| Great Plains Athletic Conference | |
| Founded: | 1972 |
| Folded: | 1976 |
| Association: | NAIA |
| Region: | Mountain States |
The Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) was a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), operated in the western United States. It was aligned with the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC). The two allied conferences worked under the name of the Mountain and Plains Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MPIAA).[1] It was announced on May 15, 1972. The founding schools were Fort Hays State College (now Fort Hays State University); Kansas State College of Emporia (now Emporia State University); Kansas State College of Pittsburg (now Pittsburg State University); Southern Colorado State College (now Colorado State University–Pueblo); the University of Nebraska at Omaha, the University of Northern Colorado and Washburn University.[2] The conference only lasted four years, as Nebraska–Omaha and Northern Colorado left for the North Central Conference (NCC), Southern Colorado went back to the RMAC, and the rest of the schools started the Central States Intercollegiate Conference (CSIC), which merged into the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) effective in the 1989–90 school year.
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Left | Subsequent conference(s) | Current conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Hays State College | Hays, Kansas | 1902 | Public | 14,658 | Tigers | 1972–73 | 1975–76 | Central States (CSIC) (1976–89) Rocky Mountain (RMAC) (1989–2006) | Mid-American (MIAA) (2006–07 to present) |
| Kansas State College of Emporia | Emporia, Kansas | 1863 | 5,887 | Hornets | Central States (CSIC) (1976–89) D-II Independent (1989–91) | Mid-American (MIAA) (1991–present) | |||
| Kansas State College of Pittsburg | Pittsburg, Kansas | 1903 | 7,102 | Gorillas | Central States (CSIC) (1976–89) | Mid-American (MIAA) (1989–present) | |||
| Omaha, Nebraska | 1908 | 15,431 | Mavericks | various | Summit (2012–present) | ||||
| Greeley, Colorado | 1889 | 12,862 | Bears | various | Big Sky (2006–present) | ||||
| Southern Colorado State College | Pueblo, Colorado | 1933 | 6,805 | ThunderWolves | Rocky Mountain (RMAC) (1976–90) Colorado (CAC) (1990–96) | Rocky Mountain (RMAC) (1996–present) | |||
| Washburn University | Topeka, Kansas | 1865 | 7,971 | Ichabods | Central States (CSIC) (1976–89) | Mid-American (MIAA) (1989–present) |
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1972 till:1992
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#
Colors =
id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote) id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:Full from:1972 till:1976 text:Fort Hays State (1972–1976) bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:1976 till:1989 text:CSIC bar:1 color:OtherC2 from:1989 till:end text:RMAC
bar:2 color:Full from:1972 till:1976 text:KSC–Emporia (1972–1976) bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1976 till:1989 text:CSIC bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:1989 till:1991 text:D-II Ind. bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1991 till:end text:MIAA
bar:3 color:Full from:1972 till:1976 text:KSC–Pittsburg (1972–1976) bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1976 till:1989 text:CSIC bar:3 color:OtherC2 from:1989 till:end text:MIAA
bar:4 color:Full from:1972 till:1976 text:Nebraska–Omaha (1972–1976) bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1976 till:end text:NCC
bar:5 color:Full from:1972 till:1976 text:Northern Colorado (1972–1976) bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:1976 till:1978 text:Ind. bar:5 color:OtherC2 from:1978 till:end text:NCC
bar:6 color:Full from:1972 till:1976 text:Southern Colorado (1972–1976) bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:1976 till:1990 text:RMAC bar:6 color:OtherC2 from:1990 till:end text:CAC
bar:7 color:Full from:1972 till:1976 text:Washburn (1972–1976) bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:1976 till:1989 text:CSIC bar:7 color:OtherC2 from:1989 till:end text:MIAA
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:1972