Great Lakes Valley Conference

The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Its thirteen member institutions are located in the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri, with an Iowa school joining in July 2023. There are also five associate members who participate in sports not sponsored by their home conferences.

History

Formation

The GLVC grew out of discussions that started in 1972 between the athletic directors of Kentucky Wesleyan College, Bellarmine University (then Bellarmine College), and the University of Southern Indiana (known as Indiana State University at Evansville until 1985), with the goal of forming a men's basketball conference. The discussions later grew to include the University of Indianapolis (known as Indiana Central University until 1986) and Saint Joseph's College. In 1978 these schools joined with Ashland University (then Ashland College) to form the GLVC. Ever since its founding, the GLVC has competed in NCAA Division II.

While the origins of the conference's name are lost to history, its initial footprint was bordered by the Great Lakes in the north and the Ohio Valley in the south. Following Southern Indiana's departure in July 2022, Indianapolis is the only remaining charter member.

The GLVC has been led by a full-time commissioner since 1996, first Carl McAloose (1996-2000), then Jim Naumovich (2001-present). The conference office is located in Indianapolis. Prior to 1996, the Faculty Athletics Representatives (FARs) of the member institutions were responsible for operating the conference. The FARs (rather than the athletic directors) still cast the institutional votes at meetings where the presidents and chancellors are not present. This feature gives the GLVC a governance structure that is unique among Division I and Division II conferences.

Conceived as a basketball-only league, the GLVC also sponsored championships in tennis and golf starting in its first year of competition (1978-79) and soon added other men's sports as well. In 1982, when the demise of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) brought women's college athletics under the NCAA, the GLVC began to sponsor women's sports.

Expansion of Membership and Sport Sponsorship

The conference experienced steady growth in membership through the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The GLVC first expanded in 1980 with the addition of Lewis University, followed in 1984 by Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW; the athletic program is now Purdue Fort Wayne), then Northern Kentucky University in 1985 and Kentucky State University in 1989. The conference lost its first members with the departure of Ashland and Kentucky State, effective summer 1995, but nonetheless increased in size when Quincy University, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) and the University of Wisconsin–Parkside began competition that fall, followed by the University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL) one year later. These changes initiated a westward shift in the GLVC's geographical footprint that has continued to the present.

After IPFW left in 2001 to move to Division I, the GLVC considered further expansion, but not before redefining conference membership in 2005 to require the athletic program of each member to include seven core sports (men's and women's basketball, women's volleyball, men's and women's soccer, softball, and baseball). The eleven members at the time all sponsored these sports, and subsequent new members would be required to sponsor them as well. Previously, the GLVC had no sports sponsorship requirement other than the NCAA Division II minimum (that every member must sponsor at least ten sports, including men's and women's basketball).

In the fall of 2005 the GLVC welcomed three more members— Drury University, Rockhurst University, and the University of Missouri-Rolla (known as Missouri University of Science and Technology, or Missouri S&T, since 2008). SIUE left for Division I and the Ohio Valley Conference in 2008, but the conference continued to grow with the additions of Maryville University and the University of Illinois Springfield, which began GLVC competition in the fall of 2009. The GLVC reached sixteen members with the admission of William Jewell College, which began competing in fall 2011.

As the conference continued to grow, basketball remained its strongest sport, and the conference tournament, including both genders at a neutral site, became its signature event. A GLVC team played in the championship game of the NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament in eleven consecutive seasons (1993-94 through 2003-4). Bellarmine and Drury eventually joined Kentucky Wesleyan and Southern Indiana in winning men's national championships in the sport, while Northern Kentucky won a women's national championship. The GLVC also became the top swimming and diving conference in Division II, led by Drury with ten men's national championships and four women's national championships. By the end of the 2010s the annual GLVC swimming and diving meet became the most financially lucrative of the conference's championship events, surpassing the basketball tournament.

The addition of William Jewell, approved in October 2009, gave the GLVC six football-playing members, the minimum number needed to sponsor the sport. In January 2010, the conference announced that it would crown a football champion beginning with the 2012 season, in the GLVC's 35th academic year of competition. It was a historic move, as no conference at any level of the NCAA (Division I, II, or III) had ever added football after existing for so long as a non-football conference. As of the 2011 season, Kentucky Wesleyan, Saint Joseph's, and Missouri S&T were members of the Great Lakes Football Conference, while Quincy played football in the Mid-States Football Association of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), Indianapolis in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), and William Jewell as an independent. In the fall of 2012 they were joined by new full member McKendree University and football-only associate members Central State University and Urbana University to give GLVC football nine teams for its initial season.

