The Great West Conference (GWC) was an NCAA college athletic conference in the continental United States. Originally a football-only league, it became an all-sports entity during the 2008–09 season. The GWC stopped sponsoring football following the 2011 season. The conference became defunct when four of the remaining five full member schools became members of other conferences on July 1, 2013.
History Cal Poly, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, South Dakota State, Southern Utah, and UC Davis inaugurated the Great West Football Conference during the 2004 season. Cal Poly and UC Davis had previously been members of the American West Conference, a similar low-level conference that existed in the 1990s. St. Mary's (CA) was originally slated to join as well, but then dropped the sport six months before the league started play. In 2005, Cal Poly became the first GWFC team ever selected to participate in the NCAA Division I-AA (now FCS) playoffs.
Northern Colorado departed the Great West for the Big Sky Conference in every sport as of the 2006 football season and 2006–07 academic year. On March 7, 2007, North Dakota State and South Dakota State announced that they would leave the GWFC after the 2007 football season, and join the Gateway Football Conference as of 2008. By the time the two schools actually made the switch, the Gateway had renamed itself the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The duo also placed their other sports, which were then independent, in the Summit League as of the 2008–09 academic year.
On August 2, 2007, North Dakota and South Dakota announced that they would join the Great West Football Conference as of the 2008 season. This agreement allowed the total number of GWFC programs to remain consistent at five, while also retaining the same geographic footprint.
On July 10, 2008, it was made official through a series of press conferences that the Great West would soon transition from a football-only league into an all-sports conference. The charter members included North Dakota, South Dakota, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Houston Baptist, Texas-Pan American, and Utah Valley. On October 22, 2008, Chicago State announced plans to join the newly rechristened GWC as well. Seattle was initially considering membership, but in mid-2011 accepted an invitation to instead join the WAC as of the 2012–13 academic year.
The expanded version of the Great West officially began playing a limited number of sports in the fall of 2008. Despite not sponsoring conference schedules in team sports (except football), the league began awarding "Player of the Week" honors to student-athletes in every sport during the 2008–09 season. The Great West featured championships in men's and women's cross country, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's and women's outdoor track and field, men's and women's golf, and women's tennis during the 2008–09 academic year. In 2009–10, regular season schedules and championship tournaments were implemented in women's volleyball, women's soccer, men's and women's basketball, baseball, and softball.
Due to its newness, the league did not have an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, but the Great West Conference men's basketball tournament champion received an automatic bid to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT), while the women's basketball tournament winners went to the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI).
In April 2010, South Dakota publicized intentions to join the Summit League for all sports but football, effective as of the 2011–12 academic year. Seven months later, in November 2010, the school would announce a commitment to the MVFC for football as of the 2012 season. In September 2010, Cal Poly and UC Davis announced that they would join the Big Sky Conference for football by 2012. Then, in November 2010, Southern Utah and North Dakota announced that they would join the Big Sky for all sports by 2012. South Dakota was considering the Big Sky as well, thus canceling the Summit League commitment, before the MVFC offered football-only membership.
With these moves, all football programs would soon leave the Great West, and the league stopped sponsoring the sport following the 2011 season. South Dakota stepped down to football-only status during the 2011–12 academic year, allowing the league to retain five teams in its final season on the gridiron. Overall the conference lost two full members—South Dakota and North Dakota—and six affiliates by the fall of 2012. The affiliate teams were Cal Poly, UC Davis, and Southern Utah in football; Nebraska-Omaha in softball; as well as multi-sport partners Cal State Bakersfield and Seattle.
In November 2011, Houston Baptist reached an agreement to join the Southland Conference as of the 2013–14 academic year. The school also unveiled plans to begin sponsoring football. In September 2012, Utah Valley announced plans to join the Western Athletic Conference for the 2013–14 season. At the beginning of December 2012, Texas–Pan American announced they had received an invitation to join the WAC for 2013–14 school year. On December 5, 2012, Chicago State announced that it would also join the WAC in 2013–14, and two weeks later, Texas–Pan American accepted their invitation. These departures led to the end of the Great West. NJIT, which became an independent after the demise of the Great West, joined the Atlantic Sun Conference on June 11, 2015.
