The Great West Football Conference has had its share of fluctuation in its first three years of existence. This fall will be the swan song for North Dakota State and South Dakota State - a tour that will be bittersweet.
The league gave the two transitioning Division I schools a home for football. In the affiliation business, anything other than independent status is a good thing.
"I've said it before, we have been blessed to be in the Great West," said South Dakota State head coach John Stiegelmeier. "It's a sad thing that this is our last year. Hopefully we'll be able to finish strong."
On the other hand, the league does not carry automatic-qualifier status to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. And with three teams operating in western time zones, it's not geographically appeasing.
NDSU and SDSU will join the Gateway Football Conference starting in 2008. It's the same year the University of North Dakota and the University of South Dakota, both of which will start a four-year Division I reclassification period, will join the Great West.
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SDSU travels to Western Illinois Thursday. On Saturday, California Poly is at Texas State, Western Washington visits California Davis in the grand opening of the Aggies' new stadium and Southern Utah travels to No. 2-ranked Montana.
NDSU does not start its season until Sept. 8 at home against Stephen F. Austin. League play does not begin for several weeks, but it appears the five-team Great West will once again be a regular presence in weekly rankings.
The preseason Sagarin Ratings power poll, released Monday in USA Today, lists the Great West as the top returning FCS (formerly I-AA) conference.
Individually, NDSU is ranked 82nd, which is better than 41 teams that play in the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A). Cal Poly is at 111, Davis 114, SDSU 137 and Southern Utah 178. A total of 242 teams play Division I football.
"It's gotten stronger every year," Southern Utah head coach Wes Meier said of the Great West. "Even though we haven't been ranked like the rest of the teams, we feel we've become a much better team."
The league was formed in 2004 in a collective effort by school athletic directors. NDSU's Gene Taylor, SDSU's Fred Oien, Davis' Greg Warzecka and former Southern Utah athletic director Tom Douple (now the commissioner of The Summit League) were principle players.
"First of all, I appreciate all the hard work that they have done," Stiegelmeier said. "It was a situation where our sport was able to compete for a conference championship and conference honors. It was great competition, we weren't fumbling around and we were nationally recognized."
Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack at (701) 241-5546.
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Kolpack's NDSU media blog can be found at www.areavoices.com