Between the announcement of GLVC football and the onset of play, the league lost two of its premier basketball programs. In October 2011, Kentucky Wesleyan announced it was leaving the GLVC to become a charter member of the newly-formed Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC), and in December 2011, Northern Kentucky accepted an invitation to join the Division I ASUN Conference (then branded as the Atlantic Sun Conference). NKU left the league at the end of the 2011-12 academic year. Kentucky Wesleyan remained in the GLVC through 2012-13, then played football in the league as an associate member in fall 2013. Meanwhile, in June 2012, the GLVC welcomed Truman State University into the conference, to begin competition in 2013–14. The additions of McKendree (coinciding with the departure of Northern Kentucky) and Truman State (coinciding with the departure of Kentucky Wesleyan) kept the GLVC at sixteen members.

Central State dropped its GLVC associate football membership after the 2012 season, to join the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) as a football-only member. Central State became an all-sports member of the SIAC two years later. Meanwhile, Urbana also dropped its associate football membership in the GLVC after the 2012 season, joining the Mountain East Conference as an all-sports member for 2013-14.

In 2014, a unique interconference football partnership with the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) allowed Lincoln University and Southwest Baptist University to join the GLVC in football while otherwise remaining MIAA members.

In November 2014, the GLVC became the first NCAA Division II conference to create an inclusive league-wide digital streaming network – the GLVC Sports Network (GLVCSN).

Drury and Bellarmine added wrestling programs for the 2016–17 season, enabling the conference to add wresting as its eleventh men's championship sport. The initial seven-team GLVC wrestling lineup also included Indianapolis, Maryville, McKendree, Truman State, and Wisconsin–Parkside, all former Division II wrestling independents. Ouachita Baptist University joined the GLVC as a wrestling associate in fall 2018.

In July 2017, the GLVC announced the addition of men's lacrosse as a championship sport, in partnership with the Gulf South Conference (GSC) and Peach Belt Conference (PBC). The initial six-team lineup for spring 2018 included Indianapolis, Maryville, and four southern associate members (Young Harris College, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, the University of Montevallo, and Shorter University). The partnership lasted for three seasons, after which the GLVC and GSC-PBC each had enough lacrosse-playing members to offer separate championships in the sport.

Contraction and Recent History

Charter member St. Joseph's College closed in May 2017 because of financial troubles. One year later, Wisconsin–Parkside left the GLVC to join the GLIAC, reducing the conference to fourteen members.

In May 2018 the GLVC admitted Southwest Baptist as a full member for 2019–20, then in October 2018 added another MIAA member, Lindenwood University, also for 2019–20. The admission of Lindenwood and Southwest Baptist as full members of the GLVC voided the MIAA-GLVC football partnership, which had allowed Southwest Baptist and Lincoln to compete as football-only members of the GLVC for the previous five seasons (2014 through 2018). Lincoln rejoined MIAA football in 2019.

Southwest Baptist and Lindenwood effectively replaced St. Joseph's and Wisconsin-Parkside, returning the league to sixteen members, but only for one year. In June 2019, charter member Bellarmine announced that it was leaving the GLVC, effective fall 2020, to move to Division I and the ASUN Conference.

The GLVC added two women's sports for 2019–20—bowling and lacrosse. In women's bowling, full members Drury, Lewis, Maryville, and McKendree were joined by associate members Lincoln, the University of Central Missouri, and Upper Iowa University. The GLVC, in effect, absorbed the former MIAA bowling league, as five of the inaugural seven members had previously bowled in the MIAA. In women's lacrosse, the initial lineup for spring 2020 consisted of seven full members—Indianapolis, Lewis, Lindenwood, Maryville, McKendree, Quincy, and Rockhurst. The following year, Missouri Western State University joined the GLVC as an associate member in women's lacrosse. The two sports were an immediate success, with Lindenwood (2021) and Indianapolis (2022) winning national championships in women's lacrosse and McKendree (2022) in women's bowling.

In November 2019, the conference announced Davenport University would join the GLVC as an associate member for men's lacrosse and wrestling starting in 2020–21. Meanwhile, Lincoln ended its associate membership in the conference at the end of the 2019-20 academic year, when it dropped its women's bowling team.

