The Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) was a

college athletic conference In college athletics in the United States, institutions typically join in Athletic conference, conferences for regular play under different governing bodies. Varsity sports There are several national and regional associations governing the var ...

affiliated with the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(NAIA), operated in the western United States. It was aligned with the

Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) from approximately 1910 through the late 1960s, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (N ...

(RMAC). The two allied conferences worked under the name of the Mountain and Plains Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MPIAA). It was announced on May 15, 1972. The founding schools were Fort Hays State College (now Fort Hays State University); Kansas State College of Emporia (now Emporia State University); Kansas State College of Pittsburg (now Pittsburg State University); Southern Colorado State College (now Colorado State University–Pueblo); the

University of Nebraska at Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) is a public university, public research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Presbyterian Theological Seminary (Omaha, Nebraska), Omaha Presbyterian Theological ...

, the

University of Northern Colorado The University of Northern Colorado (UNCO or UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado, United States. It was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has offi ...

and

Washburn University Washburn University (WU), formally Washburn University of Topeka, is a public university in Topeka, Kansas, United States. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs as well as professional programs in law and business. The university enroll ...

. The conference only lasted four years, as Nebraska–Omaha and Northern Colorado left for the North Central Conference (NCC), Southern Colorado went back to the RMAC, and the rest of the schools started the Central States Intercollegiate Conference (CSIC), which merged into the

Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Its fourteen me ...

(MIAA) effective in the 1989–90 school year.

Member schools

Final members

;Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1972 till:2032 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:40 top:5 Colors = id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.7,0.9,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.9,0.7,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.8,0.9,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for another sport only id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference when the other color has already been used PlotData = width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:Full from:1972 till:1976 text: Fort Hays State (1972–1976) bar:1 shift:(100) color:OtherC1 from:1976 till:1989 text: CSIC bar:1 color:OtherC2 from:1989 till:end text: RMAC bar:2 color:Full from:1972 till:1976 text: KSC–Emporia (1972–1976) bar:2 shift:(100) color:OtherC1 from:1976 till:1989 text: CSIC bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:1989 till:1991 text: D-II Ind. bar:2 shift:(20) color:OtherC1 from:1991 till:end text: MIAA bar:3 color:Full from:1972 till:1976 text: KSC–Pittsburg (1972–1976) bar:3 shift:(100) color:OtherC1 from:1976 till:1989 text: CSIC bar:3 color:OtherC2 from:1989 till:end text: MIAA bar:4 color:Full from:1972 till:1976 text: Nebraska–Omaha (1972–1976) bar:4 shift:(100) color:OtherC1 from:1976 till:2008 text: NCC bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:2008 till:2011 text: MIAA bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:2011 till:2012 text: D-I Ind. bar:4 shift:(30) color:OtherC2 from:2012 till:end text:

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

bar:5 color:Full from:1972 till:1976 text: Northern Colorado (1972–1976) bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:1976 till:1978 text: bar:5 shift:(70) color:OtherC2 from:1978 till:2003 text: NCC bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:2003 till:2006 text: D-I Ind. bar:5 color:OtherC2 from:2006 till:end text: Big Sky bar:6 color:Full from:1972 till:1976 text: Southern Colorado (1972–1976) bar:6 shift:(100) color:OtherC1 from:1976 till:1990 text: RMAC bar:6 color:OtherC2 from:1990 till:1996 text: CAC bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:1996 till:end text: RMAC bar:7 color:Full from:1972 till:1976 text: Washburn (1972–1976) bar:7 shift:(100) color:OtherC1 from:1976 till:1989 text: CSIC bar:7 color:OtherC2 from:1989 till:end text: MIAA bar:N color:red from:1972 till:1976 text:GPAC bar:N color:white from:1976 till:end text:Post-GPAC ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1972

Football champions

* 1972 – * 1973 – and * 1974 – * 1975 –

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Plains Athletic Conference (1972-1976)