The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate

athletic conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams, playing competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller divisions, with the best teams competing at successively higher levels. Confe ...

in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest.

History

The MVC was established in 1907 as the

Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA) was a college athletic conference and the second college conference formed upon its foundation on January 12, 1907.David A. Campaigne and John R. Thelin, "Big Twelve Conference", in ...

or MVIAA, 12 years after the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

, the only Division I conference that is older. It is the third oldest college athletic conference in the United States, after the Big Ten Conference and the

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their stu ...

Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) is an athletic conference that competes in the NCAA's Division III. There are nine teams in the conference, all located in the states of Michigan and Indiana. The Michigan Intercollegiate A ...

(MIAA). The MVIAA split in 1928, with most of the larger schools forming a conference that retained the MVIAA name; this conference evolved into the

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...

. The smaller MVIAA schools (Drake, Grinnell and Washington University in St. Louis), plus Oklahoma A&M (now

Oklahoma State University–Stillwater Oklahoma State University–Stillwater (officially Oklahoma State University; informally Oklahoma State, OK State, OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma. OSU was founded in 1890 under the Morrill Act. Originall ...

, which joined the Big Eight in 1957), were joined by Creighton to form the MVC, which retained the old MVIAA's administrative staff. The Big Eight merged with four Texas schools of the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

to form the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

in 1996. 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 Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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 The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), 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 Subdivis ...

(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 Pioneer Football League (PFL) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a football-only conference. It has member s ...

. The Missouri Valley Conference shares its name with the MVFC, and all three conferences operate from the same headquarters complex in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

; however, the three are separate administratively. After weeks of speculation,

Wichita State Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

announced on April 7, 2017, that it would leave the conference to join the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

starting with the 2017–18 season. The conference announced it extended an invitation to

Valparaiso University Valparaiso University (Valpo) is a private university in Valparaiso, Indiana. It is a Lutheran university with about 3,000 students from over 50 countries on a campus of . Originally named Valparaiso Male and Female College, Valparaiso Universit ...

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 Belmont University is a private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee. Descended from Belmont Women's College, founded in 1890 by schoolteachers Ida Hood and Susan Heron, the institution was incorporated in 1951 as Belmont College. It be ...

jointly announced that the school would leave the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern and Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It participates in NCAA Divisi ...

for the MVC effective July 1, 2022. Then, on November 16,

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Cathol ...

announced it would leave the MVC at the same time, joining the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

. 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 The University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC) is a public research university in Kansas City, Missouri. UMKC is part of the University of Missouri System and one of only two member universities with a medical school. As of 2020, the university ...

(known athletically as Kansas City),

Murray State University Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper level and graduate courses in Paducah, H ...

, and the

University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas. The university was founded in 1895 and was in the Texas A&M University System for several decades until joining the University of Te ...

(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 The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

. 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 The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the University of Illinois sy ...

(UIC), a current member of the

Horizon League The Horizon League is an 11-school collegiate athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, whose members are located in and near the Great Lakes region. The Horizon League founded in 1979 as the Midw ...

. 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, 2021, Matt Norlander of ''CBSSports.com'' reported that UIC's July 2022 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 Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...

in early February. UIC's entry was officially announced on January 26.

Member schools

Current members

;Notes

Affiliate members

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

Future affiliate members

;Notes

Former members

Former full members (25)

;Notes:

Former affiliate members

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). ;Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:950 height:auto barincrement:18 Period = from:1907 till:2027 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<# Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:FullxF value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:Full value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.677) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.3,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote) id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:FullxF from:1907 till:1908 text:

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

(1907–1952), (1956–present) bar:1 color:Full from:1908 till:1951 bar:1 color:AssocF from:1951 till:1952 bar:1 color:FullxF from:1957 till:1971 bar:1 color:Full from:1971 till:1986 bar:1 color:FullxF from:1986 till:end bar:2 color:AssocF from:1907 till:1911 text:

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

(1907–1911) bar:3 color:FullxF from:1907 till:1908 text: Iowa State (1907–1928) bar:3 color:Full from:1908 till:1928 bar:4 color:Full from:1907 till:1928 text:

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

(1907–1928) bar:5 color:Full from:1907 till:1928 text:

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

(1907–1928) bar:6 color:Full from:1907 till:1919 text:

