Cal Lutheran Stays in WFC but Forfeits Voting Privileges

Cal Lutheran will remain in the Western Football Conference through the 1989 season, but the Kingsmen will play a reduced conference schedule and will not be eligible for postseason honors or playoffs.

In a WFC executive meeting Friday at Cal Lutheran, school presidents from the 7-team WFC voted, 6 to 0 with 1 abstention, to allow CLU to remain in the NCAA Division II conference next season as a non-voting member. In accordance with Cal Lutheran’s new membership status, the university will not be included in conference standings or statistics.

Cal Lutheran will play an independent schedule until it joins the NCAA Division III Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in either 1991 or ’92. The Kingsmen, however, still will play 3 WFC teams as an independent next season--Cal State Northridge, Southern Utah State and Santa Clara.

Vic Buccola, the conference’s commissioner, said that he was disappointed Cal Lutheran was leaving the conference but pleased it would maintain its ties with the WFC through next season.

Cal Lutheran was 2-8 last season, 0-6 in the WFC. It has a WFC record of 2-21 since leaving the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics in 1985.

Cal Lutheran must find 3 opponents next season to make up for the loss of 3 WFC teams on its schedule--Portland State, Sacramento State and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.