Great Northwest Athletic Conference

Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC)

Association	NCAA
Founded	2001
Commissioner	David Haglund (since 2011)
Sports fielded	16 men's: 8 women's: 8
Division	Division II
No. of teams	10
Headquarters	Portland, Oregon
Region	Idaho, British Columbia, Alaska, Montana, Washington, Oregon
Official website	www.gnacsports.com
Locations

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.

Great Northwest Athletic Conference (Pacific Northwest)

200km
125miles

Central Washington

Simon Fraser

Montana State–Billings

Western Washington

Western Oregon

Seattle Pacific

Saint Martin's

Northwest Nazarene

  

Location of GNAC members: current

Great Northwest Athletic Conference (Alaska)

900km
600miles

Alaska–Anchorage

Alaska

  

Location of GNAC members: current

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
University of Alaska Anchorage	Anchorage, Alaska	1954	Public	10,530	Seawolves	2001
University of Alaska Fairbanks	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)
California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt [a] [b]	Arcata, California	1913	Public	5,858	Lumberjacks	2019–20		women's rowing	California (CCAA)

Notes

1. Cal Poly Humboldt was a full member of the GNAC from 2001–02 to 2005–06, and was as an affiliate member of the GNAC for football from the 2008 to 2018 fall seasons (2008–09 to 2018–19 school years).
2. Formerly known as Humboldt State University until January 26, 2022.

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
California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt [a] [b]	Arcata, California	1913	Public	5,858	Lumberjacks	2001	2006	California (CCAA)
Seattle University	Seattle, Washington	1891	Catholic	7,107	Redhawks	2001	2008	Western (WAC) [c] [d]

Notes

1. Cal Poly Humboldt remains in the GNAC as an affiliate member for women's rowing.
2. Formerly known as Humboldt State University until January 26, 2022.
3. Currently an NCAA Division I athletic conference.
4. Seattle University will join the West Coast Conference effective July 1, 2025.

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 [a]	St. George, Utah	1911	Public	12,556	Red Storm [b]	2008–09	2015–16	football	Western (WAC) [c]
California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt [d] [e]	Arcata, California	1913	Public	5,858	Lumberjacks	2006–07	2017–18	football	California (CCAA)
University of Mary	Bismarck, North Dakota	1959	Catholic	3,794	Marauders	2012–13	2015–16	men's soccer	Northern Sun (NSIC)
University of Sioux Falls	Sioux Falls, South Dakota	1883	Baptist	1,594	Cougars	2012–13	2012–13	men's soccer	Northern Sun (NSIC)
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology	Rapid City, South Dakota	1885	Public	2,493	Hardrockers	2014–15fb.; 2013–14m.soc.	2015–16fb.; 2014–15m.soc.	football; men's soccer	Rocky Mountain (RMAC)
University of California, San Diego	San Diego, California	1960	Public	41,482	Tritons	2019–20	2019–20	women's rowing	Big West [c]

Notes

1. Currently known as Utah Tech University.
2. Currently known as the Utah Tech Trailblazers.
3. Currently an NCAA Division I athletic conference.
4. Cal Poly Humboldt was a full member of the GNAC from 2001–02 to 2005–06. However it remains in the GNAC as an affiliate member for women's rowing.
5. Formerly known as Humboldt State University until January 2022.

Membership timeline

 Full member (all sports)  Full member (non-football)  Associate member (football-only)  Associate member (other sports) 

• The GNAC did not sponsor football in the 2006–07 and 2007-08 seasons. Therefore, Central Washington and Western Washington competed in the North Central Conference (NCC); while Dixie State, Humboldt State and Western Oregon were Independents.

Sports sponsored

Conference sports

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	Y
Basketball	Y	Y
Cross Country	Y	Y
Golf	Y	Y
Rowing		Y
Soccer	Y	Y
Softball		Y
Track & Field Indoor	Y	Y
Track & Field Outdoor	Y	Y
Volleyball		Y

Men's sponsored sports by school

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Soccer	Track & Field Indoor	Track & Field Outdoor	Total GNAC Sports
Alaska		Y	Y					2
Alaska-Anchorage		Y	Y			Y	Y	4
Central Washington	Y	Y	Y			Y	Y	5
Montana State-Billings	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Northwest Nazarene	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Saint Martin's	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Seattle Pacific		Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	5
Simon Fraser		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	6
Western Oregon	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	6
Western Washington		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	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	Y	Y							Y	3
Alaska-Anchorage	Y	Y					Y	Y	Y	5
Central Washington	Y	Y			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Montana State-Billings	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Northwest Nazarene	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Saint Martin's	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Seattle Pacific	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	8
Simon Fraser	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Western Oregon	Y	Y			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Western Washington	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Affiliate Members
Cal Poly Humboldt				Y						1
Central Oklahoma				Y						1
Totals	10	10	6	4	8	7	9	9	10	81

Other sponsored sports by school

School		Men						Women				Co-ed
		Football	Ice Hockey [a]	Lacrosse	Swimming & Diving	Wrestling		Gymnastics [a]	Swimming & Diving	Wrestling		Rifle [a]	Skiing [a]
Alaska			IND						PCSC			PRC	RMISA
Alaska Anchorage			IND					MPSF					RMISA
Central Washington		LSC
Northwest Nazarene				RMAC [b]
Simon Fraser					RMAC	RMAC			RMAC	RMAC
Western Oregon		LSC

1. De facto Division I sport. The NCAA holds a combined national championship event in men's ice hockey open to both Division I and Division II members, and single championship events open to members of all three divisions in women's gymnastics and the coeducational sports of rifle and skiing.
2. Beginning in the 2025-26 academic year.

Football champions

Year Champion Conf. Record 2001 Western Washington 3-0 2002 Central Washington 3-0 2003 Western Washington 3-0 2004 Central Washington 5-1 2005 Central Washington 6-0 2006 Not Sponsored N/A 2007 Not Sponsored N/A 2008 Central Washington 8-0 2009 Central Washington 6-0

Year Champion Conf. Record 2010 Central Washington 7-1 2011 Humboldt State 7-1 2012 Central Washington 7-3 2013 Azusa Pacific 9-1 2014 Azusa Pacific 6-0 2015 Humboldt State 6-0 2016 Azusa Pacific 8-0 2017 Central Washington 8-0 2018 Azusa Pacific & Central Washington 7-1 2019 Central Washington & Western Oregon 5-1 2020 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic N/A 2021 Central Washington 4-0

Basketball champions

Main article: Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament

Main article: Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament

Conference facilities

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

External links

• Official website