Missouri Valley Conference
The Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) is a college sports conference in the United States that sponsors many sports, but has not played football since the 1984 season.
The MVC has its roots in the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA), a league formed in 1907 by several schools in the Midwestern United States. The MVIAA split into two leagues in 1928. One league, made up mostly of large schools, kept the MVIAA name and years later became the Big Eight Conference. The smaller schools formed the MVC. Both groups claimed a 1907 founding date, and the same history up to the 1928 split. However, the Big Eight merged in 1996 with several schools from the collapsing Southwest Conference to form today's Big 12 Conference, which does not claim any of the Big Eight's history. Because of this, only the MVC now has a claim to any of the MVIAA's history.
Members
Following the departure of one school and the arrival of three in July 2022, the MVC has 12 members.
| School | Location | Founded | Type | Nickname | Joined MVC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belmont University | Nashville, Tennessee | 1890 | Private | Bruins | 2022 |
| Bradley University | Peoria, Illinois | 1897 | Private | Braves | 1948, 1955[lower-alpha 1] |
| Drake University | Des Moines, Iowa | 1881 | Private | Bulldogs | 1907, 1956[lower-alpha 1] |
| University of Evansville | Evansville, Indiana | 1854 | Private | Purple Aces | 1994 |
| Illinois State University | Normal, Illinois | 1857 | Public | Redbirds | 1981 |
| Indiana State University | Terre Haute, Indiana | 1865 | Public | Sycamores | 1977 |
| Missouri State University | Springfield, Missouri | 1905 | Public | Bears | 1990 |
| Murray State University | Murray, Kentucky | 1922 | Public | Racers | 2022 |
| University of Northern Iowa | Cedar Falls, Iowa | 1890 | Public | Panthers | 1979 |
| Southern Illinois University Carbondale | Carbondale, Illinois | 1869 | Public | Salukis | 1975 |
| University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) | Chicago, Illinois | 1859 | Public | Flames | 2022 |
| Valparaiso University | Valparaiso, Indiana | 1859 | Private | Beacons | 2017 |
- During the 1951–52 school year, Bradley and Drake left the MVC. This followed a race-related attack against black Drake football player Johnny Bright by a white Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) player during a 1951 game. Bradley came back to the MVC in 1955, and Drake did so a year later.
Associate members
The MVC has three "associate members", each of which plays one sport in the conference.
| School | Location | Founded | Type | Joined | Sport | Current main conference | Nickname |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Arkansas at Little Rock (Little Rock) | Little Rock, Arkansas | 1927 | Public | 2010 | Women's swimming and diving | Ohio Valley | Trojans |
| Marshall University | Huntington, West Virginia | 1837 | Public | 2022[lower-alpha 1] | Women's swimming and diving | Sun Belt | Thundering Herd |
| Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIU Edwardsville) | Edwardsville, Illinois | 1966 | Public | 2021[lower-alpha 2] | Men's soccer | Ohio Valley | Cougars |
- Marshall women's swimming & diving will compete in the MVC in 2022–23 only. The school's full-time home of the Sun Belt Conference will add that sport in July 2023.
- SIU Edwardsville had been an MVC men's soccer member from 2010 to 2017 (2010–2016 seasons) before returning for that sport in 2021.
References
- "Missouri Valley Conference". mvc-sports.com. Retrieved 2014-06-02.