Author Topic: NDSU to enter Gateway Football Conference  (Read 3903 times)

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Offline bisonguy

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NDSU to enter Gateway Football Conference
« on: March 06, 2007, 10:36:21 PM »
NDSU to enter Gateway Football Conference
Jeff Kolpack
The Forum - 03/06/2007

The Gateway Football Conference will likely open its front gate to North Dakota State on Wednesday.

Southern Utah athletic director Ken Beazer was contacted by NDSU athletic director Gene Taylor and South Dakota State athletic director Fred Oien on Tuesday. Beazer said he was told by both ?it looked positive? that their schools would be accepted into the Gateway.

Southern Utah is currently in the Great West Football Conference along with NDSU and SDSU.

?I?m extremely saddened on one point for selfish reasons with the Great West Football Conference,? Beazer said. ?I?m extremely happy for them. It?s a positive move for them.?

According to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader newspaper Web site, Gateway assistant com-missioner Mike Kern confirmed the conference will hold a media teleconference at 3 p.m. Wednesday followed by news conferences at NDSU and South Dakota State.

When asked if the league holds news conferences without plans to expand, Kern said, ?I don?t believe so.?

?Everyone had kind of known it?s been coming,? Beazer said. ?It was a matter of when the Gateway would make an official decision on it.?

When asked about Wednesday?s scheduled announcement, NDSU athletic director Gene Taylor paused, then said, ?I can?t deny it.?

NDSU spokesman Dave Wahlberg, speaking on behalf of school President Joe Chapman, said the university isn?t in a position to confirm anything.

?We?re waiting for the Gateway to announce their decision,? Wahlberg said.

The league presidents discussed expansion at their annual meeting Feb. 19 in St. Louis, but tabled the matter, saying they needed further information.

Gateway commissioner Patty Viverito met or talked with Gateway presidents individually last weekend. It?s not known when the actual vote took place.

NDSU and SDSU are expected to begin league play in 2008 ? the first year they are eligible for the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) playoffs. The two schools began the five-year Division I reclassification together in 2003 and said they would only join the Gateway if both were admitted.

The teams will likely leave the Great West Football Conference after this season. NDSU and SDSU helped form the league in 2004 along with California Poly, California Davis, Southern Utah, Northern Colorado and St. Mary?s College (Calif.).

But St. Mary?s dropped football and Northern Colorado joined the Big Sky Con-ference, leaving the conference with just five teams. A league needs six active NCAA members to be together for at least two years to be eligible for an FCS automatic playoff bid.

The Gateway has been an FCS power for several years. It sent four teams to the playoffs last year.

League members are Indi-ana State, Northern Iowa, Illinois State, Southern Illi-nois, Western Illinois, Mis-souri State and Youngstown State (Ohio).

The league opened expan-sion talks when Western Kentucky left for the Sun Belt Conference after last season.

Expansion is not common in the Gateway. Western Ken-tucky was admitted in 2001 and Youngstown in 1997. Otherwise, the league has been stable since its inception in 1985.

Forum reporter Eric Peterson

contributed to this story.

Readers can reach Forum reporter

Jeff Kolpack at (701) 241-5546.

Kolpack?s NDSU media blog can be found

at www.areavoices.com

Offline ge_bjf007

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Re: NDSU to enter Gateway Football Conference
« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2007, 02:52:21 AM »
Its official :icon_cheers: :wave: :toothy9:

Sorry, I am excited
Go Bison!

Offline ajekt

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Re: NDSU to enter Gateway Football Conference
« Reply #2 on: March 26, 2007, 12:54:43 PM »
Sweet!

Looks like we will have some Gateway games this year:

Quote
FARGO, N.D.--With the addition of a home game with Illinois State University on Nov. 3 and road game at Central Michigan University on Sept. 22, North Dakota State University Director of Athletics Gene Taylor announced the 2007 football schedule has been finalized.

"We?re excited to complete the football schedule for the upcoming season. It will be another challenging year with several exciting new opponents at home and on the road," said Taylor.

North Dakota State was No. 7 in NCAA FCS attendance with an average of 16,377 over five home dates in 2006. Attendance has grown by an average of 1,202 spectators over the past four years.

"We encourage people to get their season tickets as soon as possible... and they are on sale right now," said Taylor.

The five-game home schedule includes three new opponents The Bison open the season with back-to-back home games against Southland Conference members Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston State at 6 p.m. Sept. 8 and Sept. 15. NDSU won the first meeting against Stephen F. Austin 17-9 last season. This will be the first meeting with Sam Houston State.

UC Davis is the annual homecoming game opponent at 1 p.m. Oct. 6 in the Fargodome. It is also the Great West Football Conference opener. NDSU defeated the Aggies 28-24 last year and leads the series 5-4.

North Dakota State is scheduled to host GWFC foe Southern Utah in the Harvest Bowl at 1 p.m. Oct. 27 and then entertain Illinois State at 6 p.m. Nov. 3 in the second of two games against Gateway Football Conference opponents. NDSU leads the series with the Thunderbirds 3-0, while it will be the first meeting with the Redbirds of Illinois State.

The Bison play at Western Illinois at 1:05 p.m. Sept. 29 in Macomb, Ill. North Dakota State play the Leathernecks for the first time. In another non-conference game, NDSU travels to Mississippi Valley State on Oct. 13. The Bison defeated the Delta Devils 45-0 last year.

A pair of Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly I-A) opponents are on the schedule. North Dakota State plays at Central Michigan of the Mid-American Conference in Mount Pleasant, Mich., on Sept. 22. It will be the first meeting between NDSU and the Chippewas. Last season, the Bison defeated Ball State of the MAC 29-24 in Muncie, Ind.

NDSU travels back to the Metrodome on Oct. 20 to play the University of Minnesota. The Gophers edged the Bison 10-9 last season.

North Dakota State closes the season with league road games at Cal Poly at 6:05 p.m. (CST) Nov. 10 and at South Dakota State for the Dakota Marker at 1 p.m. Nov. 17 in Brookings. The series with Cal Poly is tied at 3-3 and the Bison have won 51 of 93 meetings with the Jackrabbits.

NDSU completed the 2006 season with a 10-1 record under the direction of head coach Craig Bohl, including an 8-0 record against FCS schools. The Bison went 4-0 to win the Great West Football Conference championship -- the program?s first league title since 1994 when NDSU was a member of the Division II North Central Conference.

The Bison opened spring practice in March 21. NDSU will have 15 practice sessions culminating with the annual Green & Gold Spring Game at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, April 21.

The North Dakota State ticket office is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The ticket office number is 888-231-NDSU (6378) or 701-231-NDSU.
http://www.gobison.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=11850&SPID=695&DB_OEM_ID=2400&ATCLID=831426
N-D-S-U ... Goooooo Bison!

 

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