Adam Zobel

The Great West Football Conference, the recently-announced Division I-AA football-only league that SDSU joined last month, lost one of its members March 3 when St. Mary’s College announced that it was immediately discontinuing its football program for financial and competitive reasons.

The California school had been scheduled to play SDSU in Moraga, Calif., on Oct. 2.

The elimination of the school from the schedule leaves the Jacks with nine games set for the 2004 gridiron season.

Two matchups, including the annual Hobo Day game on Oct. 23, are still to be determined.

The schedule change may, however, allow SDSU to schedule a game with fellow conference member Southern Utah.

The St. Mary’s football team completed the 2003 season with a 1-11 record after a 6-6 campaign in 2002.

The team lost to 2003 SDSU opponent Humboldt State 20-6 and was defeated by fall opponents Montana State, UC-Davis, and Cal Poly.

St. Mary’s is a Catholic university 20 miles east of San Francisco with an enrollment of about 4,000 undergraduate and graduate students.

They will continue to sponsor the remainder of its existing athletic programs, devoting financial resources from football into its current intercollegiate, club and recreational programs.

According to St. Mary’s, approximately 30 schools across the country have decided to eliminate football in recent years due to the sport’s financial commitment.

Check future editions of the Collegian for more information on SDSU Division I updates. The website for the Great West Football Conference is www.greatwestfootball.com.