In March 2020, GLVC winter and spring sport competitions ended when the NCAA suspended play due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the 2020-21 academic year, the GLVC held its fall 2020 conference sport competitions in spring 2021. Of the sixteen Division II conferences sponsoring football at the time, the GLVC was one of just four (with the G-MAC, Mountain East, and South Atlantic Conference) to crown a football champion in spring 2021.

The most recent departures from the GLVC came at the end of the 2021-22 academic year, when charter member Southern Indiana joined Lindenwood in moving to Division I and the Ohio Valley Conference. On November 28, 2022, associate member Upper Iowa was admitted to the GLVC as a full member, effective fall 2023.

Divisional Play

The GLVC first adopted divisional play in 1996, for volleyball only. That sport competed in Blue and Green divisions until 2004, when it returned to a single table. All other sports competed in a single table until the conference expanded to fourteen members in 2005, when two seven-team divisions were adopted for basketball and most other core sports.

The organizational structure of the conference has varied dramatically since then, reflecting changes in membership and in the overall number of league members. As an added variable, the same structure has never been applied across all sports in any given year. For example, men's and women's basketball played in two divisions from 2005-9 and again from 2011-17, three divisions in 2009-11, 2017-18, and 2020-22, and in a single table from 2018-20, while during the same years, men's and women's soccer always played a single table. Two-division structures have been labeled East-West or Blue-Green, while three-division structures have been labeled East-West-North or East-West-Central.

As of 2022-23, the GLVC has divisional play in baseball and in men's and women's tennis, and plays a single table in all other sports with regular season competition.

Chronological timeline

* 1978: The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) was founded. Charter members included Ashland College (now Ashland University), Bellarmine College (now Bellarmine University), Indiana Central University (now the University of Indianapolis), Indiana State University at Evansville (now the University of Southern Indiana), Kentucky Wesleyan College, and Saint Joseph's College. Competition began in fall 1978.
* 1980: Lewis University began GLVC competition in fall 1980.
* 1982: The GLVC began to sponsor championships in women's sports.
* 1984: Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) began GLVC competition in fall 1984.
* 1985: Northern Kentucky University began GLVC competition in fall 1985.
* 1989: Kentucky State University began GLVC competition in fall 1989.
* 1995:
** Ashland and Kentucky State left the GLVC at the end of the 1994-95 academic year. Ashland began competing in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) in fall 1995, and Kentucky State joined the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) in fall 1997.
** Quincy, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and the University of Wisconsin–Parkside began GLVC competition in fall 1995.
* 1996: The University of Missouri–St. Louis began GLVC competition in fall 1996.
* 1998: The GLVC held its first conference tournaments in men's and women's basketball, at the conclusion of the 1997-98 regular season.
* 2000: A record crowd of 9,402 attended the men's final at the GLVC basketball tournament, held at Roberts Stadium in Evansville, Indiana. Kentucky Wesleyan defeated Southern Indiana 90–88.
* 2001: IPFW left the GLVC at the end of the 2000–01 academic year to become an NCAA D-I Independent.
* 2005:
** Core sports requirement established.
** Drury University, the University of Missouri–Rolla (now the Missouri University of Science and Technology) and Rockhurst University began GLVC competition in fall 2005.
* 2008: Southern Illinois Edwardsville (SIUE) left the GLVC at the end of the 2007-8 academic year, and joined NCAA Division I as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) in fall 2008.
* 2009: The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) and Maryville University began GLVC competition in fall 2009.
* 2011: William Jewell College began GLVC competition in fall 2011.
* 2012:
** Northern Kentucky left the GLVC at the end of the 2011-12 academic year, and joined NCAA Division I as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference in fall 2012.
** McKendree University began GLVC competition in fall 2012.
** Central State University and Urbana University joined the GLVC as associate members in football in fall 2012.
* 2013:
** Kentucky Wesleyan left the GLVC at the end of the 2012-13 academic year, and began competing in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) in fall 2013. Kentucky Wesleyan remained in the GLVC as an associate member in football for fall 2013.
** Football associates Central State and Urbana left the GLVC after just one season of competition. Urbana joined the Mountain East Conference as an all-sports member in fall 2013. Central State joined the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference as a football associate in fall 2013, then as an all-sports member in fall 2015.
** Truman State University began GLVC competition in fall 2013.
* 2014:
** Lincoln University of Missouri and Southwest Baptist University joined the GLVC as associate members for football in fall 2014.
** The GLVC Sports Network (GLVCSN) debuted.
* 2017: Saint Joseph's College closed at the end of the 2016-17 academic year.
* 2018:
** The University of Alabama in Huntsville, the University of Montevallo, Shorter University and Young Harris College joined the GLVC as associate members in men's lacrosse for spring 2018.
** Wisconsin–Parkside left the GLVC at the end of the 2017-18 academic year, and began competing in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) in fall 2018.
** Ouachita Baptist University joined the GLVC as an associate member in men's wrestling in fall 2018.
* 2019:
** Lincoln ended its associate membership in football after five seasons of competition (2014 through 2018) but re-joined as an associate member in women's bowling for spring 2020.
** Shorter University ended its associate membership in men's lacrosse at the end of the 2018-19 academic year.
** Southwest Baptist began GLVC competition as a full member in fall 2019, after five seasons as an associate member in football (2014 through 2018).
** Lindenwood University began GLVC competition in fall 2019.
* 2020:
** Lander University joined the GLVC as an associate member in men's lacrosse for spring 2020.
** The University of Central Missouri and Upper Iowa University joined the GLVC as associate members in women's bowling for spring 2020.
** In March, the COVID-19 pandemic forced suspension of competition for the remainder of the 2019-20 academic year. For the 2020-21 academic year, the GLVC held its fall 2020 conference sport competitions in spring 2021.
** Bellarmine left the GLVC at the end of the 2019-20 academic year, and joined NCAA Division I as a member of the ASUN Conference in fall 2020.
** Five associate members left the GLVC: Alabama–Huntsville, Montevallo, Lander and Young Harris in men's lacrosse, and Lincoln in women's bowling, all at the end of the 2019-20 academic year.
** Davenport University joined the GLVC as an associate member in men's wrestling (fall 2020) and men's lacrosse (spring 2021).
* 2021: Missouri Western State University joined the GLVC as an associate member in women's lacrosse for spring 2021.
* 2022: Southern Indiana and Lindenwood left the GLVC at the end of the 2021-22 academic year, and joined NCAA Division I as members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) in fall 2022.
* 2023: Upper Iowa to begin GLVC competition as a full member in fall 2023, after four seasons as an associate member in women's bowling (2019-20 through 2022-23).

