The Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA) was a college
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 ...
and the second college conference formed upon its foundation on January 12, 1907.
[David A. Campaigne and John R. Thelin, "Big Twelve Conference", in Andrew R. L. Cayton, Richard Sisson, Chris Zacher, eds., ''The American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia'' (2006), p. 897.] The conference was initially formed by an agreement among representatives of five schools, the
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...
,
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...
,
University of Nebraska
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
,
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...
, and
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
.
Iowa State College
Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...
and
Drake University
Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the 25 oldest in the United States.
Hi ...
, both joined the conference together in March 1907. The University of Iowa, which had only taken part in
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 ...
, left after the 1908 season and remained a member of the
Big Ten Conference
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 ...
, but other schools joined the MVIAA, including
Kansas State University
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 ...
,
Grinnell College
Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College.
Grinnell has the fifth highest endowment-to-st ...
, the
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...
, and
Oklahoma A&M.
In 1928, the conference split apart into two conferences, both of which claimed to be the legitimate heir to the MVIAA's history. Six schools — Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma — reorganized under the MVIAA name. This conference, popularly known as the "Big Six Conference" at the time and later as the Big Seven Conference, would eventually evolve 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 ...
. Drake, Grinnell, WashU, and Oklahoma A&M formed the
Missouri Valley Conference
The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest.
History
The MVC was established ...
, which retained the same administrative staff as the MVIAA. Until the Big Eight disbanded in 1996, both conferences claimed 1907 as their founding date and the same history through May 1928. To this day, it has never been definitively established which conference was the original.
Members
Final pre-split members
; Notes
Previous member
See also
*
1927 Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season
References
{{reflist
Sports organizations established in 1907
Sports in the Midwestern United States
Missouri Valley Conference
Big Eight Conference