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

(1907–1919, 1921–1928) bar:6 color:Full from:1921 till:1928 bar:7 color:Full from:1907 till:1943 text: Washington U (1907–1947) bar:7 color:FullxF from:1943 till:1947 bar:8 color:Full from:1913 till:1928 text:

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

(1913–1928) bar:9 color:Full from:1918 till:1939 text: Grinnell (1918–1939) bar:10 color:Full from:1919 till:1928 text:

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

(1919–1928) bar:11 color:Full from:1925 till:1956 text: Oklahoma A&M (1925–1956) bar:12 color:Full from:1928 till:1943 text: Creighton (1928–1948, 1976–2013) bar:12 color:FullxF from:1943 till:1948 bar:12 color:FullxF from:1976 till:2013 bar:13 color:Full from:1932 till:1934 text:

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...

(1932–1934) bar:14 color:FullxF from:1934 till:1935 text:

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

(1934–1996, 2000–2005) bar:14 color:Full from:1935 till:1986 bar:14 color:FullxF from:1986 till:1996 bar:14 color:AssocOS from:2000 till:2005 bar:15 color:Full from:1935 till:1941 text:

Washburn Washburn (alternatively Wasseburne, Wasseborne, Wasshebourne, Wassheborne, Washbourne, Washburne, Washborne, Washborn, Wasborn, Washbon) is a toponymic surname, probably of Old English origin, with likely Anglo-Norman and Norman-French influen ...

(1935–1943) bar:15 color:FullxF from:1941 till:1943 bar:16 color:Full from:1937 till:1950 text: Saint Louis (1937–1974) bar:16 color:FullxF from:1950 till:1974 bar:17 color:Full from:1945 till:1986 text:

(1945–2017) bar:17 color:FullxF from:1986 till:2017 bar:18 color:FullxF from:1948 till:1949 text:

Bradley Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English. Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular. It is also an Anglicisation of t ...

(1948–1952, 1955–present) bar:18 color:Full from:1949 till:1951 bar:18 color:AssocF from:1951 till:1952 bar:18 color:FullxF from:1955 till:end bar:19 color:Full from:1949 till:1957 text:

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

(1949–1957) bar:20 color:Full from:1951 till:1960 text:

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

(1951–1960) bar:21 color:Full from:1957 till:1970 text:

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

(1957–1970) bar:22 color:Full from:1957 till:1975 text:

North Texas State The University of North Texas (UNT) is a Public university, public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private Normal school, teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 y ...

(1957–1975) bar:23 color:AssocOS from:1963 till:1964 text:

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

(1963–1975) bar:23 color:Full from:1964 till:1975 text: bar:24 color:Full from:1968 till:1973 text:

Memphis State } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering, the Center for Ea ...

(1968–1973) bar:25 color:FullxF from:1970 till:1972 text:

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

(1970–1983) bar:25 color:Full from:1972 till:1983 text: bar:26 color:Full from:1972 till:1986 text: West Texas State (1972–1986) bar:27 color:Full from:1975 till:1986 text:

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern United States, Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of th ...

(1975–present) bar:27 color:FullxF from:1986 till:end bar:28 color:Full from:1976 till:1986 text:

Indiana State Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...

(1976–present) bar:28 color:FullxF from:1986 till:end bar:29 color:Full from:1980 till:1986 text:

Illinois State Illinois State University (ISU) is a Public university, public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is reco ...

(1980–present) bar:29 color:FullxF from:1986 till:end bar:30 color:FullxF from:1990 till:end text:

Missouri State Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...

(1990–present) bar:31 color:FullxF from:1991 till:end text:

Northern Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

(1991–present) bar:32 color:FullxF from:1994 till:end text:

Evansville Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in S ...

(1994–present) bar:33 color:AssocOS from:1996 till:2011 text:

Eastern Illinois Eastern Illinois University is a public university in Charleston, Illinois. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a co ...

