Missouri Valley Conference

The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwest though with substantial extension into the South in states like Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas.

The MVC was established in 1907 (its charter member schools: the University of Kansas, University of Missouri, University of Nebraska, and Washington University in St. Louis) as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association or MVIAA, 12 years after the Big Ten Conference, the only Division I conference that is older. It is the fourth-oldest college athletic conference in the United States, after the Big Ten Conference and the NCAA Division III's Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) and Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC).

The MVIAA split in 1928, with most of the larger schools (the University of Kansas, University of Missouri, University of Nebraska, Iowa Agricultural College (now Iowa State University), Kansas State University, and University of Oklahoma) forming a conference that retained the MVIAA name; this conference evolved into the Big Eight Conference. The Big Eight merged with four Texas schools of the Southwest Conference to form the Big 12 Conference in 1996.

The smaller MVIAA schools (Drake, Grinnell and Washington University in St. Louis), plus Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University–Stillwater, which joined the Big Eight in 1957), were joined by Creighton to form the MVC, which retained the old MVIAA's administrative staff.

To this day, it has never been definitively established which conference was the original and which was the spinoff, though the Big Eight would go on to become the more prestigious of the two. During the Big Eight's run, both conferences claimed 1907 as their founding date, and the same history through 1927.

MVC teams held a 74–27 non-conference record during the 2006–07 college basketball season, including a record of 44–1 at home. The Valley finished in the top six of the RPI and ahead of a BCS conference for the second consecutive year, while also garnering multiple NCAA bids for the ninth straight year and 12th of 14.

The MVC has not sponsored football since 1985, when it was a hybrid I-A/I-AA (now FBS and FCS, respectively) conference. However, five members have football programs in the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) (known as the Gateway from 1985 to 2008) of Division I FCS, and two others compete in another FCS conference, the Pioneer Football League. The Missouri Valley Conference shares its name with the MVFC, and all three conferences operate from the same headquarters complex in St. Louis; however, the three are separate administratively.

After weeks of speculation, Wichita State announced on April 7, 2017, that it would leave the conference to join the American Athletic Conference starting with the 2017–18 season. The conference announced it extended an invitation to Valparaiso University on May 9, 2017; and on May 25, the MVC announced that Valparaiso would officially join the following July 1.

The most recent changes to the core MVC membership were announced during the 2021–22 school year. On September 28, 2021, the MVC and Belmont University jointly announced that the school would leave the Ohio Valley Conference for the MVC effective July 1, 2022. Then, on November 16, Loyola University Chicago announced it would leave the MVC at the same time, joining the Atlantic 10 Conference. On the same day Loyola announced its departure, CBS Sports reported that the MVC was actively pursuing further expansion, having entered into talks with the University of Missouri–Kansas City (known athletically as Kansas City), Murray State University, and the University of Texas at Arlington (UT Arlington). The report indicated that the latter two were considered the strongest candidates, but that all three were likely to receive invitations in the coming months. On January 7, 2022, the MVC announced that Murray State would officially join the conference on July 1 of that year. UT Arlington would soon remove itself from the list of candidates by announcing a 2022 move to the Western Athletic Conference.

Shortly before Murray State was officially announced as an incoming MVC member, Matt Brown of the Extra Points college sports blog reported that the MVC was also in membership discussions with the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), then a member of the Horizon League. On the same weekend that Murray State's arrival was officially announced, MVC officials made a site visit to UIC. Brown's sources indicated that an invitation to UIC was likely. Brown noted that with the MVC losing Loyola, league officials believed that maintaining a presence in the city was a top priority, stating (emphasis in original):

On January 22, 2022, Matt Norlander of CBSSports.com reported that UIC's July entry to the MVC was "a done deal", with his sources indicating that the MVC wanted to announce the move before the Conference Commissioners Association held its annual meeting in Naples, Florida in early February. UIC's entry was officially announced on January 26.

On May 10, 2024, Missouri State announced they would leave the MVC to transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and join Conference USA, effective for the 2025–26 season.

