Missouri Valley Football Conference

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Missouri Valley Football Conference
Missouri Valley Football Conference logo
Established 1982 (chartered)[1]
1985 (began football)
Association NCAA
Division Division I FCS
Members 10
Sports fielded 1 (football) (men's: 1; women's: 0)
Region Midwest
Former names Gateway Football Conference (1992–2008)
Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference (1982–1992)
Headquarters St. Louis, Missouri
Commissioner Patty Viverito (since 1982)
Website www.valley-football.org
Locations
Missouri Valley Football Conference locations

The Missouri Valley Football Conference (formerly the Gateway Football Conference) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a football-only conference.

History

Gateway Conference logo

The Missouri Valley Football Conference has a convoluted history that involves three other conferences:

In 1985, the MVC stopped sponsoring football. At that time, the two remaining I-AA members from the MVC (Illinois State and Southern Illinois) joined Eastern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Southwest Missouri State, and Western Illinois from the AMCU and together became a football conference under the Gateway's auspices.[3] Indiana State, which had left MVC football after the 1981 season to become a Division I-AA independent while remaining a full MVC member, would join the next year.[4]

In 1992, when the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference merged with the MVC,[1] the football conference kept the Gateway charter, with a minor name change to Gateway Football Conference. After Eastern Illinois joined the Ohio Valley Conference for football in 1995, Youngstown State joined in 1997 and was followed by Western Kentucky University (WKU) in 2001. Southwest Missouri State changed its name to Missouri State in 2005. The Gateway changed its name to the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2008.

On November 2, 2006, WKU's Board of Regents approved a proposal by the school's president to upgrade the Hilltoppers football program to the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division I-A). WKU left the GFC after the 2006 season, went through the two-year "reclassification" period mandated by the NCAA for schools moving from the FCS to the FBS, and became a football member of its all-sports conference, the Sun Belt Conference, in 2009.[5] WKU moved to Conference USA in 2014.

Due to WKU's move, the Gateway was left with 7 members for the 2007 season. However, Great West Football Conference members North Dakota State and South Dakota State were asked to submit information about themselves and to attend the conference presidents' meeting.[6] On March 7, 2007, the conference announced that both schools would join the conference beginning with the 2008 season.[7]

On June 6, 2008, the Gateway Football Conference changed its name to the Missouri Valley Football Conference, effective immediately. This change aligns the conference with the Missouri Valley Conference, a conference in which five of the nine Missouri Valley Football schools participate. The conferences will share the "Missouri Valley" name but will remain separate administratively.[8]

On November 4, 2010, the University of South Dakota was invited as the 10th member. This renewed an in-state rivalry with fellow MVFC member South Dakota State.

Member schools

File:MissouriValleyFootballLocations.png
Locations of current Missouri Valley Football Conference member institutions.

Current members

Institution Location Founded Type Enrollment Joined Nickname Primary
Conference
when
joining
the MVFC
Current
Primary
Conference
Illinois State University Normal, Illinois 1857 Public 20,272 1985 Redbirds Missouri Valley Missouri Valley
Indiana State University Terre Haute, Indiana 1865 Public 12,114 1986 Sycamores Missouri Valley Missouri Valley
Missouri State University Springfield, Missouri 1905 Public 21,059 1985 Bears Summit Missouri Valley
North Dakota State University Fargo, North Dakota 1890 Public 14,629 2008 Bison Summit Summit
University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, Iowa 1876 Public 12,159 1985 Panthers Summit Missouri Valley
University of South Dakota Vermillion, South Dakota 1862 Public 10,284 2012 Coyotes Summit Summit
South Dakota State University Brookings, South Dakota 1881 Public 12,725 2008 Jackrabbits Summit Summit
Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Illinois 1869 Public 17,964 1985 Salukis Missouri Valley Missouri Valley
Western Illinois University Macomb, Illinois 1899 Public 13,600 1985 Leathernecks Summit Summit
Youngstown State University Youngstown, Ohio 1908 Public 14,483 1997 Penguins Summit Horizon