(1996–2011) bar:34 color:AssocOS from:1996 till:1999 text: Valparaiso (1996–1999) bar:34 color:FullxF from:2017 till:end text:(2017–present) bar:35 color:AssocOS from:1997 till:2008 text:

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

(1997–2008) bar:36 color:AssocOS from:1997 till:2006 text: Vanderbilt (1997–2006) bar:37 shift:(-150) color:AssocOS from:1998 till:2000 text:

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

(women's soccer, 1998–2000) bar:37 shift:(-60) color:AssocOS from:2013 till:end text:(women's swimming, 2013–present) bar:38 color:AssocOS from:1998 till:2005 text: Drury (1998–2005) bar:39 color:AssocOS from:2000 till:2005 text: SMU (2000–2005) bar:40 color:AssocOS from:2000 till:2001 text: TCU (2000–2001) bar:41 color:AssocOS from:2000 till:2001 text: Belmont (2000–2001) bar:41 shift:(-20) color:FullXF from:2022 till:end text:(2022–present) bar:42 shift:(-150) color:AssocOS from:2010 till:2017 text:

SIU Edwardsville Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is a public university in Edwardsville, Illinois. SIUE was established in 1957 as an extension of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.Butler 1976, p. 18 It is the younger of the two major inst ...

(men's soccer, 2010–2017) bar:42 shift:(-20) color:AssocOS from:2021 till:end text:(2021–present) bar:43 shift:(-80) color:AssocOS from:2010 till:2019 text:

Central Arkansas Central Arkansas, also known as the Little Rock metro, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metro area in the U.S. state of ...

(men's soccer, 2010–2019) bar:44 shift:(-20) color:FullxF from:2013 till:2022 text: Loyola Chicago (2013–2022) bar:45 shift:(-80) color:AssocOS from:2013 till:2022 text:

Dallas Baptist Dallas Baptist University (DBU) is a Christianity, Christian liberal arts university in Dallas, Texas. Founded in 1898 as Decatur Baptist College, Dallas Baptist University currently operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, Texas, Plano, and Hurst, T ...

(baseball, 2013–2022) bar:46 shift:(-60) color:AssocOS from:2014 till:2016 text:

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

(men's tennis, 2014–2016) bar:47 shift:(-220) color:AssocOS from:2014 till:2022 text: Stony Brook (men's tennis, 2014–2017; women's tennis, 2016–2022) bar:48 shift:(-60) color:AssocOS from:2014 till:2016 text:

UMBC The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. It has a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs (38 master, 25 doctoral, ...

(men's tennis, 2014–2016) bar:49 shift:(-90) color:FullxF from:2022 till:end text:

Murray State Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper level and graduate courses in Paducah, ...

(2022–present) bar:50 shift:(-90) color:FullxF from:2022 till:end text: UIC (2022–present) bar:51 shift:(-160) color:AssocOS from:2022 till:2023 text:

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

(women's swimming, 2022–2023) bar:52 shift:(-130) color:AssocOS from:2023 till:end text:

BGSU Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research ...

(men's soccer, 2023–Present) bar:53 shift:(-130) color:AssocOS from:2023 till:end text: NIU (men's soccer, 2023–Present) bar:54 shift:(-130) color:AssocOS from:2023 till:end text: WMU (men's soccer, 2023–Present) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1910 TextData = fontsize:M textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:^"Missouri Valley Membership History" #> If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following six options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <#

Commissioners

# C. E. McClung (1907–19??) # Arthur (Artie) E. Eilers (1925–1957) # Norvell Neve (1957–1969) # DeWitt T. Weaver (1969–1972) # Mickey Holmes (1972–1979) # David Price (1979–1981) # Richard D. Martin (1981–1985) # James A. Haney (1985–1988) # Doug Elgin (1988 – 2021) # Jeff Jackson (2021 – Present)

Sports

The Missouri Valley Conference sponsors championship competition in seven men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports.

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

and

are affiliates for swimming and diving and

is an affiliate in men's soccer. The most recent change to the roster of sports was the dropping of men's tennis after the 2016–17 school year due to a lack of participating teams. Two of the four full conference members that sponsored the sport in that season no longer play men's tennis in the MVC. Southern Illinois dropped both men's and women's tennis, and Wichita State joined the American Athletic Conference. Affiliate member Stony Brook dropped men's tennis after the 2016–17 season. The two remaining MVC men's tennis schools from 2016 to 2017, Drake and Illinois State, joined the

Summit League The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States from Illinois on the East of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the W ...

for that sport, and incoming MVC member Valparaiso also joined the Summit League in men's tennis.