1. ^ Belmont had been an MVC affiliate in men's soccer for the 2000 fall season (2000–01 school year).
2. ^ Bradley and Drake both withdrew from the MVC during the 1951–52 school year in protest over the Johnny Bright incident, a racially motivated on-field attack by an Oklahoma A&M football player against Drake player Johnny Bright in a 1951 game. Bradley returned to the MVC for non-football sports in the 1955–56 school year, with Drake doing the same a year later (1956–57 school year). However, Bradley never returned to MVC football, dropping the sport after the 1970 fall season (1970–71 school year), and Drake did not return for football until the 1971 fall season (1971–72 school year).
3. ^ Entire U of I system.
4. ^ The Indiana State men's basketball team joined the MVC a year after becoming a full member for other sports (1977–78).
5. ^ In beach volleyball, a sport not sponsored by the MVC, Missouri State uses Beach Bears instead of Lady Bears.
6. ^ Valparaiso had been an MVC affiliate in women's soccer from the 1996 to the 1998 fall seasons (1996–97 to 1998–99 school years).
7. ^ Valparaiso officially adopted the "Beacons" nickname shortly before the start of classes in the 2021–22 school year after abandoning its previous nickname of Crusaders due to unfavorable connotations.

Note: In the case of spring sports, the year of joining is the calendar year before the start of competition.

1. ^ Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, and Western Michigan's full-time home of the Mid-American Conference suspended men's soccer as a conference sport after the conclusion of the 2022 season.

1. ^ Creighton previously withdrew from the MVC from 1948–49 to 1975–76.
2. ^ Currently known as the University of Detroit Mercy.
3. ^ Currently an NCAA Division III athletic conference.
4. ^ Currently known as Iowa State University.
5. ^ Currently known as Kansas State University.
6. ^ The Louisville men's basketball team joined the MVC a year after becoming a full member for other sports (1964–65).
7. ^ Currently known as the University of Memphis.
8. ^ The New Mexico State football team joined the MVC a year after becoming a full member for other sports (1971–72); while its men's basketball team joined the MVC two years after (1972–73).
9. ^ Currently known as the University of North Texas.
10. ^ Currently known as Oklahoma State University–Stillwater.
11. ^ During Oklahoma A&M's tenure in the MVC, the nicknames "Aggies" and "Cowboys" were used interchangeably. When the school adopted its current name in 1957, the "Cowboys" nickname was exclusively adopted.
12. ^ Currently an NCAA Division II athletic conference.
13. ^ Currently known as West Texas A&M University.

This list does not include current full members Belmont and Valparaiso. As noted above, the Bruins played men's soccer in the MVC for the 2000 fall season (2000–01 school year), and the Beacons, then known as the Crusaders, played women's soccer in the MVC from the 1996 to 1998 fall seasons (1996–97 to 1998–99 school years).

1. ^ Currently an NCAA Division II athletic conference.
2. ^ Dallas Baptist plays baseball in CUSA.
3. ^ Currently an NCAA Division III athletic conference.
4. ^ Hartford dropped men's tennis after the 2015–16 school year.
5. ^ Marshall will be an MVC affiliate for the 2022–23 season only. Marshall's full-time home of the Sun Belt Conference will add women's swimming & diving in 2023–24.
6. ^ UMBC dropped men's tennis after the 2015–16 season.
7. ^ Stony Brook dropped men's tennis after the 2016–17 season. The school's women's tennis team remained an MVC affiliate, but left when it joined the CAA in July 2022.
8. ^ TCU dropped men's soccer after the 2002 fall season (2002–03 school year).
9. ^ Tulsa was a full member from 1935–36 to 1995–96, but re-joined the MVC as a men's soccer associate from the 2000 to 2004 fall seasons (2000–01 to 2004–05 school years).
10. ^ Vanderbilt dropped men's soccer after the 2005 fall season (2005–06 school year).
11. ^ Western Kentucky dropped men's soccer after the 2007 fall season (2007–08 school year).

Full members Full members (non-football) Assoc. members (football only) Assoc. member (other sports) Other Conference Other Conference

1. C. E. McClung (1907–19??)
2. Arthur (Artie) E. Eilers (1925–1957)
3. Norvell Neve (1957–1969)
4. DeWitt T. Weaver (1969–1972)
5. Mickey Holmes (1972–1979)
6. David Price (1979–1981)
7. Richard D. Martin (1981–1985)
8. James A. Haney (1985–1988)
9. Doug Elgin (1988–2021)
10. Jeff Jackson (2021–present)

The Missouri Valley Conference sponsors championship competition in eight men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Ball State (men), Little Rock (women), and Miami (OH) (men) are affiliates in swimming and diving, and Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, and Western Michigan are affiliates in men's soccer.

