goes by, we will learn more details about what going to happen.

89rabbit

12-12-2003, 12:22 PM

I glad the Argus is stopped the questioning the motives of SDSU and started to report the facts. *

Amen, brother! ;D

SDSUFAN

12-12-2003, 01:21 PM

89rabbitt

PCM, an SDSU alum, who posts too much on the Siouxsports.com would have taken me to task for my bad grammer in the sentence you quoted.

I meant to say: "I am glad the Argus Leader has stopped questioning our motives." *PCM would have appologized profusely to those numb skull hockey fans over their, that I am not representive of SDSU. *Of course PCM knows it all. So never get in a pi$s fight with a skunk, especially when its below zero in Grand Forks. ;D ;D ;D ::) :D

89rabbit

12-14-2003, 01:57 PM

SDSUFAN,

To me, the most important thing is the thought behind the post. I can overlook spelling errors as they tend to be a function of motor skills (typing) rather then an absence of higher thinking. You do just fine my friend! ;D

I only lurk on the Sioux Board when I am bored. I have not been back lately, but I know of who you speak! Keep up the good work.

Go State!

SDSUFAN

12-24-2003, 03:01 AM

Here is a QA article from the Brookings Register

Conversations: Quest for a conference

By John Andrews
With South Dakota State University’s decision to move to Division I status already made, officials have turned their attention to finding a conference to join. With that in mind, SDSU Athletic Director Fred Oien met Dec. 8 and 9 in Las Vegas with officials from North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, California-Davis, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, Southern Utah and St. Mary’s of California to discuss forming a new football-only conference. Today, the Register talks with Oien about those meetings and the quest for a conference.

Q. From what I understand, these meetings in Las Vegas marked the beginning of discussions between SDSU and these other six schools, the purpose being forming a new conference. What, if anything, was decided out there?
A. Well, there were no formal decisions made. What we did is we reviewed a proposed constitution, bylaws. We looked at scheduling; we looked at the policies and procedures for operating a conference and how that conference would operate. In the world of athletics, everybody has pretty set standards on how a conference is going to work together — how are things reported to each other, how do you deal with compliance issues. We worked through the typical stuff that is in place in most conferences. Because this is new, we just had to come to an agreement and look at those things. So we went through an initial draft and made editorial changes. We would expect soon that will come back to us, edited, and then we’ll sit down and talk about it some more. It’s kind of a give-and-take process over time to see if we’re in agreement on how we’re going to operate with each other.

Q. Is there any sort of a timetable out there for forming this conference?
A. We would expect that it’s going to happen over a period of time here. It could be in the spring. We’re not sure yet. It all depends upon how quickly we can move and get these things out of the way.

Q. Are you optimistic that this will get done or are there some stumbling blocks out there?
A. Oh, I think every one of the schools, the seven schools, felt that we made great progress and that we’re moving forward. And, that somewhere down the road, we’ll be playing each other as a conference.

Q. Is there still that possibility that SDSU and NDSU could join a conference that’s already out there, such as the Big Sky?
A. All the members talked about that, in fact all seven of them, that things change. And that if all of a sudden conference affiliation requires you take football with it, then there’s a provision in this constitution of bylaws on how you withdraw from a conference. We have talked about that and I think we have come to agreement on how that would work as well.

Q. Provided you join this conference, it is football only. What happens to the other sports at SDSU?
A. We’ll continue our conversations with other conferences. But this was an opportunity to take care of one piece in case a conference that we joined didn’t have football, and we didn’t want to exclude it.

Q. And what if the conference isn’t formed. What happens with football next year?
A. Well, we would continue scheduling. In fact, I think we agreed that probably the first time any of us would be able to play a full schedule would be in ‘06. Some of the schools like Cal Poly, Southern Utah, they’ve been playing as an independent, so they’ve got their schedules out there quite a ways already. We’re busy forming our ‘04 and ‘05 schedules right now, and that’s gone very well for us. We’re not too far from a full schedule.

