Thursday, August 05, 2010

RFC Summer Semester--Great West Conference Preview (FCS)

What it is: Starting as the Great West Football Conference in 2004, the Great West Conference (GWC) is kind of misnomer, since not all of its member schools are based on the West Coast, or even west of the Rocky Mountains, for that matter. In fact, of the five current football playing member institutions, only two (University of California-Davis and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) are actually located on the West Coast.

At least three former GWC members have moved on to other conferences. Northern Colorado left the league for the Big Sky in 2006, while North Dakota State and South Dakota State followed two years later, joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

Cal Poly and UC Davis have won or shared four of the six GWC titles since 2004, with former members North Dakota State (2006) and South Dakota State (2007) being the only other to win league titles over the last six years.

Website: http://www.greatwestconference.org/

Predicted order of finish (2009 overall record in parentheses, projected champion in BOLD type)

1. UC Davis (6-5): The Aggies enter the 2010 season as the defending GWC champions. They hope to win back-to-back outright titles this year.

2. North Dakota (5-5): 14 starters return for the Fighting Sioux this season. They hope to win their first-ever conference title since moving from the NCAA Division II ranks in 2008.

3. South Dakota (5-5): The Coyotes face a fierce non-conference schedule in 2010, including a trip to BCS Big 10 Conference Minnesota on Septembber 11.

4. Southern Utah (5-6): The Thunderbirds had their best finish since 2004 (6-5).

5. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (4-7): The Mustangs struggled to a last place finish in the GWC at 1-3 last season.

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