June 12, 2000

Bowling Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University will terminate its football affiliation with the Ohio Valley Conference at the conclusion of the 2000 season and will seek membership in the Gateway Football Conference.

That announcement was made by WKU President Dr. Gary Ransdell at a news conference on the Western campus today.

"The OVC has informed us that full membership in that conference will be required to participate in the sport of football and has extended Western an invitation to apply to join the league under those terms," Dr. Ransdell said. "However, the University is pleased with its membership in the Sun Belt Conference and is optimistic about the future of its athletic programs as a member of that league."

"As a result, Western will decline the OVC's offer and will cease to be a football member of that conference at the end of the 2000 season," he added. "We have opened dialogue with officials of the Gateway Football Conference and have found a mutual interest in Western football joining that league. We have accepted an invitation to attend the Gateway's annual meeting in St. Louis, June 20 to further explore that option. Western is committted to playing 1-AA football at the highest level possible and membership in the Gateway, 1-AA football's most successful league, would certainly be a major step in that direction."

The Gateway Football Conference, headquartered in St. Louis, currently has seven members - Illinois State (a semifinalist in last fall's 1-AA national championship playoffs), Indiana State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Southwest Missouri State, Western Illinois and Youngstown State (a participant in the national championship game six times in the past nine years, winning four national titles and finishing as the runner-up twice, including last season).

"We have had exploratory conversations on the matter of Gateway Football Conference membership for Western Kentucky," Gateway Commissioner Patty Viverito said. "Those conversations have been enthusiastic and well received by both entities"

"Western would be a perfect fit for the Gateway - competitively, geographically and philosophically," she added.

The Gateway is one of just four conferences to send six teams (two each year) to the 1-AA national championship playoffs over the course of the past three seasons, winning 12 games and losing only five times - by far the best record of any conference in playoff action over that span of time.

And, Gateway schools demonstrated the kind of dominance they enjoy last fall, winning 30 of 42 non-conference (71.4%), including a 22-7 mark (76%) in action with other 1-AA teams.

The Gateway has also made tremendous strides in obtaining television coverage for its institutions, coordinating its own five-game, in-house TV that features all members at least once.

"We have tremendous respect for the Gateway Conference and its member institutions," Dr. Wood Selig, WKU's Director of Athletics, said. "Western has played Gateway schools regularly and we know they play great 1-AA football. We're prepared to do everything in our power to be sure that Western would be competitive in the Gateway."