Missouri Valley Conference

Missouri Valley Conference
Data
Established	1907
Members	10
Sports fielded	19 (9 men's, 10 women's)
Country	United States
Region	Midwest
States	6 - Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska
Headquarters	St. Louis, Missouri
Commissioner	Doug Elgin
Locations

Former Missouri Valley Conference logo

The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is a college athletic conference whose members are located in the midwestern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I.

Founded in 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA), the MVC is the nation's second oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference. However, some consider the MVC to have been formed from a split of the MVIAA in 1928. Most of the larger MVIAA schools formed a conference that retained the MVIAA name and would ultimately become the Big Eight Conference. The smaller schools, plus Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University, which ultimately [re]joined the Big Eight in 1957), formed the MVC. During the Big Eight's existence, both conferences claimed 1907 as their founding date, as well as the same history through 1927. It has never been definitively established which conference is the original and which is the spin-off.

During the 2006-2007 college basketball season, MVC teams held a 74-27 non-conference record, including a record of 44-1 at home. The Valley finished in the Top 6 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. ^[1]

The MVC has not sponsored football since 1985, when it was classified as a I-A (now FBS) conference, but five members have football programs in the Missouri Valley Football Conference (known as the Gateway from 1985-2008) of Division I FCS (formerly I-AA), and a sixth competes in another FCS conference, the Pioneer Football League. The Missouri Valley Conference shares its name with the Missouri Valley Football Conference, and the two also operate from the same headquarters complex in St. Louis. However, the two are separate administratively.

Membership

Locations of current Missouri Valley Conference full member institutions.

Affiliate members

• Eastern Illinois University (men's soccer, not sponsored by the Ohio Valley Conference)
• Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (men's soccer)
• University of Central Arkansas (men's soccer)

Former members

• Butler University - 1932-1942
• University of Cincinnati - 1957-1969
• University of Detroit - 1949-1956, currently University of Detroit Mercy
• Grinnell College - 1918-1939
• University of Houston - 1951-1959
• University of Iowa - 1907-1908
• Iowa State College - 1907-1928, currently Iowa State University
• Kansas State College - 1913-1928, currently Kansas State University
• University of Louisville - 1963-1974
• University of Kansas - 1907-1928
• Memphis State University - 1968-1973, currently University of Memphis
• University of Missouri - 1907-1928
• University of Nebraska - 1907-1919, 1921-1928
• New Mexico State University - 1970-1983
• North Texas State University - 1957-1974, currently University of North Texas
• University of Oklahoma - 1919-1928
• Oklahoma A&M University - 1925-1956, currently Oklahoma State University
• Saint Louis University - 1937-1974
• University of Tulsa - 1935-1996
• Washburn University - 1935-1942
• Washington University in St. Louis - 1907-1942
• West Texas State University - 1972-1985, currently West Texas A&M University

Basketball tournament champions by year

The Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Championship is often referred to as Arch Madness, in reference to the Gateway Arch at the tournament's present location of St. Louis, Missouri, and a play on "March Madness".

NB: Missouri State was known as Southwest Missouri State until August 2005.

• Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Locations

Conference facilities

Men's basketball attendance

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. One member (Wichita State) sold out every single game for the 2006-07 season, while another member (Creighton) continues to reset the state of Nebraska attendance record for a college basketball game every season.

In 2006-07, the Valley maintained its position as the eighth ranked conference in average attendance.^[4]

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.^[5]

Football champions by year

• (Remaining MVC schools that play football are part of the Missouri Valley Football Conference or the Pioneer Football League.)

See also

Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame

References

External links

• Missouri Valley Conference Official Website
• ValleyTalk.net (MVC Fan Forum)
• MVCbbs (MVC Fan Forum)
• MVC Coverage on Collegehoops.net