Great Northwest Athletic Conference Explained

The Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. It has historically operated in the northwestern United States, but also includes schools in Alaska, Montana, and British Columbia.

The GNAC is the only NCAA conference in any division with a Canadian university as a member.

History

The conference formed in 2001 when its original ten members split from the Pacific West Conference.

Chronological timeline

• 2001 - The Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) was founded. Charter members included the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, the University of Alaska at Anchorage, Central Washington University, Humboldt State University (now California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt), Northwest Nazarene University, Saint Martin's, Seattle University, Seattle Pacific University, Western Oregon University and Western Washington University, effective beginning the 2001-02 academic year.
• 2006 - Humboldt State left the GNAC to join the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), effective after the 2005-06 academic year. This would result in the GNAC dropping football, with Western Washington and Central Washington becoming football affiliates of the now defunct North Central Conference and Western Oregon competing as a D-II independent.
• 2007 - Montana State University at Billings joined the GNAC, effective in the 2007-08 academic year.
• 2008 - Seattle left the GNAC to join the Division I ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as an NCAA D-I Independent (who would later join the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), effective beginning the 2012-13 academic year), effective after the 2007-08 academic year.
• 2008 - Dixie State University joined the GNAC as an affiliate member for football (with Humboldt State returning for that sport), effective with the 2008 fall season (2008-09 academic year), leading to the GNAC to begin sponsoring football once again.
• 2010 - Simon Fraser University joined the GNAC, effective in the 2010-11 academic year.
• 2012 - Three institutions joined the GNAC as affiliate members: Azusa Pacific University for football, and the University of Mary and the University of Sioux Falls for men's soccer, all effective with the 2012-13 academic year.
• 2013 - South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (South Dakota Mines) joined the GNAC as an affiliate member for men's soccer, effective in the 2013 fall season (2013-14 academic year).
• 2014 - South Dakota Mines added football to its GNAC affiliate membership, effective in the 2014 fall season (2014-15 academic year).
• 2015 - South Dakota Mines left the GNAC as an affiliate member for men's soccer, effective after the 2014 fall season (2014-15 academic year).
• 2015 - Concordia University–Portland joined the GNAC, effective in the 2015-16 academic year.
• 2016 - Dixie State and South Dakota Mines left the GNAC as affiliate members for football, effective after the 2015 fall season (2015-16 academic year).
• 2019 - Humboldt State left the GNAC as an affiliate member for football as the school announced it was dropping the sport after the 2018 fall season (2018-19 academic year).
• 2019 - The University of California San Diego (UC San Diego) and the University of Central Oklahoma (along with Humboldt State returning for that sport), joined the GNAC as affiliate members for women's rowing, effective in the 2020 spring season (2019-20 academic year).
• 2020 - Concordia–Portland left the GNAC as the school announced that it would close, effective after the 2019-20 academic year.
• 2020 - Azusa Pacific left the GNAC as an affiliate member for football as the school announced it was dropping the sport after the 2020 fall season (2020-21 academic year).
• 2020 - UC San Diego left the GNAC as an affiliate member for women's rowing, effective after the 2020 spring season (2019-20 academic year), coinciding with the start of its transition to NCAA Division I.
• 2022 - Central Washington, Western Oregon and Simon Fraser, the only 3 football-sponsoring schools remaining in the GNAC, announce that they will be joining the Lone Star Conference as football affiliates, bringing an end to the GNAC as a football conference for a second time, effective after the 2021 fall season (2021-22 academic year).

Member schools

Current members

The GNAC currently has ten full members, all but three are public schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Colors
	Anchorage, Alaska	1954	Public	10,530	Seawolves	2001
	Fairbanks, Alaska	1917	Public	6,826	Nanooks	2001
Central Washington University	Ellensburg, Washington	1891	Public	9,355	Wildcats	2001
Montana State University Billings	Billings, Montana	1927	Public	4,057	Yellowjackets	2007
Northwest Nazarene University	Nampa, Idaho	1913	Nazarene	1,778	Nighthawks	2001
Saint Martin's University	Lacey, Washington	1895	Catholic	1,614	Saints	2001
Seattle Pacific University	Seattle, Washington	1891	Free Methodist	3,114	Falcons	2001
Simon Fraser University	Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada	1965	Public	26,981	Red Leafs	2010
Western Oregon University	Monmouth, Oregon	1856	Public	3,752	Wolves	2001
Western Washington University	Bellingham, Washington	1893	Public	14,747	Vikings	2001

