Missouri Valley Conference

Missouri Valley Conference (MVC)
Established	1907
Association	NCAA
Division	Division I non-football
Members	10
Sports fielded	18 (men's: 8; women's: 10)
Region	Midwestern United States
Headquarters	St. Louis, Missouri
Commissioner	Doug Elgin
Website	www.mvc-sports.com
Locations

The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the second-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Currently, its members are located in the midwestern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I.

The MVC was founded in 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA), 12 years after the Big Ten, the only Division I conference that is older. However, some consider the MVC to have been formed from a split of the MVIAA in 1928. Most of the larger schools formed a conference that retained the MVIAA name and ultimately became the Big Eight Conference. The smaller schools, plus Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University–Stillwater, which joined the Big Eight in 1957), formed the MVC. During the Big Eight's existence, both conferences claimed 1907 as their founding date, as well as the same history through 1927. It was never definitively established which conference was the original, but given that the Big Eight merged with four Texas schools of the Southwest Conference to form the Big 12 Conference in 1996,^[1] only the MVC continues to have a claim to the original heritage.

During the 2006–07 college basketball season, MVC teams held a 74–27 non-conference record, including a record of 44–1 at home. The Valley finished in the Top 6 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.^[2]

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

Locations of current full member MVC schools

Member schools

Current members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Type	Enrollment[3]	Nickname	Colors
Bradley University	Peoria, Illinois	1897	1948, 1955^†	Private	5,451	Braves
Drake University	Des Moines, Iowa	1881	1907, 1956^†	Private	5,270	Bulldogs
University of Evansville	Evansville, Indiana	1854	1994	Private	2,526	Purple Aces Lady Aces
Illinois State University	Normal, Illinois	1857	1981	Public	20,706	Redbirds
Indiana State University	Terre Haute, Indiana	1865	1977	Public	13,584	Sycamores
Loyola University Chicago	Chicago, Illinois	1870	2013[4]	Private	16,437[5]	Ramblers
Missouri State University	Springfield, Missouri	1905	1990	Public	24,116[6]	Bears Lady Bears
University of Northern Iowa	Cedar Falls, Iowa	1876	1991	Public	12,273	Panthers
Southern Illinois University	Carbondale, Illinois	1869	1975	Public	15,987[7]	Salukis
Wichita State University	Wichita, Kansas	1895	1945	Public	14,474[8]	Shockers

† – Bradley and Drake both withdrew from the MVC during the 1951–52 academic 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. However, Bradley never returned to MVC football, dropping the sport in 1970, and Drake did not return for football until 1971.

Affiliate members

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

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Primary Conference	MVC sports
University of Central Arkansas	Conway, Arkansas	1907	2010	Public	13,863	Bears	Southland	men's soccer
Dallas Baptist University	Dallas, Texas	1898	2013	Private	5,545	Patriots	Heartland (NCAA Division II)	baseball
University of Arkansas at Little Rock	Little Rock, Arkansas	1927	2013	Public	13,167	Trojans	Sun Belt	women's swimming
University of Maryland, Baltimore County	Catonsville, Maryland	1966	2014	Public	13,908	Retrievers	America East	men's tennis
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville	Edwardsville, Illinois	1957	2010	Public	14,142	Cougars	OVC	men's soccer
Stony Brook University	Stony Brook, New York	1957	2014	Public	24,594	Seawolves	America East	men's tennis

