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Re: SDSU/NDSU to Gateway???
From the Fargo Forum (Sub. site but it is free)
http://www.in-forum.com/articles/ind...TOKEN=39784417
NDSU keeps cool about league
By Jeff Kolpack, The Forum
Published Tuesday, October 31, 2006
If North Dakota State takes a step forward with the Gateway Football Conference in the near future, don’t expect Bison administrators to be throwing going-away parties for the Great West Football Conference. In fact, don’t expect a party at all.
NDSU has too many ties –
both contractually and emotionally – and will most likely take a low-key approach to the impending expansion plans of the Gateway.
It would be a contrast from two months ago when NDSU was accepted into the Mid-Continent Conference, which will be home to all of NDSU’s sports except football and wrestling. An enthusiastic standing-room only crowd was on hand at the NDSU Alumni Center for the announcement.
The Mid-Con is the administrative arm of the Great West. If Western Kentucky, as expected, announces Thursday that it will move to Division I-A football, then the Gateway is expected to move into expansion mode.
The league has already asked NDSU and South Dakota State for institutional profiles. Bison athletic director Gene Taylor admitted the Gateway would be tough to turn down.
Not that it would be easy.
“Take somebody like Southern Utah athletic director Ken Beazer,” Taylor said. “He’s a great guy and he supported us big time to get into the Mid-Con. Then you turn around and possibly say we’ll take your football league and implode it. It’s not a lot of fun.”
If NDSU does get into the Gateway, it would probably be the last major conference move for the foreseeable future. The school’s contract with the Mid-Con stipulates it must stay in the league for eight years or pay a $500,000 buyout.
Valparaiso, which will leave the Mid-Con after this season, owes the league a $250,000 buyout because of improper notice, Taylor said. . . .
If the Gateway does add NDSU and SDSU, the Great West would be down to three teams: Southern Utah, California Poly and California Davis.
Great West commissioner Ed Grom said Monday that the league has already identified potential new members. He said he couldn’t divulge the names of schools, but he said an announcement could come as early as January. The University of North Dakota, which is moving to Division I in 2008, is one likely candidate. . . . (read more)
Go State!
From the Fargo Forum (Sub. site but it is free)
http://www.in-forum.com/articles/ind...TOKEN=39784417
NDSU keeps cool about league
By Jeff Kolpack, The Forum
Published Tuesday, October 31, 2006
If North Dakota State takes a step forward with the Gateway Football Conference in the near future, don’t expect Bison administrators to be throwing going-away parties for the Great West Football Conference. In fact, don’t expect a party at all.
NDSU has too many ties –
both contractually and emotionally – and will most likely take a low-key approach to the impending expansion plans of the Gateway.
It would be a contrast from two months ago when NDSU was accepted into the Mid-Continent Conference, which will be home to all of NDSU’s sports except football and wrestling. An enthusiastic standing-room only crowd was on hand at the NDSU Alumni Center for the announcement.
The Mid-Con is the administrative arm of the Great West. If Western Kentucky, as expected, announces Thursday that it will move to Division I-A football, then the Gateway is expected to move into expansion mode.
The league has already asked NDSU and South Dakota State for institutional profiles. Bison athletic director Gene Taylor admitted the Gateway would be tough to turn down.
Not that it would be easy.
“Take somebody like Southern Utah athletic director Ken Beazer,” Taylor said. “He’s a great guy and he supported us big time to get into the Mid-Con. Then you turn around and possibly say we’ll take your football league and implode it. It’s not a lot of fun.”
If NDSU does get into the Gateway, it would probably be the last major conference move for the foreseeable future. The school’s contract with the Mid-Con stipulates it must stay in the league for eight years or pay a $500,000 buyout.
Valparaiso, which will leave the Mid-Con after this season, owes the league a $250,000 buyout because of improper notice, Taylor said. . . .
If the Gateway does add NDSU and SDSU, the Great West would be down to three teams: Southern Utah, California Poly and California Davis.
Great West commissioner Ed Grom said Monday that the league has already identified potential new members. He said he couldn’t divulge the names of schools, but he said an announcement could come as early as January. The University of North Dakota, which is moving to Division I in 2008, is one likely candidate. . . . (read more)
Go State!
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