Great Western Conf.

[89rabbit]

Re: Great Western Conf.

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

Go SDSU!

[Lurking_Dog]

San Diego and St. Mary's

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]

Re: San Diego and St. Mary's

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]

Re: Great Western Conf.

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]

Re: Great Western Conf.

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]

Re: Great Western Conf.

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

Northern Colorado	9-2	2-0
North Dakota State	8-3	1-1
Cal Poly	7-4	3-0
South Dakota State	7-4	0-1
UC Davis	6-4	2-2
Southern Utah	4-7	1-2
St. Mary's	1-11	0-3

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]

Re: Great Western Conf.

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]

Re: Great Western Conf.

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]

Re: Great Western Conf.

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

http://uncbears.ocsn.com/sports/m-fo...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]

Re: Great Western Conf.

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]

Re: Great Western Conf.

Here is the latest from the Argus:

http://www.argusleader.com/sports/We...article4.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]

Re: Great Western Conf.

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]

Re: Great Western Conf.

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

Amen, brother! ;D

[SDSUFAN]

Re: Great Western Conf.

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 :

[89rabbit]

Re: Great Western Conf.

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!