Feb. 21, 2008

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Three home games, the Battle in Seattle at Qwest Field and road games at NCAA Division I-FCS Eastern Washington and North Dakota highlight the Western Washington University football schedule for 2008.

The Vikings will play 10 regular-season games, including eight league contests in the NCAA II Great Northwest Athletic Conference which brings back football following a two-year hiatus.

Coming to Civic Stadium are Western Oregon on Oct. 6, Dixie State on Sept. 27 and Humboldt State on Oct. 25.

The sixth annual Battle in Seattle for the Cascade Cup against arch-rival Central Washington at Qwest Field is slated for Oct. 11 at 6 p.m.

The GNAC has five football-playing members, who will play one another home-and-home. That is one short of the NCAA requirement for a league to earn an automatic berth in the national playoffs.

Western travels to Eastern Washington on Sept. 20 and North Dakota on Oct. 18. Eastern finished 9-4 and reached the NCAA I-FCS national quarterfinals. North Dakota, which moved to the NCAA I-FCS ranks during the off season, competed against the Vikings in the North Central Conference the last two years. The Fighting Sioux were 10-2 in 2007, losing to eventual NCAA II champion Grand Valley State in the second round of the national playoffs.

Central Washington was 10-3, advancing to the national quarterfinals, and Western Oregon 9-2.

The GNAC champion or runner-up, if the champion does not qualify for the national playoffs, will play in the Dixie Rotary Bowl in St. George, Utah, against the champion or runner-up from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Western Oregon won that bowl game last season, 26-12 over Colorado School of Mines.

WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY - 2008 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Sept. 6 (Sat.) WESTERN OREGON* BELLINGHAM TBA
Sept. 13 (Sat.)	at Humboldt State*  Arcata, CA  TBA
Sept. 20 (Sat.) at Eastern Washington  Cheney  6 p.m.
Sept. 27 (Sat.)	DIXIE STATE*  BELLINGHAM  1 p.m.
Oct.  4 (Sat.)	at Western Oregon*  Monmouth, OR  2 p.m.
Oct. 11 (Sat.)  vs. Central Washington*  SEATTLE  6 p.m.
                (Battle in Seattle for Cascade Cup at Qwest Field)
Oct. 18 (Sat.)	at North Dakota	Grand Forks, ND  1 p.m.
Oct. 25 (Sat.)	HUMBOLDT STATE*  BELLINGHAM  1 p.m.
Nov.  1 (Sat.)	at Dixie State*  St. George, UT	 1 p.m.
Nov.  8 (Sat.)	at Central Washington*  Ellensburg  12 noon

*Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest
Home games (ALL CAPS) at Bellingham's Civic Stadium
All games broadcast on KBAI Radio (930 AM)