Former members

Institution Location Founded Type Enrollment Joined Left Nickname Primary
Conference
during
Tenure
in MVFC
Current
Primary
Conference
Eastern Illinois University Charleston, Illinois 1895 Public 11,651 1985-86 1995-96 Panthers Summit OVC
Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, Kentucky 1906 Public 21,048 2001-02 2006-07 Hilltoppers Sun Belt C-USA

Membership timeline

Champions

  • 1985: Northern Iowa (5-0)
  • 1986: Eastern Illinois (5-1)
  • 1987: Northern Iowa (6-0)
  • 1988: Western Illinois (6-0)
  • 1989: Missouri State (5-1)
  • 1990: Missouri State & Northern Iowa (5-1)
  • 1991: Northern Iowa (5-1)
  • 1992: Northern Iowa (5-1)
  • 1993: Northern Iowa (5-1)
  • 1994: Northern Iowa (6-0)
  • 1995: Eastern Illinois & Northern Iowa (5-1)
  • 1996: Northern Iowa (6-0)
  • 1997: Western Illinois (6-0)
  • 1998: Western Illinois (5-1)
  • 1999: Illinois State (6-0)
  • 2000: Western Illinois (5-1)
  • 2001: Northern Iowa (6-1)
  • 2002: Western Illinois & WKU (6-1)
  • 2003: Northern Iowa & Southern Illinois (6-1)
  • 2004: Southern Illinois (7-0)
  • 2005: Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, & Youngstown State (5-2)
  • 2006: Youngstown State (6-1)
  • 2007: Northern Iowa (6-0)
  • 2008: Southern Illinois & Northern Iowa (7-1)
  • 2009: Southern Illinois (8-0)
  • 2010: Northern Iowa (6-2)
  • 2011: North Dakota State (7-1) & Northern Iowa (7-1)
  • 2012: North Dakota State (7-1)
  • 2013: North Dakota State (8-0)
  • 2014: Illinois State (7-1) & North Dakota State (7-1)
  • 2015: Illinois State (7-1) & North Dakota State (7-1)

Conference titles by school

School Championships Championship Years
Northern Iowa
16
1985, 1987, 1990†, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995†, 1996, 2001, 2003†, 2005‡, 2007, 2008†, 2010, 2011
North Dakota State
5
2011†, 2012, 2013, 2014†, 2015
Southern Illinois
5
2003†. 2004, 2005‡, 2008†, 2009
Western Illinois
5
1988, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002†
Illinois State
3
1999, 2014†, 2015
Missouri State
2
1989, 1990†
Eastern Illinois
2
1986, 1995†
Youngstown State
2
2005‡, 2006
Western Kentucky
1
2002†
Indiana State
0
N/A
South Dakota State
0
N/A
South Dakota
0
N/A

2-way tie for conference championship
3-way tie for conference championship

NCAA Football Championship Subdivision national championships

Team Titles Title Years Finals Runner-up
North Dakota State 5 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 5
Youngstown State 4 1991, 1993, 1994, 1997 6 1992, 1999
Southern Illinois 1 1983 1
WKU 1 2002 1
Northern Iowa 0 1 2005
Illinois State 0 1 2014

Now a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).

Facilities

School Football Stadium Capacity
Illinois State Hancock Stadium 13,391
Indiana State Memorial Stadium 12,764
Missouri State Plaster Sports Complex 17,500
North Dakota State Fargodome 19,000
Northern Iowa UNI-Dome 16,324
South Dakota DakotaDome 10,000
South Dakota State Coughlin–Alumni Stadium(2015 season)
Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium (complete in 2016)
17,000
19,340
Southern Illinois Saluki Stadium 15,000
Western Illinois Hanson Field 17,168
Youngstown State Stambaugh Stadium 20,630

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links