THE RFC MYC: Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC)-(NAIA)

2017 GPAC Final Standings (Courtesy of the Great Plains Athletic Conference)

Overview: The top two teams in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) for 2017 both hailed from northwest Iowa, as the Morningside College Mustangs of Sioux City, and the Northwestern College Red Raiders of Orange City, both advanced to the NAIA playoffs. While the two teams may have been separated by more than 40 miles on the map, there turned out to be even more separation as far as the final score of last year's game on September 30, as the Mustangs rolled past the Red Raiders for a convincing 48-20 rout, en route to clinching the GPAC championship.

In the NAIA playoffs, Morningside advanced to the national semifinals, falling to eventual national champion St. Francis (Ind.) in a thrilling 43-36 contest, to finish the 2017 season at 13-1 overall. As for Northwestern (Iowa), the Red Raiders ironically-fell to that same St. Francis squad in the second round to finish at 10-2 overall.

With Morningside finishing the 2017 season at No. 3 in the final NAIA poll, followed by Northwestern at No. 8, expect both teams to be in the mix for the national championship once again going into the 2018 season. Meanwhile, the GPAC will expand by one more school, with the University of Jamestown from North Dakota joining the conference this fall. The addition of Jamestown officially brings the league's membership to 10 teams for football.

NOTE: If the link to the team's schedule is not highlighted, it means that the team has not submitted its schedule for the 2018 season. When the team's schedule is submitted, the link (s) will appear in each blog post. Also, please visit the RFC blog at realfootballcentral.blogspot.com for preseason previews, schedules, schedule updates, and much more.

Briar Cliff

Concordia (Neb.)

Dakota Wesleyan

Doane

Dordt

Hastings

Jamestown

Midland

Morningside

Northwestern (Iowa)

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