Men's sponsored sports by school

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

Women's sponsored sports by school

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

Facilities

Future members in gray. ; Note # 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 tournament is often referred to as Arch Madness, in reference to the

Gateway Arch The Gateway Arch is a monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary arch, it is the world's tallest arch and Missouri's tallest accessible building. Some sources conside ...

at the tournament's present location of

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, and a play on "

March Madness The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...

". The women's tournament is currently promoted as Hoops in the Heartland. NB: Missouri State was known as Southwest Missouri State until August 2005.

Postseason History Multiple Bids

{, width="100%" , ----- , valign="top" , {, class= "wikitable sortable" NCAA tournament , - , Year , MVC Rep. , - ,

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, (1) Indiana State , (10) New Mexico State , - ,

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, (6) Wichita St , (8) Creighton , - ,

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

, (4) Tulsa , (8) Illinois State , - ,

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, (6) Tulsa , (9) Illinois State , (11) Wichita St , - ,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, (7) Bradley , (10) Tulsa , - ,

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, (11) Wichita St , (11) Tulsa , - ,

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, (9) Bradley , (12) Wichita St , - ,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, (11) Southern Illinois , (12) Tulsa , - ,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, (6) Tulsa , (10) Southern Illinois , - ,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, (8) Bradley , (11) Tulsa , - ,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, (10) Creighton , (12) Southwest Missouri State , (11) Evansville , - ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, (10) Creighton , (12) Indiana State , - ,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, (10) Creighton , (13) Indiana State , - ,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, (11) Southern Illinois , (12) Creighton , - ,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, (6) Creighton , (11) Southern Illinois , - ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, (9) Southern Illinois , (14) Northern Iowa , - ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, (7) Southern Illinois , (10) Creighton , (11) Northern Iowa , - ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, (7) Wichita St , (10) Northern Iowa , (11) Southern Illinois , (13) Bradley , - ,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, (4) Southern Illinois , (10) Creighton , - ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, (5) Wichita St , (8) Creighton , - ,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, (7) Creighton , (9) Wichita St , - ,

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, (7) Wichita St , (5) Northern Iowa , - ,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, (11) Wichita St , (11) Northern Iowa , - ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, (8) Loyola Chicago , (11) Drake

National team titles by institution

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 The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...

titles are not included in the NCAA Championship count.

Men's basketball attendance

''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.

Football champions by year

* All MVC schools that currently play football are part of the

except for Drake and Valparaiso, which play in the

, and Murray State, which is playing the 2022 football season in its former full-time home of the

before joining the MVFC as a full-time member beginning in the 2023 season.

MVC Network

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 produced, in part, by

Bally Sports Midwest Bally Sports Midwest is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint venture between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts regional e ...

(formally Fox Sports Midwest). These games are distributed to

regional sports networks In the United States and Canada, a regional sports network (RSN) is a cable television channel (many of which are also distributed on direct broadcast satellite services) that presents sports programming to a local market or geographical region. ...

including Bally Sports Midwest,

Bally Sports Kansas City Bally Sports Kansas City (BSKC) is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts coverage of professional, collegiate, and high school sports events both wi ...

Bally Sports Indiana Bally Sports Indiana (BSIN) is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts local professional and high school sports coverage throughout the state of Ind ...

and

NBC Sports Chicago NBC Sports Chicago (formerly Comcast SportsNet Chicago) is an American regional sports network that broadcasts regional coverage of professional sports teams in the Chicago metropolitan area, as well as college sports events and original sports- ...

. Until the 2020-21 season, these telecasts also aired on

Fox College Sports Stadium College Sports (formerly Fox College Sports) is a group of three American sports networks. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios (under the joint venture Diamond Sports Group), the three channels air college and high ...

. Outside of regional networks these telecasts were also available on

ESPN3 ESPN3 (formerly ESPN360 and ESPN3.com) is an online streaming service owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications ...

until the 2018-19 season. These telecasts are now available on

ESPN+ ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. The MVC Network is home to the first two rounds of Arch Madness, the nickname for the MVC men's basketball tournament.

References

External links

* {{NCAA nonfootball Div1 conferences Sports in the Midwestern United States Sports organizations established in 1907 1907 establishments in the United States Articles which contain graphical timelines