Notes:

Affiliate members

The GNAC currently has two affiliate members, both are public schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Colors	GNAC sport	Primary conference
University of Central Oklahoma	Edmond, Oklahoma	1890	Public	13,250	Bronchos	2019–20		women's rowing	Mid-America (MIAA)
	Arcata, California	1913	Public	5,858	Lumberjacks	2019–20		women's rowing	California (CCAA)

Notes:

Former members

The GNAC had three former full members, all but one were private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Left	Current conference
Concordia University–Portland	Portland, Oregon	1905	Lutheran LCMS	N/A	Cavaliers	2015	2020	Closed in 2020
	Arcata, California	1913	Public	5,858	Lumberjacks	2001	2006	California (CCAA)
Seattle University	Seattle, Washington	1891	Catholic	7,107	Redhawks	2001	2008	Western (WAC)

Notes:

Former affiliate members

The GNAC had seven former affiliate members, all but three were public schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Left	GNAC sport	Primary conference
Azusa Pacific University	Azusa, California	1899	Evangelical Christian	7,133	Cougars	2012–13	2019–20	football	Pacific West (PacWest)
Dixie State University		1911	Public	12,556	Red Storm	2008–09	2015–16	football	nowrap	Western (WAC)
	Arcata, California	1913	Public	5,858	Lumberjacks	2006–07	2017–18	football	California (CCAA)
	Bismarck, North Dakota	1959	Catholic	3,794	Marauders	2012–13	2015–16	men's soccer	Northern Sun (NSIC)
	Sioux Falls, South Dakota	1883	Baptist	1,594	Cougars	2012–13	2012–13	nowrap	men's soccer	Northern Sun (NSIC)
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology	Rapid City, South Dakota	1885	Public	2,493	Hardrockers	2014–15; 2013–14	2015–16; 2014–15	football; men's soccer	nowrap	Rocky Mountain (RMAC)
	San Diego, California	1960	Public	41,482	Tritons	2019–20	2019–20	women's rowing	Big West

Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyyImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20Period = from:07/01/2001 till:06/30/2025TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalPlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:20 top:5

Colors = id:line value:black id:Full value:rgb(0.63,0.88,0.755) # all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.88,0.755,0.63) # non-football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.88,0.63,0.63) # football-only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.755,0.755,0.63) # associate

PlotData = width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s

bar:1 color:FullxF from:07/01/2001 till:end text:Alaska (2001–present)

bar:2 color:FullxF from:07/01/2001 till:end text:Alaska–Anchorage (2001–present)

bar:3 color:Full from:07/01/2001 till:06/30/2006 text:Central Washington (2001–present) bar:3 color:FullxF from:07/01/2006 till:06/30/2008 bar:3 color:Full from:07/01/2008 till:06/30/2021 bar:3 color:FullxF from:07/01/2021 till:end

bar:4 color:Full from:07/01/2001 till:06/30/2006 text:Humboldt State (2001–2006) bar:4 color:AssocF from:07/01/2008 till:06/30/2019 text:(2008–present) bar:4 color:AssocOS from:07/01/2019 till:01/25/2022 bar:4 color:AssocOS from:01/26/2022 till:end text:Cal Poly Humboldt

bar:5 color:FullxF from:07/01/2001 till:end text:Northwest Nazarene (2001–present)

bar:6 color:FullxF from:07/01/2001 till:end text:Saint Martin's (2001–present)

bar:7 color:FullxF from:07/01/2001 till:06/30/2008 text:Seattle (2001–2008)

bar:8 color:FullxF from:07/01/2001 till:end text:Seattle Pacific (2001–present)

bar:9 color:Full from:07/01/2001 till:06/30/2006 text:Western Oregon (2001–present) bar:9 color:FullxF from:07/01/2006 till:06/30/2008 bar:9 color:Full from:07/01/2008 till:06/30/2021 bar:9 color:FullxF from:07/01/2021 till:end

