Whitworth, Plu Help Put Central, Western On Fringe
In a move that could leave Central Washington and Western Washington universities scrambling for football opponents in 1997, the Columbia Football Association has voted to bar the two powerhouses from playing most of the conference’s other teams in order to increase parity.
The six private-school members of the 12-team CFA, including Whitworth College, voted at a Jan. 15 meeting in Portland to remove public schools Central and Western from future football schedules.
Central and Western, who along with Simon Fraser were not represented at the meeting, have moved from the NAIA to NCAA Division II, while the CFA’s remaining teams have moved to NCAA Division III.
Citing this this discrepancy, Pacific Lutheran and Whitworth voted to kick Central and Western out of the league, but the seven other schools represented at the meeting balked.
Those seven schools - Eastern Oregon, Lewis and Clark, Linfield, Puget Sound, Southern Oregon, Western Oregon and Willamette - voted for a compromise to maintain the current CFA structure, which puts state schools and private schools in separate divisions, but voted to exclude Central and Western from playing any of the private schools.
“Central and Western have gone NCAA Division II, so these are two levels of football playing,” Whitworth athletic director Scott McQuilkin said. “As they recruit, they market themselves as Division II schools as they should. They can recruit and say they’re playing at a different level. That’s a decided advantage. And what gaps that do exist between Central, Western and the entire group (of Division III programs) will get bigger. I don’t think there’s any debate about that.”
McQuilkin also noted football programs at private schools are hampered by stricter admissions standards and higher tuitions. According to McQuilkin, this has contributed to Whitworth’s on-field difficulties - the Pirates have won just 12 of 55 league games in the last 10 years.
Next season’s schedule is already set. But starting as early as 1997, Central and Western could be left scrambling to fill out a nine-game regular-season schedule.
The move comes after Central and Western enjoyed their best football seasons. CWU won the NAIA Division II national championship, while Western spent most of the year ranked No. 1 in the nation.
All the schools were invited to the meeting, but Central athletic director Gary Frederick said he was led to believe the discussion would concern matters related to the move of NAIA schools into NCAA Division III, and would not center on football.
Eastern Oregon State College athletic director Peggy Anderson was optimistic Monday the split could be healed.
“We are still trying to work all this out and save small-college football in the Northwest,” Anderson said. The six CFA public schools will address the issue today in a telephone conference, she said.
, DataTimes