Compiled by John Andrews

Lurking_Dog

12-25-2003, 02:28 PM

Don't know if this has been posted before...Feb 24 appears to be the target date for a decision.

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/sports/colleges/saint_marys_college_california/7537733.htm

DanceswithRabbits

12-26-2003, 09:51 AM

Cool story, something kind of fun about Cal. folks thinking about us here in the Midwest. It would be great to get this thing done. It sounded like we could be playing for a Conf. Championship soon. That would be nice until we can take a shot at the playoffs.
It would be great for the conf. to get some teams in before we got an auto bid. Cal-Poly and UNC both had good seasons this year.

89rabbit

01-18-2004, 04:43 PM

Here is a Story written by one of our own (ok he is really a Bison, but he is registered on our board also) Bison_Kent. *It appears on I-AA.org a leader in the world of I-AA football. *Thought I would provide a link for anyone who has not been over to their sight. *Bison_Kent is their newest staff writer (and he lives down here in the state I currently call home, Kansas) and will be covering the West look for his articles regularly.

http://www.i-aa.org/section_front.asp?arttypeid=740

P.S. they have a fun message board. *Crashola, SDSUPhil (aka filbert), DanceswithRabbits, Charger, and myself are registered. *Feel free to join the fun, we could always use a few more Rabbits!

Go State!

89rabbit

01-23-2004, 02:04 PM

A little more news about our proposed home:

http://ncaasports.proboards10.com/index.cgi?board=editorials&action=display&num=1074 867667

New 1-AA Football Conference Plans Nearly Finalized
- by Matthew Peloquin

Athletic Directors from various 1-AA football schools and Division II schools planning to upgrade to 1-AA, have indicated that they are putting the final touches on the creation of a new, western-based 1-AA football conference. Initial discussions started last spring, between the Athletic Directors from North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Cal-Poly, UC Davis, Northern Colorado and Southern Utah. By forming a conference, the group would eventually be eligible for an automatic bid into the 1AA playoffs. The league hopes to capitalize on the lack of a second western regional conference in 1AA, other than the Big Sky whose members encompass a similar footprint.

Following their meetings in Las Vegas in early December, it appears that the final touches have been set for the league to be formed. Included in this group of schools will be 1-AA independent, St. Mary's. League management has yet to be finalized, however the Mid-Continent Conference will provide the initial management, through Commissioner Ron Bertovich and Associate Commissioner Ed Grom. The favorite for the conference name by the public seems to be "Great West Conference", but could also come from a group that also includes "Greater West Conference", "Heartland Conference", "Heartland Pacific Conference", "Heartland West Conference", "Western Pacific Conference", "Central Pacific Conference", "Greater Northwestern", "Midland West", and "America West" (the American West Conference dissolved in 1995). Officials from the proposed league have confirmed that both the league name and logo have already been chosen. Trade-marking remains the last hurdle for both issues. While a time frame is not specifically known, the league hopes to launch by the 2006 football season. A formal announcement is expected in early spring.

Recent developments on the campus of Sacramento St. could eventually result in the affiliation of yet another school with this new conference. First year President Alexander Gonzalez appointed a sports task force in October to review and research various issues related to the Sacramento St. athletic programs and present their recommendations by 2004. Included in this study was determining the feasibility and potential of a new on-campus arena for its basketball and volleyball programs. Also on the agenda for the group was the topic of conference affiliation, with a final recommendation that the university continue to explore all it's options. Recent rumblings over budgetary concerns, lack of fan support for various athletic programs, and the absence of regional rivalries for Sacramento St. within the Big Sky could cause the school to pursue membership in the Big West, which will add UC-Davis for all-sports in 2004-2005 and will be comprised of all California schools once Idaho moves all it's sports to the Sunbelt Conference in 2005 (which it has participated in football since 2001). Dr. Gonzalez could be taking this time to explore the WAC and 1A football as an option. Such a move out of the Big Sky would force the Sacramento St. football program to consider participating as a an independent, applying for membership in the new 1AA conference once it eventually launches, upgrading to 1A or eliminating the sport. While the specific topic of football has yet to be addressed by Dr. Gonzalez, all indications from football Head Coach Steve Mooshagian are that the sport is here to stay. Final decisions by the Sacramento St. administration are expected by this June.