The most recent change to the roster of sports came in the 2024–25 school year, when the MVC reinstated men's swimming & diving after a 22-year absence. The inaugural season of the relaunched league features 7 sponsoring members, with full members Evansville, UIC, Missouri State, Southern Illinois, and Valparaiso joined by new affiliates Ball State and Miami (OH)— previously, all these programs were housed in the Mid-American Conference.

1. ^ Valparaiso does not include diving in its intercollegiate aquatics program.
2. ^ Men's soccer associates Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, and Western Michigan.
3. ^ Men's swimming & diving associates Ball State and Miami.

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Missouri Valley Conference which are played by Valley schools:

1. ^ Rifle is a fully coeducational sport, though the NCAA treats it as a men's sport for purposes of its sports sponsorship regulations.
2. ^ Murray State fields a single coeducational rifle team.

1. ^ Valparaiso does not include diving in its intercollegiate aquatics program for either men or women.
2. ^ Swimming & diving associate Little Rock

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Missouri Valley Conference which are played by Valley schools:

1. ^ Part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.
2. ^ Rifle is a fully coeducational sport, though the NCAA treats it as a men's sport for purposes of its sports sponsorship regulations.
3. ^ Murray State fields a single coeducational rifle team.

1. For the football venues of schools who participate in the sport, see Missouri Valley Football Conference#Facilites and Pioneer Football League#Conference facilities.

The Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament is often referred to as Arch Madness, in reference to the Gateway Arch at the tournament's present location of St. Louis, Missouri, and a play on "March Madness". The women's tournament is currently promoted as Hoops in the Heartland.

NB: Missouri State was known as Southwest Missouri State until August 2005.

School – Number – NCAA championships

• Belmont
• Bradley – 2
• Drake – 3
• Evansville – 0+5*
• Illinois State – 0+1*
• Indiana State – 1
• Missouri State – 0 +2*
• UNI – 1+2*
• Southern Illinois – 5+3*
• Valparaiso – 0

NCAA Championships as of March 2013

(*-Titles won by schools in Division II/College Division prior to their moving to Division I in the late 1960s or early 1970s)

Football poll, Helms and AIAW titles are not included in the NCAA Championship count.

Sources:

The Valley is well known for having some of the most dedicated fanbases in all of college basketball, with several members regularly selling out their large arenas on a nightly basis throughout the year. Former member (Creighton) had the sixth highest attendance for Division I in 2012–13 while Bradley, Illinois State, Missouri State, and Indiana State were all among the NCAA's top 100 teams in home attendance.

In 2010–11, 2011–12, and 2012–13, the Valley maintained its position as the eighth ranked conference in average attendance.

The Valley made history in March 2007 with record attendance for four days at St. Louis' Scottrade Center as 85,074 fans turned out to watch the five sessions of the tournament. The two sellout crowds of 22,612 for the semifinals and final of the 2007 State Farm Tournament set an all-time attendance record for basketball at the arena and also gave The Valley the distinction of having the largest championship crowd for any of the 30 NCAA conference tournaments in 2007.

• All MVC schools that currently play football are part of the Missouri Valley Football Conference except for Drake and Valparaiso, which play in the Pioneer Football League.

Since at least 1993, the MVC has produced an in-house package of sports as part of the MVC Network. Since 1996, these telecasts have been produced, in part, by Bally Sports Midwest (formerly Fox Sports Midwest). These games are distributed to regional sports networks including Bally Sports Midwest, Bally Sports Kansas City, Bally Sports Indiana and NBC Sports Chicago. Until the 2020–21 season, these telecasts also aired on Fox College Sports. Outside of regional networks these telecasts were also available on ESPN3 until the 2018–19 season. These telecasts are now available on ESPN+. The MVC Network is home to the first two rounds of Arch Madness, the nickname for the MVC men's basketball tournament.

• Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame