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The Mid-Con has a new Commissioner and the best news is that he know us very well. 8)
http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs...509230303/1002
SUU athletic director resigns
By STEVE KIGGINS
skiggins@thespectrum.com
CEDAR CITY - Tom Douple, who helped launch the Great West Football Conference, established a women's soccer program and raised the bar of expectations at Southern Utah University during his five-year stint as athletic director, resigned Thursday to become commissioner of the Mid-Continent Conference. . . .
He will begin duties as commissioner of one of the NCAA's 31 Division I conferences on Oct. 10. . . .
Douple, 52, will replace Ron Bertovich, who resigned July 8, as commissioner of the Mid-Con. He accepted the job on Wednesday and broke the news to his staff and the Thunderbirds' coaches on Thursday morning.
"It's been a very rough day," Douple said wearily. . . .
Douple's greatest achievement was the creation of a six-team football conference that rescued the Thunderbirds from the Division I-AA independent ranks. SUU had operated without a conference for eight years before Douple rounded up South Dakota State University, North Dakota State University, the University of Northern Colorado and two California schools, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo and the University of California-Davis, to form the GWFC.
The conference has thrived in its brief history. The GWFC was ranked second nationally out of 16 conferences last season in the Gridiron Power Index, and three teams began the 2005 campaign ranked in The Sports Network's Top 25.
The GWFC garnered two especially impressive victories last weekend, when UC-Davis stunned Division I-A Stanford, 20-17, and North Dakota State romped past Weber State, 41-0. This week, the Great West is No. 1 in the GPI ratings.
"He basically put together the Great West Football Conference. We went from an independent playing who knows who to being in one of the toughest I-AA leagues in the nation," Gardner said. "He won't take credit for it, but he put that league together."
The creation of the GWFC also has eased SUU's scheduling by assuring the school five games per season. In previous years, SUU was forced to find 11 or 12 games, oftentimes leaving the Thunderbirds at the mercy of another school.
Being a member of the GWFC has been a boon to SUU's recruiting efforts, too.
"One of the first things players and parents ask us is, 'What conference are you in?,' and now we have the opportunity to tell them how good our conference is," Meier said. "It also gives our players something to play for. They know they have a championship to play for, a ring to play for." . . .
I think this could be great news as far as a Mid-Con invitation goes. Commissioner Douple knows us, he has worked with us, and he is from the west. I'm excited! 8)
Go State! ;D
http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs...509230303/1002
SUU athletic director resigns
By STEVE KIGGINS
skiggins@thespectrum.com
CEDAR CITY - Tom Douple, who helped launch the Great West Football Conference, established a women's soccer program and raised the bar of expectations at Southern Utah University during his five-year stint as athletic director, resigned Thursday to become commissioner of the Mid-Continent Conference. . . .
He will begin duties as commissioner of one of the NCAA's 31 Division I conferences on Oct. 10. . . .
Douple, 52, will replace Ron Bertovich, who resigned July 8, as commissioner of the Mid-Con. He accepted the job on Wednesday and broke the news to his staff and the Thunderbirds' coaches on Thursday morning.
"It's been a very rough day," Douple said wearily. . . .
Douple's greatest achievement was the creation of a six-team football conference that rescued the Thunderbirds from the Division I-AA independent ranks. SUU had operated without a conference for eight years before Douple rounded up South Dakota State University, North Dakota State University, the University of Northern Colorado and two California schools, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo and the University of California-Davis, to form the GWFC.
The conference has thrived in its brief history. The GWFC was ranked second nationally out of 16 conferences last season in the Gridiron Power Index, and three teams began the 2005 campaign ranked in The Sports Network's Top 25.
The GWFC garnered two especially impressive victories last weekend, when UC-Davis stunned Division I-A Stanford, 20-17, and North Dakota State romped past Weber State, 41-0. This week, the Great West is No. 1 in the GPI ratings.
"He basically put together the Great West Football Conference. We went from an independent playing who knows who to being in one of the toughest I-AA leagues in the nation," Gardner said. "He won't take credit for it, but he put that league together."
The creation of the GWFC also has eased SUU's scheduling by assuring the school five games per season. In previous years, SUU was forced to find 11 or 12 games, oftentimes leaving the Thunderbirds at the mercy of another school.
Being a member of the GWFC has been a boon to SUU's recruiting efforts, too.
"One of the first things players and parents ask us is, 'What conference are you in?,' and now we have the opportunity to tell them how good our conference is," Meier said. "It also gives our players something to play for. They know they have a championship to play for, a ring to play for." . . .
I think this could be great news as far as a Mid-Con invitation goes. Commissioner Douple knows us, he has worked with us, and he is from the west. I'm excited! 8)
Go State! ;D
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