bar:10 color:Full from:07/01/2001 till:06/30/2006 text:Western Washington (2001–present) bar:10 color:FullxF from:07/01/2006 till:06/30/2008 bar:10 color:Full from:07/01/2008 till:06/30/2009 bar:10 color:FullxF from:07/01/2009 till:end

bar:11 color:FullxF from:07/01/2007 till:end text:Montana State–Billings (2007–present)

bar:12 color:AssocF from:07/01/2008 till:06/30/2016 text:Dixie State (2008–2016)

bar:13 color:Full from:07/01/2010 till:06/30/2021 text:Simon Fraser (2010–present) bar:13 color:FullxF from:07/01/2021 till:end

bar:14 color:AssocF from:07/01/2012 till:06/30/2020 text:Azusa Pacific (2012–2020)

bar:15 color:AssocOS from:07/01/2012 till:06/30/2016 text:Mary (2012–2016)

bar:16 color:AssocOS from:07/01/2012 till:06/30/2013 text:Sioux Falls (2012–2013)

bar:17 color:AssocOS from:07/01/2013 till:06/30/2015 text:South Dakota Mines (2013–2016) bar:17 color:AssocF from:07/01/2015 till:06/30/2016

bar:18 color:FullxF from:07/01/2015 till:06/30/2020 text:Concordia–Portland (2015–2020)

bar:19 color:AssocOS from:07/01/2019 till:end text:Central Oklahoma (2019–present)

bar:20 color:AssocOS from:07/01/2019 till:06/30/2020 text:UC San Diego (2019–2020)

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:2002

Sports sponsored

Men's sponsored sports by school

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Soccer	Track & Field Indoor	Track & Field Outdoor	Total GNAC Sports
Alaska								2
Alaska-Anchorage								4
Central Washington								5
Montana State-Billings								7
Northwest Nazarene								7
Saint Martin's								7
Seattle Pacific								5
Simon Fraser								6
Western Oregon								6
Western Washington								6
Totals	5	10	10	5	7	9	9	57

Women's sponsored sports by school

School	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Rowing	Soccer	Softball	Track & Field Indoor	Track & Field Outdoor	Volleyball	Total GNAC Sports
Alaska										3
Alaska-Anchorage										5
Central Washington										7
Montana State-Billings										8
Northwest Nazarene										8
Saint Martin's										8
Seattle Pacific										7
Simon Fraser										8
Western Oregon										7
Western Washington										9
Affiliate Members
Cal Poly Humboldt										1
Central Oklahoma										1
Totals	10	10	5	4	8	7	9	9	10	81

• Seattle Pacific is set to launch women's golf starting in 2024

Other sponsored sports by school

School		Men					Women			Co-ed
		Football	Ice Hockey	Swimming & Diving	Wrestling		Swimming & Diving	Wrestling		Rifle	Skiing
Alaska			IND				PCSC			PRC	RMISA
Alaska-Anchorage			IND
Central Washington		LSC
Simon Fraser				RMAC	RMAC		RMAC	RMAC
Western Oregon		LSC

Football champions

Year	Champion	Conf. Record
2001	Western Washington
2002	Central Washington
2003	Western Washington
2004	Central Washington
2005	Central Washington
2006	Not Sponsored
2007	Not Sponsored
2008	Central Washington
2009	Central Washington

Year	Champion	Conf. Record
2010	Central Washington
2011	Humboldt State
2012	Central Washington
2013	Azusa Pacific
2014	Azusa Pacific
2015	Humboldt State
2016	Azusa Pacific
2017	Central Washington
2018	Azusa Pacific & Central Washington
2019	Central Washington & Western Oregon
2020	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Central Washington

Basketball champions

See main article: Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament.

See main article: Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament.

Conference facilities

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.

!School!Basketball arena!Capacity

Alaska Fairbanks	Alaska Airlines Court	1,648
Alaska Anchorage	Alaska Airlines Center	5,000
Central Washington	Nicholson Pavilion	2,519
Montana State - Billings	Alterowitz Gymnasium	2,330
Northwest Nazarene	Johnson Sports Center
Saint Martin's	Marcus Pavilion
Seattle Pacific	Royal Brougham Pavilion	2,650
Simon Fraser	West Gym	1,500
Western Oregon	PE Gym	2,473
Western Washington	Sam Carver Gym	2,534