The Great Northern UP Conference, is an athletic conference for high schools in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was formed in 1965 as the Great Northern Conference and changed its name to the A-B-C Conference in 1984, and again to its current name in 1990. The football conference was disbanded in 2023, but all other sports continue.

Member schools

Current members

TeamLocationColorsEnrollmentClassJoinedPrevious Conference
Escanaba EskymosEscanaba690B1965Great Lakes Conference (Independent from 1986 to 1988)
Gladstone BravesGladstone428B2018Mid-Peninsula Athletic Conference
Kingsford FlivversKingsford548B1965Menominee Range Conference
Marquette RedmenMarquette896A1973Great Lakes Conference
Menominee MaroonsMenominee391C1965Independent

Former members

TeamLocationJoinedPrevious ConferenceDepartedSuccessive Conference
Escanaba Holy Name CrusadersEscanaba1965Independent1970N/A (football team abolished)
Iron Mountain MountaineersIron Mountain1965Menominee Range Conference1978Mid-Peninsula Athletic Conference
Luther L. Wright Red DevilsIronwood1971Menominee Range Conference1987Independent
West Iron County WykonsIron River1968None (School opened)1988 (Independent from 1982 to 1986)Independent
Sault Ste. Marie Blue DevilsSault Ste. Marie2016Independent2017Independent
Stephenson EaglesStephenson1965Great Lakes Conference1966Land-O-Lakes Conference

Membership timeline

Football

This list of conference champions goes through the 2022 season. 2022 is the last year that the GNC had a football conference, it will be disbanded for 2023.

#TeamGNC (1965–1984)ABC (1984–1990)GNC (1990–present)
1Menominee1969, 1971, 1982, 19831986-19881994, 1997–1999, 2003, 2005–2007, 2011, 2013–2016, 2021
2Kingsford1965, 19691990–1996, 2000–2002, 2004, 2008–2010, 2012, 2017, 2021
3Escanaba1966–1968, 1972, 1973, 1978-19821984, 1988, 19891994, 1998, 2018
4Marquette1975, 19762011, 2018–2021
5Gladstone198219851998, 2022
West Iron County1970, 1974, 1977—N/a