Former members

Former full members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Left	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Current Conference
Butler University	Indianapolis, Indiana	1855	1932	1934	Private	4,667	Bulldogs	Big East
University of Cincinnati	Cincinnati, Ohio	1819	1957	1969	Public	42,421	Bearcats	The American
Creighton University	Omaha, Nebraska	1878	1928, 1976[n 1]	1948, 2013	Private	7,730	Bluejays	Big East
University of Detroit[n 2]	Detroit, Michigan	1877	1949	1956	Private	5,450	Titans	Horizon
Grinnell College	Grinnell, Iowa	1846	1918	1939	Private	1,688	Pioneers	Midwest (NCAA Division III)
University of Houston	Houston, Texas	1927	1951	1959	Public	39,820	Cougars	The American
University of Iowa	Iowa City, Iowa	1847	1907	1908	Public	30,328	Hawkeyes	Big Ten
Iowa State College[n 3]	Ames, Iowa	1858	1907	1928	Public	29,887	Cyclones	Big 12
University of Kansas	Lawrence, Kansas	1865	1907	1928	Public	29,462	Jayhawks	Big 12
Kansas State College[n 4]	Manhattan, Kansas	1863	1913	1928	Public	23,863	Wildcats	Big 12
University of Louisville	Louisville, Kentucky	1798	1963	1974	Public	19,743	Cardinals	ACC
Memphis State University[n 5]	Memphis, Tennessee	1912	1968	1973	Public	23,031	Tigers	The American
University of Missouri	Columbia, Missouri	1839	1907	1928	Public	33,805	Tigers	SEC
University of Nebraska	Lincoln, Nebraska	1869	1907, 1921	1919, 1928	Public	24,593	Cornhuskers	Big Ten
New Mexico State University	Las Cruces, New Mexico	1888	1970	1983	Public	18,497	Aggies	WAC
North Texas State University[n 6]	Denton, Texas	1890	1957	1974	Public	35,694	Mean Green	C-USA
University of Oklahoma	Norman, Oklahoma	1890	1919	1928	Public	30,303	Sooners	Big 12
Oklahoma A&M College[n 7]	Stillwater, Oklahoma	1890	1925	1956	Public	21,419	Aggies/Cowboys[n 8]	Big 12
Saint Louis University	St. Louis, Missouri	1818	1937	1974	Private	13,785	Billikens	Atlantic 10
University of Tulsa	Tulsa, Oklahoma	1894	1935	1996	Private	4,165	Golden Hurricane	The American
Washburn University	Topeka, Kansas	1865	1935	1942	Public	7,303	Ichabods	MIAA (NCAA Division II)
Washington University in St. Louis	St. Louis, Missouri	1853	1907	1942	Private	14,070	Bears	UAA (NCAA Division III)
West Texas State University[n 9]	Canyon, Texas	1910	1972	1985	Public	7,843	Buffaloes	Lone Star (NCAA Division II)

Notes

1. Creighton previously withdrew from the MVC from 1948–49 to 1975–76
2. Currently known as the University of Detroit Mercy.
3. Currently known as Iowa State University.
4. Currently known as Kansas State University.
5. Currently known as the University of Memphis.
6. Currently known as the University of North Texas.
7. Currently known as Oklahoma State University–Stillwater.
8. 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.
9. Currently known as West Texas A&M University.

Former affiliate members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Left	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Primary Conference	MVC Sports
University of Arkansas at Little Rock	Little Rock, Arkansas	1927	1998–99	1999–2000	Public	13,167	Trojans	Sun Belt	women's soccer
Belmont University	Nashville, Tennessee	1890	2000–01	2000–01	Private	6,374	Bruins	OVC (Horizon League for men's soccer)	men's soccer
Drury University	Springfield, Missouri	1873	1999–2000	2004–05	Private	5,474	Panthers	GLVC (NCAA Division II)	women's soccer
Eastern Illinois University	Charleston, Illinois	1895	1996–97	2010–11	Public	11,651	Panthers	OVC (The Summit League for men's soccer)	men's soccer
University of Hartford	Hartford, Connecticut	1877	2014–15	2015–16	Private	6,935	Hawks	America East	men's tennis[A 1]
Southern Methodist University	University Park, Texas	1911	2000–01	2004–05	Private	12,000	Mustangs	The American	men's soccer
Texas Christian University	Fort Worth, Texas	1873	2000–01	2000–01	Private	9,518	Horned Frogs	Big 12	men's soccer[A 2]
University of Tulsa[A 3]	Tulsa, Oklahoma	1894	2000–01	2004–05	Private	4,165	Golden Hurricane	The American	men's soccer
Valparaiso University	Valparaiso, Indiana	1859	1996–97	1998–99	Private	4,061	Crusaders	Horizon League	women's soccer
Vanderbilt University	Nashville, Tennessee	1873	1997–98	2005–06	Private	12,714	Commodores	SEC	men's soccer[A 4]
Western Kentucky University	Bowling Green, Kentucky	1906	1997–98	2007–08	Public	21,048	Hilltoppers	C-USA	men's soccer[A 5]

Notes

1. Hartford dropped men's tennis after the 2015–16 season.
2. TCU dropped men's soccer after the 2002 season.
3. Tulsa, a full member from 1935 to 1996, re-joined the MVC only for men's soccer from 2000 to 2005.
4. Vanderbilt dropped men's soccer after the 2005 season.
5. WKU dropped men's soccer after the 2007 season.

Membership timeline

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

Commissioners

1. C. E. McClung (1907 – 19??)^[9]
2. Arthur (Artie) E. Eilers (1925–1957)^[9]
3. Norvell Neve (1957–1969)^[9][10]
4. DeWitt T. Weaver (1969–1972)^[9]
5. Mickey Holmes (1972–1979)^[11][9]
6. David Price (1979–1981)^[12][9]
7. Richard D. Martin (1981–1985)^[9]
8. James A. Haney (1985–1988)^[13][9]
9. Doug Elgin (1988 – present)^[9][14]

Sports

Former Missouri Valley Conference logo

The Missouri Valley Conference sponsors championship competition in eight men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports.^[15] Central Arkansas and SIU Edwardsville are Affiliate members for men's soccer, Dallas Baptist is an Affiliate member for baseball, and Arkansas-Little Rock is an Affiliate member for swimming and diving.

