Great West Conference
| Great West Conference | |
|---|---|
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| Established | 2004 |
| Dissolved | 2013 |
| Association | NCAA |
| Division | Division I |
| Members | 5 (final) |
| Sports fielded | 15 (men's: 5; women's: 9) |
| Region | Midwest and West |
| Former names | Great West Football Conference |
| Headquarters | Naperville, Illinois |
| Commissioner | Ed Grom |
| Website | www |
| Locations | |
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The Great West Conference was an NCAA college athletic conference in the continental USA. 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.
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.
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