[Libertine]

This may never matter to us or the Big South but a somewhat significant conference shift has just been announced.

North Dakota St. and South Dakota St. of the Great West Conference have accepted an invitation to join the Gateway Football Conference starting in 2008. The Dakota schools will be joining an already tough conference that includes Illinois State, Indiana State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Missouri State, Western Illinois and Youngstown State. This move also leaves the Great West, which was just founded in 2004, with just three members: Cal-Poly, Southern Utah and UC-Davis.

[LUconn]

KK get on it! Those 3 teams will get us an autobid! Travel costs what?

[PAmedic]

man- how bad would you feel as one of the remaining Great West members

ouch

probably just the beginnings of the many speculated conf realignments

[Libertine]

man- how bad would you feel as one of the remaining Great West members

ouch

Especially Southern Utah. They're pretty much the JV team in that conference.

On the other hand, the Gateway just got very deep.

[ATrain]

Its my understanding that the U's of North & South Dakota will be joining the Great West, bringing them back to five. Or am I completely off the mark here?

[Libertine]

Its my understanding that the U's of North & South Dakota will be joining the Great West, bringing them back to five. Or am I completely off the mark here?

Yes, but they're just coming up from D2 and the draw of re-joining their old Dakota State rivals was part of what precipitated that decision. That move would also have put the Great West at 7 members and being playoff-eligible in a few years.

The Dakota States just pooped the punchbowl for a lot of people.

[PAmedic]

The Dakota States just pooped the punchbowl for a lot of people.

CLAS-

SY!

[Fumblerooskies]

Amazing how the NCAA is pushing folks to change the vernacular from I-AA to FCS and I-A to FBS...
...yet most media folks I've heard (and seen on the net), refer to the 65th team as playing in the PLAY-IN Game, as opposed to "Opening Round Game." It IS a play-in game and I-AA will ALWAYS BE I-AA.
(and they said Russian resistance was futile in the face of the German Army at Stalingrad, too)...

[Hold My Own]

Bravo on a great point you deserve the banana

[Fumblerooskies]

Thanks...
...I like your new title, HMO. Funny.

[PAmedic]

Thanks...
...I like your new title, HMO. Funny.

he ain't joking