Teams in Missouri Valley Conference competition

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	8	-
Basketball	10	10
Cross Country	9	10
Golf	9	10
Soccer	7	7
Softball	-	10
Swimming & Diving	-	6
Tennis	6	8
Track and Field (Indoor)	7	9
Track and Field (outdoor)	8	9
Volleyball	-	10

Men's sponsored sports by school

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Soccer	Tennis	Track & Field (Indoor)	Track & Field (Outdoor)	Total MVC Sports
Bradley						N	N		6
Drake	N								7
Evansville						N	N	N	5
Illinois State					N				7
Indiana State				N	N	N			5
Loyola	N					N			6
Missouri State			N			N	N	N	4
UNI	N				N	N			5
Southern Illinois					N				7
Wichita State					N				7
Totals	7+1*	10	9	9	5+2**	4+2***	7	8	59+5

• * = Baseball associate Dallas Baptist
• ** = Soccer associates Central Arkansas and SIU Edwardsville
• *** = Tennis associates Stony Brook and UMBC

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

School	Football	Swimming & Diving	Volleyball	Wrestling
Drake	Pioneer League	No	No	No
Evansville	No	MAC	No	No
Illinois State	MVFC	No	No	No
Indiana State	MVFC	No	No	No
Loyola	No	No	MIVA	No
Missouri State	MVFC	MAC	No	No
UNI	MVFC	No	No	MAC
Southern Illinois	MVFC	MAC	No	No

Women's sponsored sports by school

School	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Soccer	Softball	Swimming	Tennis	Track & Field (Indoor)	Track & Field (Outdoor)	Volleyball	Total MVC Sports
Bradley				N		N					8
Drake						N					9
Evansville								N	N		8
Illinois State											10
Indiana State							N				9
Loyola						N	N				8
Missouri State											10
UNI											10
Southern Illinois				N							9
Wichita State				N		N					8
Totals	10	10	10	7	10	6+1*	8	9	9	10	88+1

• * = Affiliate Arkansas–Little Rock (Little Rock).

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

School	Field hockey	Gymnastics	Rowing
Drake	No	No	MAAC
Illinois State	No	MIC	No
Missouri State	MAC	No	No

Facilities

School	Soccer stadium	Capacity	Basketball arena	Capacity	Softball field	Capacity	Baseball field	Capacity
Bradley	Shea Stadium	3,800	Peoria Civic Center (men) Renaissance Coliseum (women)	11,164 4,200	Laura Bradley Park	N/A	Dozer Park	7,500
Drake	James W. Cownie Soccer Complex	2,000	Knapp Center	7,152	Ron Buel Field	500	Non-baseball school
Evansville	Arad McCutchan Stadium	2,500	Ford Center	10,000	James & Dorothy Cooper Stadium	650	Charles H. Braun Stadium	1,200
Illinois State	Adelaide Street Field	1,000	Redbird Arena	10,200	Marian Kneer Softball Stadium	1,050	Duffy Bass Field	1,200
Indiana State	Non-soccer school		Hulman Center	10,200	Price Field At Eleanor Forsythe St. John Softball Complex	700	Sycamore Stadium	1,000
Loyola	Loyola Soccer Park	N/A	Joseph J. Gentile Arena	4,486	Loyola Softball Park	500	Non-baseball school
Missouri State	Betty and Bobby Allison South Stadium	1,000	JQH Arena	11,000	Killian Softball Stadium	1,200	Hammons Field	7,986
UNI	Cedar Valley Soccer Complex	N/A	McLeod Center	7,018	Robinson-Dresser Sports Complex	N/A	Non-baseball school
Southern Illinois	Non-soccer school		SIU Arena	8,339	Charlotte West Stadium	502	Abe Martin Field	2,000
Wichita State	Non-soccer school		Charles Koch Arena	10,506	Wilkins Stadium	1,000	Eck Stadium	7,851
Affiliate Members
Central Arkansas	Bill Stephens Track/Soccer Complex	400–bleachers + lawn seating	Soccer-only member
Dallas Baptist	Baseball-only member						Horner Ballpark	2,000
SIU Edwardsville	Ralph Korte Stadium	4,000	Soccer-only member

Note

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

Basketball tournament champions by year

The Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Championship 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".