Member schools

Current members

The GLVC currently has 13 full members, including nine private and four public institutions:

;Notes:

Future member

Associate members

The GLVC currently has five associate members, including three private and two public institutions. One of the associates, namely Upper Iowa, will become a full conference member in July 2023. Years listed in this table are calendar years. For schools that play only spring sports (such as men's lacrosse) in the GLVC, the calendar year of arrival precedes the first season of competition.

;Notes:

Former members

Former members of the GLVC include six public and five private institutions:

;Notes:

Former associate members

Former associate members of the GLVC include five public and three private institutions. Years listed in this table reflect calendar years. For fall sports, the calendar year of departure is the year after the last season of competition. For spring sports, the calendar year of arrival precedes the first season of competition:

;Notes:

Membership timeline

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ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1978 till:2028
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id:line value:black
id:Full value:rgb(0.63,0.88,0.755) # all sports
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bar:1 color:FullxF from:1978 till:1995 text: Ashland (1978–1995)

bar:2 color:FullxF from:1978 till:2020 text: Bellarmine (1978–2020)

bar:3 color:FullxF from:1978 till:2012 text:Indianapolis (1978–present)
bar:3 color:Full from:2012 till:end

bar:4 color:FullxF from:1978 till:2012 text: Kentucky Wesleyan (1978–2013)
bar:4 color:Full from:2012 till:2013
bar:4 color:AssocF from:2013 till:2014 text:(2013–2014)

bar:5 color:FullxF from:1978 till:2012 text: Saint Joseph's (Ind.) (1978–2017)
bar:5 color:Full from:2012 till:2017

bar:6 color:FullxF from:1978 till:2022 text: Southern Indiana (1978–2022)

bar:7 color:FullxF from:1980 till:end text:Lewis (1980–present)

bar:8 color:FullxF from:1984 till:2001 text: IPFW (1984–2001)

bar:9 color:FullxF from:1985 till:2012 text: Northern Kentucky (1985–2012)

