Two Washington state colleges are reportedly ready to join the North Central Conference in football only, but the league's commissioner said Tuesday nothing has been finalized.
"We do not have a signed agreement," NCC Commissioner Roger Thomas said. "We have laid out some things and had several discussions. We've been trying to set up some scheduling alliance for football."
KVHT-AM - a Yankton, S.D., radio station - reported that Central Washington and Western Washington will join the NCC in football starting with the 2006 season.
If a deal is worked out, Thomas said the 2006 season would be the earliest the two Washington schools would be added.
Making existing schedules fit together and increasing travel costs are two main concerns in getting a deal done, Thomas said.
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NCC members discussed playing Western Washington and Central Washington on a rotating basis as part of a scheduling alliance, according to Thomas.
But, he said most NCC members would rather play them every year.
"I think if we are going to do it, we are going to do it full scale," Thomas said.
Western Washington and Central Washington are part of the Great Northwestern Athletic Conference, which has 10 schools.
However, only four members of that conference have football programs - Western Washington, Central Washington, Humboldt State and Western Oregon.
Central Washington and Western Washington already have nonconference games scheduled against NCC football teams for the upcoming season.
Western Washington hosts St. Cloud State on Sept. 10 and plays at the University of North Dakota on Sept. 17. Central Washington hosts North Dakota on Aug. 27 and plays at the University of Nebraska-Omaha on Sept. 10.
Western Washington, located in Bellingham, has a full-time and part-time enrollment of 12,500 students.
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Central Washington, in Ellensburg, has 7,700 students at its main campus.
Athletic directors at Western Washington and Central Washington could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
An NCAA Division II conference, the NCC was left with seven members after Northern Colorado, North Dakota State and South Dakota State jumped to NCAA Division I.
Last May, the NCC President's Council directed Thomas to seek up to three new members.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Eric Peterson at (701) 241-5513 Associated Press contributed to this report
