The Fall 2016 match-ups for the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) and the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Football Challenge have been determined.
In 2016, GPAC institutions will host these games based on the final 2014 regular season standings:
#1 – Ottawa at Morningside
#2 – Sterling at Northwestern
#3 – Friends at Doane
#4 – Tabor at Dakota Wesleyan
#5 – Bethany at Hastings
#6 – McPherson at Nebraska Wesleyan
#7 – Saint Mary at Concordia
#8 – Kansas Wesleyan at Briar Cliff
#9 – Bethel at Midland
“The GPAC is very excited to get the GPAC/KCAC Football Challenge underway in 2015 and now that we know the matchups for 2016 even more excitement is building for this partnership between two outstanding NAIA conferences” indicated Corey Westra, GPAC Commissioner.
KCAC Commissioner, Dr. Scott Crawford agreed, “We have seen how this type of arrangement can showcase NAIA Football here in the Midwest. The KCAC teams are anxious to play these games and compete with a great conference like the GPAC.”
The two-year agreement between the conferences pairs KCAC and GPAC teams based on their conference finishes from the 2013 & 2014 football seasons. KCAC teams will host the first set of non-conference games on September 5, 2015 with the GPAC representatives returning the favor by hosting the second set of games the followng year on September 3rd, 2016.
Due to a contractual obligation for 2015 & 2016, GPAC member institution Dordt College (Iowa) will be unable to participate in the challenge, bringing the GPAC participants to nine. In order to compensate, Bethany College (Kan.) will not compete in the challenge during the 2015 matchups and Southwestern College (Kan.) will not compete in the 2016 arrangement.
