Growing up in Sioux Falls, I was surrounded by the North Central Conference. Literally.
Geographically, I was planted right in the middle. There were teams in Brookings, Sioux Falls, Vermillion, Omaha (Neb), Fargo (ND), Grand Forks (ND), Mankato (Minn) and St. Cloud (Minn). Not to mention a school way out in Greeley, Colo.
So, for me, the NCC was something I got to know at a very young age. My family wasn’t much for football, but every Sunday, I remember reading the newspaper and seeing stories about USD and SDSU. The Coyotes and the Jackrabbits. I never understood what the NCC stood for, but I knew it was a pretty good conference.
And once I enrolled at USD in the fall of 2003, I came to quickly realize how precious those NCC games were, because two teams (SDSU and NDSU) were bolting for Division I. Whatever would happen after the departures, I knew the NCC would probably never be the same.
And to tell you the truth, it wasn’t. Sure, there were still semi-rivalries (USD & Augie, USD & UND, Nebraska-Omaha & UND). But it just wasn’t the same. It always felt like sort of a make-shift, rag-tag conference. Even more so when Minnesota-Duluth joined, and two schools from Washington were added for football. Just didn’t feel right.
So, sitting at Saturday’s game between North Dakota and USD, I couldn’t help but think back to the great NCC games I attended over the past 5-6 years. I’m not saying I shed a tear or anything, but it was still hard to fathom that it was over. A lot of people might have gotten caught up in the goodbye-to-the-seniors emotions or the shock of watching USD’s 23-game home win streak get snapped, but hopefully the NCC wasn’t forgotten in all of this.
Here’s an encounter I had that I think tells the whole story:
On the way to the pressbox before the game, I ran into Colin Kapitan of the NCC office, who regularly attends USD home football games. I asked him what he thought of the final conference game, and he looked me square in the eye and said, “This is the last time I climb these stairs as a member of the North Central. That’s hard to believe, isn’t it?”
Yes Colin, it is.
I’ll miss you NCC. It was a great run, I must say.
- - Jeremy Hoeck
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