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Gateway Football Conference's first season was
in 1985, making 2007 the 23rd year of existence
for the league. Since the league's inception,
a total of nine different members have played
in the conference. The league has been stable
with only five changes since 1986: Eastern Illinois
withdrew in 1995; Youngstown State was admitted
in 1997; Western Kentucky (now in the Sun Belt
Conference at the Football Bowl Subdivision
level) was admitted in 2001 and withdrew after
the 2006 season; and North Dakota State and
South Dakota State have been admitted for the
2008 season.
The
conference has accomplished much in a relatively
short period of time, and has finally begun
to garnish the respect it has long-deserved
as one of, if not the, nation's premier I-AA/FCS
conferences. The 22-year history has included
national championships, national players of
the year, national coaches of the year, #1 national
rankings, and a tremendous number of All-Americans.
In fact, over the same 22-year period of time,
12 Gateway teams have made the trip to the semi-finals.
The most recent was last season as YSU obtained
this distinction. The GFC is the only conference
to have had all of it's members (past and present)
participate in the I-AA/FCS play-off. In the
past 10-seasons alone, the Gateway has seen
8 semi-finalists, 4 finalists, and 2 national
championships. There are also 4 other national
championships in the conference, that were earned
prior to admission; certainly making the the
Gateway one of, if not, the nation's most powerful
conferences. The Gateway's 23 play-off berths
is second to only the Colonial with 26 ...this
despite the fact that the GFC has had membership
of as many a five fewer teams. Also in the past
10 seasons, the GFC has seen 57 victories over
top-25 non-conference opponents.
The
Following is a list of the 2007 Gateway Football
Conference team information:
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