Thursday, June 23, 2016

PORTLAND, Ore. – For the third year in a row, GNAC football will be featured on national television with the Sat., Oct. 22 game between Humboldt State and Western Oregon picked up as part of the 2016 NCAA Division II Football Showcase.

The game between the top two placers in GNAC play last season will kickoff at 12:30 p.m. (Pacific) at McArthur Field in Monmouth, Ore. The contest will be aired by the American Sports Network as one of 22 Division II contests being aired as part of the showcase on ASN and ESPN3.

The Humboldt State/Western Oregon game will be streamed on NCAA.com and will be aired on ASN’s affiliates nationwide. A complete list of stations will be released closer to the date of the game.

"We appreciate the opportunity to showcase the student-athletes from both Western Oregon University and Humboldt State University and the brand of football played in the GNAC,” WOU Executive Director of Athletics Barbara Dearing said. “We're excited to be a part of this initiative to expand national television coverage for NCAA Division II football. Humboldt State is a familiar rival for WOU and the final outcome is usually determined in the last few plays of the game, thus ensuring a great fan experience. This will be a first for our football program, so our Wolves will be prepared for a competitive game with the Jacks."

Humboldt State and Western Oregon battled until the final week of the season for the 2015 GNAC championship with the Lumberjacks beating the Wolves in Monmouth on Nov. 14, 29-13, to clinch their first title since 2011. Humboldt State earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Division II Playoffs, defeating Augustana (S.D.) 45-31 in the opening round before losing to eventual national champion Northwest Missouri State, 54-7. Humboldt State finished with a 10-2 overall record.

After losing three of their four games, Western Oregon surged to win six straight games between Oct. 2 and Nov. 7, which included a 24-22 upset of North Alabama in Monmouth. That set up the battle for the title against Humboldt State on Nov. 14. The Wolves finished with a 7-4 overall record and a 5-1 conference mark, their most conference wins since 2010.

The game will mark the third time in as many years that GNAC football has been featured on national television. Central Washington opened the 2015 season at defending national champion Colorado State-Pueblo in a game that was aired on ASN. In 2014, Azusa Pacific opened the year against defending national champion Grand Valley State and stunned the Lakers 26-23 in two overtimes in a game aired by the CBS Sports Network.

About American Sports Network: The American Sports Network is part of the Sinclair Broadcast Group, one of the largest and most diversified television broadcast companies in the country. Including pending transactions, the company owns, operates and/or provides services to 173 television stations in 81 markets, broadcasting 484 channels and having affiliations with all the major networks. Sinclair stations in GNAC Country include KATU-TV in Portland, KOMO-TV in Seattle, KIMA-TV and KEPR-TV in Yakima, Wash., KBOI-TV in Boise, Idaho and KLEW-TV in Spokane.

The American Sports Network, which launched in 2014, produced 150 college events in nine sports in its first year and plans to air nearly 400 events when the 2015-16 academic year is over. In January, ASN launched a 24/7 channel in nine markets, expanding to 21 markets in June. The ASN also airs events over the Altitude Sports & Entertainment channel, which airs on cable channels in the Intermountain West, and on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, which covers Northern California.