Get to Know the FCS, Week 7: Missouri Valley Football Conference
MVFC Missouri Valley Football Conference a.k.a MVFC
Established: 1985
Headquarters: St. Louis, Missouri
Commissioner: Patty Viverito
History
The Missouri Valley Football Conference began offering football as a conference in 1985, originally as the football offering of the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference. The Gateway, as it was known by at the time, began offering football in response to both the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC)—which at the time was a hybrid conference of D-IA and D-IAA teams—and the Association of Mid-Continent Universities (AMCU) halting football sponsorship at the end of the 1984 season.
When both conferences stopped sponsoring football, the two remaining D-IAA members from the MVC (Illinois State and Southern Illinois) joined Eastern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Southwest Missouri State (who would change their name to Missouri State in 2005), and Western Illinois from the AMCU to became a football conference in the Gateway, which until that point in time had been a women’s sports conference founded by MVC member schools. In 1985, Indiana State, which had left MVC football after the 1981 season to become a D-IAA independent for football, joined the Gateway to bring the membership total to 7 teams.
In 1992, the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference merged with the MVC. The new combined conference retained the Gateway football charter rather than collapse it and restart the MVC charter. With the merger, a slight name change came for the football conference, now being called the Gateway Football Conference to avoid confusion about its existence after the greater conference’s merger into the MVC.
In 1995 Eastern Illinois chose to leave the Gateway for the Ohio Valley Conference. In response, independent Youngstown State was offered a place in the conference, and joined the Gateway in 1997. Western Kentucky would subsequently join the Gateway in 2001.
In 2006 Western Kentucky would choose to move up to the FBS at the end of that year’s season, leaving the Gateway with just 7 teams. In response, North Dakota State and South Dakota State’s football programs were offered invites to leave the Great West Conference. Both teams accepted and joined the conference for football in 2008 (joining the Summit League for all other sports). With the addition of these two teams, the Gateway Football Conference chose to rename themselves once again, this time to the current Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) to better align themselves with the majority MVC membership of the football conference.
(Sidenote: Technically the Missouri Valley flair we've got here is not correct for the Missouri Valley Football Conference; the MVFC traces to a different football charter than the MVC's original football conference, and the MVFC uses a slightly different logo than the MVC despite being otherwise intertwined.).
In 2012 South Dakota became the 10th member of the conference, providing a football landing for their team after leaving the Great West for the Summit League in all other sports the year prior. Former Great West partner North Dakota will finish the same transition (after a short stint in the Big Sky) to MVFC membership in 2020. They currently play in the Summit League for all other sports.
Membership
The MVFC currently consists of 10 member schools. In 2020, University of North Dakota will join as the 11th member, but is currently in transition playing a Big Sky schedule despite being an FCS Independent. Of the football members, 5 are members of the MVC for all other sports, 4 are members of the Summit League for other sports (and will be 5 once North Dakota joins in 2020), and one is a member of the Horizon.
Current Members
| Current Member Schools | Location | Year Joined | Mascot | Membership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois State Illinois State University | Normal, Illinois | 1985 | Redbirds | Main conference: Missouri Valley |
| Indiana State Indiana State University | Terre Haute, Indiana | 1986 | Sycamores | Main conference: Missouri Valley |
| Missouri State Missouri State University | Springfield, Missouri | 1985 | Bears | Main conference: Missouri Valley |
| North Dakota State North Dakota State University | Fargo, North Dakota | 2008 | Bison | Main conference: Summit League |
| Northern Iowa University of Northern Iowa | Cedar Falls, Iowa | 1985 | Panthers | Main conference: Missouri Valley |
| South Dakota University of South Dakota | Vermillion, South Dakota | 2012 | Coyotes | Main conference: Summit League |
| South Dakota State South Dakota State University | Brookings, South Dakota | 2008 | Jackrabbits | Main conference: Summit League |
| Southern Illinois Southern Illinois University | Carbondale, Illinois | 1985 | Salukis | Main conference: Missouri Valley |
| Western Illinois Western Illinois University | Macomb, Illinois | 1985 | Leathernecks | Main conference: Summit League |
| Youngstown State Youngstown State University | Youngstown, Ohio | 1997 | Penguins | Main conference: Horizon |
Former Members
In total, 2 teams have left the MVFC, with one (Eastern Illinois) remaining in the FCS and the other (Western Kentucky) transitioning up to FBS play.
| Former Member Schools | Location | Years of Membership | Mascot | Current Conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Illinois Eastern Illinois University | Charleston, Illinois | 1985-1995 | Panthers | Ohio Valley Conference |
| WKU Western Kentucky University | Bowling Green, Kentucky | 2001-2007 | Hilltoppers | Conference USA (FBS) |
Conference Success and Strength
Conference Championships
| School | Eligible Member Years | Total Conference Championships | Last won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Iowa Northern Iowa | 1985-present | 16 | 2011 |
| North Dakota State North Dakota State | 2008-present | 8 | 2018 |
| Southern Illinois Southern Illinois | 1985-present | 5 | 2009 |
| Western Illinois Western Illinois | 1985-present | 5 | 2002 |
| Illinois State Illinois State | 1985-present | 3 | 2015 |
| Missouri State Missouri State | 1985-present | 2 | 1990 |
| Eastern Illinois Eastern Illinois | 1985-1995 | 2 | 1995 |
| Youngstown State Youngstown State | 1997-present | 2 | 2006 |
| South Dakota State South Dakota State | 2008-present | 1 | 2016 |
| WKU Western Kentucky | 2001-2007 | 1 | 2002 |
| Indiana State Indiana State | 1986-present | 0 | N/A |
| South Dakota South Dakota | 2012-present | 0 | N/A |
FCS National Championships
Since it’s inception in 1985, the MVFC as a conference holds claim to 9 national championships at the FCS level:
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1997 - Youngstown State Youngstown State (13-2, 4-2 in conference) (interesting side note, YSU did not win the conference this year)
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2002 - WKU Western Kentucky University (11-2, 6-1 in conference)
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2011 - North Dakota State North Dakota State University (14-1, 7-1 in conference)
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2012 - North Dakota State North Dakota State University (14-1, 7-1 in conference)
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2013 - North Dakota State North Dakota State University (15-0, 8-0 in conference)
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2014 - North Dakota State North Dakota State University (15-1, 7-1 in conference)
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2015 - North Dakota State North Dakota State University (13-2, 7-1 in conference)
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2017 - North Dakota State North Dakota State University (14-1, 7-1 in conference)
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2018 - North Dakota State North Dakota State University (15-0, 8-0 in conference)
Furthermore, current MVFC teams hold claim to an additional 4 national championships at the FCS level from before the their time within the conference (whether because they had not joined yet or the conference had not existed):
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1983 - Southern Illinois Southern Illinois University (13-1-0, 5-1 in Missouri Valley Conference)
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1991 - Youngstown State Youngstown State (12-3-0, FCS Independent)
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1993 - Youngstown State Youngstown State (13-2-0, FCS Independent)
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1994 - Youngstown State Youngstown State (14-0-1, FCS Independent)
Individual school threads will be posted below. Feel free to discuss individual teams and/or the conference as you see fit!
Posted Mar 10, 2019, 5:07 PM UTC · edited