Member schools
Former full members Institution Location Nickname Founded Affiliation Enrollment Joined Left Subsequentconference(s) Currentconference Chicago State University Chicago, Illinois Cougars 1867 Public 7,131 2008 2013 Western (WAC)(2013–22)D-I Independent(2022–24) Northeast(2024–present) Houston Baptist University Houston, Texas Huskies 1960 Baptist 2,567 2008 2013 Southland(2013–present) New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, New Jersey Highlanders 1881 Public 9,944 2008 2013 D-I Independent(2013–15)Atlantic Sun (ASUN)(2015–20) America East(2020–present) University of North Dakota Grand Forks, North Dakota Fighting Sioux 1883 Public 15,250 2008 2012 Big Sky(2012–18) Summit(2018–present) University of South Dakota Vermillion, South Dakota Coyotes 1862 Public 10,284 2008 2011 Summit(2011–present) Edinburg, Texas Broncs 1927 Public 19,302 2008 2013 Western (WAC)(2013–24) Southland(2024–present) Utah Valley University Orem, Utah Wolverines 1941 Public 31,556 2008 2013 Western (WAC)(2013–2026) Big West (2026-future)
Notes
Former affiliate members Institution Location Nickname Founded Affiliation Enrollment Joined Left Currentprimaryconference Great Westsport University of Northern Colorado Greeley, Colorado Bears 1889 Public 12,497 2004–05 2005–06 Big Sky football North Dakota State University Fargo, North Dakota Bison 1890 Public 14,443 2004–05 2007–08 Summit football South Dakota State University Brookings, South Dakota Jackrabbits 1881 Public 12,725 2004–05 2007–08 Summit football Southern Utah University Cedar City, Utah Thunderbirds 1897 Public 8,297 2004–05 2011–12 Western (WAC) football California Polytechnic State University(Cal Poly) San Luis Obispo, California Mustangs 1901 Public 18,679 2004–05 2011–12 Big West football University of California, Davis(UC Davis) Davis, California Aggies 1905 Public 31,862 2004–05 2011–12 Big West football Seattle University Seattle, Washington Redhawks 1891 Catholic 7,755 2010–11 2011–12 Western (WAC) track & field University of Nebraska Omaha Omaha, Nebraska Mavericks 1908 Public 14,903 2011–12 2011–12 Summit softball California State University, Bakersfield Bakersfield, California Roadrunners 1965 Public 8,111 2011–12 2011–12 Western (WAC) women's tennis Delaware State University Dover, Delaware Hornets 1891 Public 4,425 2009 2013 Mid-Eastern (MEAC) women's soccer Howard University Washington, D.C. Bison 1867 Nonsectarian 10,000 2009–10 2012–13 Mid-Eastern (MEAC) women's soccer New York Institute of Technology(NYIT) Old Westbury, New York Bears 1955 Nonsectarian 14,000 2009–10 2012–13 N/A baseball South Carolina State University Orangeburg, South Carolina Bulldogs 1896 Public 4,500 2009–10 2012–13 Mid-Eastern (MEAC) women's soccer
Notes
Membership timeline
Football champions
SeasonChampionsRecord2004Cal Poly4–12005Cal Poly and UC Davis4–12006North Dakota State4–020074–02008Cal Poly3–02009UC Davis3–12010Southern Utah4–02011North Dakota and Cal Poly3–1
Basketball champions In 2010, the Great West Conference sponsored men's and women's basketball championship tournaments for the first time. Both events were held in Orem, Utah, at the UCCU Center, home of Utah Valley University. The top-seeded men from the South Dakota reaffirmed their regular season success with a 91–86 title game victory over runner-up Houston Baptist. On the women's side, Utah Valley took advantage of the crowd's support, as the number six seeds upset their way to the crown by wrapping up the stunning run with a 70–62 triumph over regular season winners North Dakota.
The Great West tournaments returned to the UCCU Center for an encore in 2011, and third-seeded North Dakota claimed the men's championship after a 77–76 double overtime thriller against South Dakota, which was seeded fourth. Regular season winners Chicago State remained true to form in the women's bracket, outlasting third seeds North Dakota by a score of 74–66.
In 2012, the Great West tournaments shifted to the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center at Chicago State University. North Dakota became the league's first back-to-back champs, as the second seeds enjoyed a 75–60 victory over fourth-seeded NJIT in the men's final. The weekend would end with a clean sweep for North Dakota, as the program's top-seeded women knocked off regular season runners-up Utah Valley 69–56 to claim their maiden league title.
The Great West Conference never had an automatic bid to the NCAA Men or Women's College Tournament, but the men's champions did receive automatic selection to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, while their female counterparts headed to the Women's Basketball Invitational.
Season Men's Regular Season Winners Men's Tournament Champions Season Women's Regular Season Winners Women's Tournament Champions 2009–10 South Dakota South Dakota 2009–10 North Dakota Utah Valley 2010–11 Utah Valley North Dakota 2010–11 Chicago State Chicago State 2011–12 Utah Valley North Dakota 2011–12 North Dakota North Dakota 2012–13 NJIT Chicago State 2012–13 Utah Valley NJIT
See also Great West Conference men's basketball tournament Great West Conference women's basketball tournament
Baseball champions The Great West Conference sponsored its inaugural baseball championship tournament in 2010, and held the event in different cities during each of its four years of existence. The league also experimented with formats, using pool play in 2010 but a traditional double elimination bracket from 2011 to 2013. Utah Valley claimed the first three regular season and tournament championships, while Northern Colorado and Houston Baptist won the final regular season and tournament championships, respectively. As in other sports, the Great West did not have an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship and no teams within the league earned an at-large invitation.
Season Regular season winners Tournament Champions 2010 2011 2012 2013
See also Great West Conference baseball tournament
Other champions