Oct. 21, 2006
By John Boyle
Seattle, Wash. - Longtime rivals Western Washington and Central Washington clash tonight at Qwest Field in the fourth Battle of Seattle, but things are a little different this year.
For starters, both football teams are in the midst of their first seasons in the demanding North Central Conference. A lack of NCAA Division II competition on the West Coast forced the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schools to look elsewhere for competitive football.
By joining the NCC, both schools face a significant step up in the strength-of-schedule department. Eighth-ranked Nebraska-Omaha, No. 11 North Dakota and No. 13 South Dakota are all NCC teams in the top 15 in the NCAA II rankings.
Both the Wildcats and Vikings are 1-3 in NCC games. Central was 4-0 in its first four league GNAC games last year, and Western was 3-1.
"It's a tougher league and I think it is making us tougher as a team," Central Washington coach John Zamberlin said. "I think it's about what we expected. Each time we play, it's going to be great competition. You've got to be prepared to play for 60 minutes."
Had the Wildcats (4-3) done a better job of that, said Zamberlin, they could be 5-2 or even 6-1 after close losses to South Dakota and Minnesota Duluth. Despite early struggles, the league should benefit both teams in the long run.
"I think it's been a real positive," said first-year WWU coach Robin Ross. "We're playing Top 20 teams just about every week, and players want to play against the best. It's a great measure of where you are as a program, and it will pay dividends down the road, recruiting-wise. Kids want to play for the best teams and in the best conferences, and NCC is as good of a D-II program as you'll find."
This year's Battle of Seattle will be the only meeting between the two teams, with the Cascade Cup at stake. With only four GNAC football teams, Western and Central faced off twice in each of the past three seasons.
"Now that we're playing only once a year again it should be even more intense," said Ross. "We only get one shot at each other this year."
Western (2-5, 1-3) is looking to even the series in Seattle. Central won in 2003 and 2005.