bar:10 color:FullxF from:1989 till:1995 text: Kentucky State (1989–1995)

bar:11 color:FullxF from:1995 till:2008 text: SIU–Edwardsville (1995–2008)

bar:12 color:FullxF from:1995 till:2012 text: Quincy (1995–present)
bar:12 color:Full from:2012 till:end

bar:13 color:FullxF from:1995 till:2018 text: Wisconsin–Parkside (1995–2018)

bar:14 color:FullxF from:1996 till:end text: Missouri–St. Louis (1996–present)

bar:15 color:FullxF from:2005 till:end text: Drury (2005–present)

bar:16 color:FullxF from:2005 till:2012 text: Missouri S&T (2005–present)
bar:16 color:Full from:2012 till:end

bar:17 color:FullxF from:2005 till:end text:Rockhurst (2005–present)

bar:18 color:FullxF from:2009 till:end text: Illinois–Springfield (2009–present)

bar:19 color:FullxF from:2009 till:end text: Maryville (2009–present)

bar:20 color:FullxF from:2011 till:2012 text: William Jewell (2011–present)
bar:20 color:Full from:2012 till:end

bar:21 color:AssocF from:2012 till:2013 text: Central State (2012–2013)

bar:22 color:Full from:2012 till:end text: McKendree (2012–present)

bar:23 color:AssocF from:2012 till:2013 text:Urbana (2012–2013)

bar:24 color:Full from:2013 till:end text: Truman (2013–present)

bar:25 color:AssocF from:2014 till:2019 text: Lincoln (Mo.) (2014–2020)
bar:25 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:2020

bar:26 color:AssocF from:2014 till:2019 text: Southwest Baptist (2014–present)
bar:26 color:Full from:2019 till:end

bar:27 color:AssocOS from:2017 till:2020 text: Alabama–Huntsville (2017–2020)

bar:28 color:AssocOS from:2017 till:2020 text:Montevallo (2017–2020)

bar:29 color:AssocOS from:2017 till:2019 text: Shorter (2017–2019)

bar:30 color:AssocOS from:2017 till:2020 text: Young Harris (2017–2020)

bar:31 color:AssocOS from:2018 till:end text: Ouachita Baptist (2018–present)

bar:32 color:Full from:2019 till:2022 text: Lindenwood (2019–2022)

bar:33 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:2020 text:Lander (2019–2020)

bar:34 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:end text: Central Missouri (2019–present)

bar:35 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:2023 text: Upper Iowa (2019–present)
bar:35 color:Full from:2023 till:end

bar:36 color:AssocOS from:2020 till:end text:Davenport (2020–present)

bar:37 color:AssocOS from:2020 till:end text: Missouri Western (2020–present)

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1978

Sports

"Core sports" – sports that all full conference members are required to sponsor – are indicated with a green background.

Men's sponsored sports by school

Women's sponsored sports by school

Other sponsored sports by school

In addition to the listings in this table:
* McKendree sponsors varsity teams in the following non-NCAA sports: men's bowling, powerlifting for both men and women, and the fully coeducational sport of bass fishing. It also treats its men's and women's ice hockey teams, which compete at club level in the American Collegiate Hockey Association, as varsity teams.
* Maryville treats its men's and women's ice hockey teams, which also compete in the ACHA, as varsity teams, and sponsors a coeducational varsity esports team.
* Quincy fields a varsity men's bowling squad. It also added sprint football, a weight-restricted form of American football governed outside the NCAA structure, in 2022–23.
* Southwest Baptist treats its all-female dance team as a varsity team, and added a varsity team in the all-female cheerleading discipline of STUNT for 2018–19. The school also sponsors a coeducational varsity esports team, specifically in ''League of Legends''.
* Future full member Upper Iowa considers its cheer and dance teams (coed cheerleading, all-female dance), plus its coed team in the non-NCAA discipline of shotgun sports, to be varsity teams.

National champions

GLVC schools have won 32 NCAA Division II national championships, plus one NCAA National Collegiate championship (indicated in green). "National Collegiate" is the NCAA's official term to describe championship events open to members of more than one NCAA division.

See also

Great Lakes Valley Conference men's basketball tournament

Great Lakes Valley Conference women's basketball tournament

List of Great Lakes Valley Conference football standings

References

External links

*

{{NCAA Division II football conference navbox

Sports in Indianapolis
Organizations based in Indianapolis