Any departures from the Big Sky could initiate a search for conference replacements. Ironically, the four main candidates could all come from the proposed new 1AA conference. Northern Colorado, Southern Utah, NDSU and SDSU could top the list since they all will sponsor 1AA football. Adding Southern Utah would provide a convenient rival for Northern Arizona and Weber State, as its located just 280 miles from both universities. Northern Colorado would give the Big Sky entrance into the Denver market without further expanding the conferences general geographic footprint. North Dakota St. and South Dakota St., both of whom have petitioned the Big Sky for membership in the past, could have their consideration revisited. But in a time when many schools are looking for budgetary relief, expanding the conference footprint further eastward could result in an increase in travel costs for all league members.

Matthew Peloquin can be contacted via email at email@collegesportsinfo.com or http://collegesportsinfo.com/about

Go State!

89rabbit

01-24-2004, 08:10 AM

A little news from one of our new Conf. foes:

Southern Utah Promotes Meier to Head Coach

Southern Utah University Sports Information

Assistant Coaches Also Retained as the Thunderbirds Push Forward to the Future

Southern Utah University Athletic Director Tom Douple announced Thursday the promotion of assistant head football coach Wes Meier to head coach of the Thunderbird program. Meier replaces Gary Andersen, who stepped down as head football coach last Tuesday to return to the University of Utah as defensive line coach. Meier served as SUU’s defensive line coach as well as the team’s special teams coordinator last season.

Douple also announced that the entire assistant coaching staff will return for the 2004 season, including offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick, co-defensive coordinators Kevin Clune and Cole Wilson, running backs coach Kalani Sitake and graduate assistants Dave Aoyagi, Dan Finn, Ryan Hunt, Jared Martin and Josh Meyer and undergraduate assistant Chris Brinagh and Ben Meier.

“After an evaluation of our program over the past two days, it was clear that we stay the course, maintain our staff and the system that was put in place this past year,” Douple said. “We promoted Wes Meier to the head coach position and we are looking forward to a bright future because we are heading in the right direction.”

Coach Meier returned to the Thunderbirds after a long career in the Utah high school ranks as both a football and track and field coach. Meier, who played at SUU in 1987 before leaving to play in the Arena Football League, spent 11 seasons on the staff at Murray High School, including the 2002 season as head football coach. While at Murray, Meier worked with all phases of the football program, sending countless players on to the collegiate ranks. Meier also served nine years as a track and field coach at MHS, earning Utah 4A Coach of the Year honors in 1998.

“I am extremely excited about this opportunity,” Coach Meier said. “This staff is a great group of guys and we all share the same philosophy and vision. The ground work is in place for this program and now we need to build off that foundation.

“We have an outstanding group of players,” Meier continued. “When we got here last year they had to do a big turnaround. This was a tremendous group of fighters and that was evident with the way they played. They did all the early morning and late afternoon workouts, they did their classwork and were good citizens and that all shows very strongly. I couldn’t ask for a better group fo athletes to coach.”

A 1991 graduate of Utah, Coach Meier also served on the staff at Ricks College. Meier also attended Ricks (now BYU-Idaho), where he earned all-Western States Football League recognition following the 1986 campaign. Coach Meier is married to the former Lynn Winterrose. They are the parents of three sons, Weston, Jantzen and Chase.

The Thunderbirds played to a 4-7 record in 2003 following a 1-10 mark in 2002 under the previous staff. In addition to the increase in wins, SUU nearly upset I-A Nevada, falling 24-23, and lost four games by two touchdowns or less. SUU also set records for passes attempted and completed under Andersen’s direction.

Go SDSU!