I may have missed this earlier, but it looks as if USD is going to decided by January. The Argus had a more favorable editorial recently. I imagine the Gateway will want to lure the 'SU's away before the Great West gets even more cozy.
I thought I remembered an article talking about how the Gateway didn't want to wait until the meeting and that the only two teams they were looking at were SDSU and NDSU. It made it sound like they wouldn't wait until the meeting in February.
Sorry, too lazy and not good at finding stuff like that and I could sure be wrong to begin with!
I thought I remembered an article talking about how the Gateway didn't want to wait until the meeting and that the only two teams they were looking at were SDSU and NDSU. It made it sound like they wouldn't wait until the meeting in February.
Sorry, too lazy and not good at finding stuff like that and I could sure be wrong to begin with!
SUPERBUNNY
That is what I read also. The meeting is in February, but they did not think they could wait that long. Talk on the street is it is pretty much a done deal though.
I thought I remembered an article talking about how the Gateway didn't want to wait until the meeting and that the only two teams they were looking at were SDSU and NDSU. It made it sound like they wouldn't wait until the meeting in February.
Sorry, too lazy and not good at finding stuff like that and I could sure be wrong to begin with!
SUPERBUNNY
Here you go from page two of this thread and the Argus Leader:
Less than three seasons into its foray into NCAA Division I-AA and an affiliation with the Great West Football Conference, South Dakota State has caught the eye of another league.
Gateway Football Conference commissioner Patty Viverito said Wednesday night that her league has requested institutional information from SDSU and North Dakota State as it studies potential expansion in the near future. . . .
Viverito said Wednesday that she is "not optimistic" that Western Kentucky will remain in the Gateway Conference.
That would leave the league with seven teams: Illinois State, Indiana State, Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Western Illinois and Youngstown State.
The conference can and has operated at that number. But for scheduling purposes, nine teams would be "optimum," according to the commissioner. . . .
NDSU and SDSU are in the third year of a five-year transition process from Division II, which means they're not playoff eligible until 2008. Still, according to Viverito, they are the only schools the Gateway is looking at for possible expansion. . . .
The first step is for SDSU and NDSU to compile and submit a packet similar to what they sent to the Mid-Con - information pertaining to missions, academics, compliance and the football program.
Factors like geography also weigh in, but Viverito said she wouldn't see that as an impediment if the schools demonstrate a commitment consistent with the existing Gateway members.
Viverito said she hasn't received a packet from either school. Beyond that, there isn't a timeline for action, and the next Gateway presidents meeting is scheduled for June.
"But chances are we'll need to move more quickly than that," she said. "We see ourselves as having a mutual window of opportunity here." . . . (read more)
Well here's to our brothers in the transition. (We need a bigger selection of smiley's preferably one toasting an adult beverage for occasions like this) It's a great time for the Bison and the Jacks as it looks very promising for us getting into the Gateway.
Cheer's
Well here's to our brothers in the transition. (We need a bigger selection of smiley's preferably one toasting an adult beverage for occasions like this) It's a great time for the Bison and the Jacks as it looks very promising for us getting into the Gateway.
Cheer's
. . . By the way, the vibe I'm hearing from some pretty well connected people is that the Gateway thing is very likely. I'd be surprised if it doesn't happen, and probably talks are already being had within the league, despite Patty V's timeframe of January for discussion, February for vote. (read more)
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Western Kentucky University's board of regents approved a move from NCAA Division I-AA to I-A football Thursday.
The board voted 7-2 in favor of the switch, with one regent abstaining.
The switch to I-A would take the Hilltoppers out of the Gateway Football Conference, leaving the conference with seven members and possibly opening the door for membership by North Dakota State University and South Dakota State University.
The conference has requested information from NDSU and SDSU in preparation for possible expansion, the league's commissioner has said.
NDSU and SDSU are in the transition process from NCAA Division II to Division I-AA and are members of the Great West Football Conference. They have been accepted into the Mid-Continent Conference in other sports; the Mid-Continent does not sponsor football. . . . (read more)
News on Thursday that Western Kentucky will move its football program to the NCAA Division I-A level next fall and thus leave the Gateway Football Conference did little to immediately advance the possibility of South Dakota State and North Dakota State joining the I-AA league.
The yes vote by WKU's board of regents - final tally of 7-2 - was a formality. Gateway commissioner Patty Viverito said she'd long expected the Hilltoppers to jump; that was the reason her league sought institutional information from SDSU and NDSU regarding potential expansion.
"Western Kentucky gave us the heads up in August," Viverito said. "The action today is no surprise. Back when we got the news, we entered into some discussions and started conversations. The interest, I think, is mutual between those schools and the Gateway." . . . (read more)
CEDAR CITY - Changes are a coming for fans of the Great West Football Conference.
As expected, Western Kentucky's board of regents approved the school's move from I-AA football to I-A on Thursday with a 7-2 vote. The decision means the Hilltoppers will leave the I-AA Gateway Football Conference for the I-A Sun Belt Conference, a league the rest of Western Kentucky's athletic programs already participate in.
Like any move in college athletics, the move has ramifications beyond just the Gateway. The loss of the Hilltoppers leaves the conference with seven members, one school more than the minimum six teams required for an automatic bid into the NCAA's I-AA football playoffs. With that in mind, Gateway officials are expected to invite Great West Football Conference members North Dakota State and South Dakota State to join the Midwest-based league. . . . (read more)
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