Season	Men's Champion	Women's Champion
1977	Southern Illinois	No Tournament
1978	Creighton	No Tournament
1979	Indiana State	No Tournament
1980	Bradley	No Tournament
1981	Creighton	No Tournament
1982	Tulsa	No Tournament
1983	Illinois State	Illinois State
1984	Tulsa	No Tournament
1985	Wichita State	No Tournament
1986	Tulsa	No Tournament
1987	Wichita State	Southern Illinois
1988	Bradley	Eastern Illinois
1989	Creighton	Illinois State
1990	Illinois State	Southern Illinois
1991	Creighton	Missouri State
1992	Missouri State	Missouri State
1993	Southern Illinois	Missouri State
1994	Southern Illinois	Missouri State
1995	Southern Illinois	Drake
1996	Tulsa	Missouri State
1997	Illinois State	Illinois State
1998	Illinois State	Illinois State
1999	Creighton	Evansville
2000	Creighton	Drake
2001	Indiana State	Missouri State
2002	Creighton	Creighton
2003	Creighton	Missouri State
2004	UNI	Missouri State
2005	Creighton	Illinois State
2006	Southern Illinois	Missouri State
2007	Creighton	Drake
2008	Drake	Illinois State
2009	UNI	Evansville
2010	UNI	UNI
2011	Indiana State	Missouri State
2012	Creighton	Creighton
2013	Creighton	Wichita State
2014	Wichita State	Wichita State
2015	UNI	Wichita State
2016	UNI	Missouri State

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

National team titles by institution

School – Number – NCAA Championships

• Bradley – 0 ^[16]
• Drake – 3 ^[16]
• Evansville – 0+5* ^[16]
• Illinois State – 0+1* ^[16]
• Indiana State – 1 ^[16]
• Loyola University Chicago – 2 ^[16]
• Missouri State – 0 +2* ^[16]
• UNI – 1+2* ^[16]
• Southern Illinois – 5+3* ^[16]
• Wichita State – 1 ^[16]

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.

Men's basketball attendance

2015–16 Men's Basketball Avg. Attendance
School	Average Attendance
Wichita State	10,805
Bradley	5,953
UNI	5,378
Southern Illinois	5,277
Illinois State	5,199
Evansville	5,147
Missouri State	4,140
Indiana State	3,672
Drake	3,087
Loyola Chicago	1,831

Sources:^[17][18][19]

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. One member (Wichita State) sold out every single game for the 2006–07 season and in 2012–13 averaged 10,312 attendees in their 10,506 seat arena. Former member (Creighton) had the sixth highest attendance for Division I in 2012–13 while Wichita State, 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.^[20]

Football champions by year

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

See also

• Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame

References

1. "Merger Creates Dynamite Dozen". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
2. "MVC in the NCAA and NIT" (PDF).
3. "US News Education – Best Colleges – Best Graduate Schools – Online Schools – US News". US News & World Report. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
4. ""Loyola Joins Missouri Valley Conference"". 2013-04-19. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
5. "Loyola University Chicago | Loyola at a Glance Loyola at a Glance". Luc.edu. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
6. "It's official: MSU sets another fall enrollment record". News-leader.com. 2016-09-21. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
7. "SIU enrollment at lowest point since 1965, data shows". Daily Egyptian. 2016-09-07. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
8. http://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/news/2016/09/26/wichita-state-posts-gain-in-freshmen-enrollment.html
9. "2011–12 Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball media guide" (PDF). Missouri Valley Conference. 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
10. "ACC Jobs Expected To Be Filled". Greensboro, North Carolina: Radford News Journal. April 29, 1969. pp. 8 (on page 5). Retrieved 20 February 2013.
11. Gregorian, Vahe (September 10, 2012). "FCS foes could pose problems for Mizzou, Illini; Former MVC head dies". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
12. Missouri Valley Conference 75 1981 Football/Anniversary Issue. Missouri Valley Conference. p. Page 2.
13. Weyler, John (March 9, 1988). "Haney Expected to Get PCAA Job : Missouri Valley Commissioner May Be Named This Week". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
14. "Doug Elgin, current Commissioner". MVC-Sports.com. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
15. "Missouri Valley Conference Sports". MVC-Sports.com. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
16. "National Team Titles by Institution" (PDF). Retrieved 2015-02-28.
17. "NCAA Men's Basketball Attendance | NCAA.org – The Official Site of the NCAA". NCAA.org. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
18. "Official NCAA attendance figures".
19. http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/2013/2013%2007%20Attendance%20section%2010-18.pdf
20. "MVC official site:"This is the MVC"".

External links

• Official website