The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a football-only conference.
Current season, competition or edition: 2024 Missouri Valley Football Conference season | |
 | |
| Formerly | Gateway Football Conference (1992–2008) Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference (1982–1992) |
|---|---|
| Association | NCAA |
| Founded | 1982 (chartered)[1] 1985 (began football) |
| Commissioner | Patty Viverito (since 1982) |
| Sports fielded |
|
| Division | Division I |
| Subdivision | FCS |
| No. of teams | 11 (10 in 2025) |
| Headquarters | St. Louis, Missouri |
| Region | Midwest |
| Official website | www |
| Locations | |
 | |
History
edit
The Missouri Valley Football Conference has a complex history that involves three other conferences:
- Missouri Valley Conference (MVC): A long-established conference, in existence since 1907, that sponsored football until 1985. In its last years as a football conference, it was a hybrid league that included teams in NCAA Divisions I-A (today's FBS) and I-AA (now FCS).
- Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference (Gateway): A women's sports conference founded in 1982 by MVC member schools.[1][2]
- Association of Mid-Continent Universities (AMCU): An all-sports conference, also founded in 1982, that sponsored football at the I-AA level through the 1984 season. The AMCU had absorbed the Mid-Continent Athletic Association, a football-only league founded in 1978. (After dropping football, the AMCU later became the Mid-Continent Conference, and is now The Summit League.)
In 1985, the MVC stopped sponsoring football. At that time, the two remaining I-AA members from the MVC (Illinois State and Southern Illinois) joined Eastern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Southwest Missouri State, and Western Illinois from the AMCU and together became a football conference under the Gateway's auspices.[3] Indiana State, which had left MVC football after the 1981 season to become a Division I-AA independent while remaining a full MVC member, would join the next year.[4]
State
State
– Horizon League member
– Missouri Valley Conference member
– Summit League memberIn 1992, when the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference merged with the MVC,[1] the football conference kept the Gateway charter, with a minor name change to Gateway Football Conference. After Eastern Illinois joined the Ohio Valley Conference for football in 1996, Youngstown State joined in 1997 and was followed by Western Kentucky University in 2001. Southwest Missouri State changed its name to Missouri State in 2005.
Western Kentucky moved to the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division I-A) after the 2006 season,[5] leaving the GFC with seven members for the 2007 season. Great West Football Conference members North Dakota State and South Dakota State[6] were invited to join the conference beginning with the 2008 season.[7] Subsequently, the Gateway Football Conference changed its name to the Missouri Valley Football Conference in June 2008. This change aligned the conference with the Missouri Valley Conference, a conference in which five of the nine Missouri Valley Football schools were (and still are) all-sports members. The conferences continue to share the "Missouri Valley" name, and space in the same building in St. Louis, but remain separate administratively.[8]
The University of South Dakota joined as the 10th member in 2012. The University of North Dakota joined as the 11th member in 2020, bringing back the yearly rivalries among North Dakota, North Dakota State, South Dakota and South Dakota State which had existed under the Division II North Central Conference that NDSU and SDSU left in 2004–05.[9][10][11]
On April 4, 2022, Murray State University, who had previously been announced as a new MVC member effective in July 2022, joined the MVFC in 2023, bringing the league up to a record high of 12 active members.[12] This was short-lived however, as on May 12, 2023, founding member Western Illinois announced that they would be leaving the MVFC and their full time conference, the Summit League, for the Ohio Valley Conference beginning in fall 2023 and 2024. They would leave the Summit beginning in fall 2023, and would leave the Valley after the conclusion of the 2023 football season.[13] Almost exactly a year after that, on May 10, 2024, fellow founding member Missouri State announced that they accepted an invitation to join Conference USA in all sports, beginning with the 2025-26 academic year.[14]
Member schools
editCurrent members
editFormer members
edit| Institution | Location | Founded | Joined | Left | Type | Nickname | Colors | Primary conference during tenure in the MVFC |
Current primary conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Illinois University | Charleston, Illinois | 1895 | 1985 | 1995 | Public | Panthers | Summit | OVC | |
| Western Kentucky University | Bowling Green, Kentucky | 1906 | 2001 | 2007 | Hilltoppers | Sun Belt | CUSA | ||
| Western Illinois University | Macomb, Illinois | 1899 | 1985 | 2024 | Leathernecks | Summit | OVC |
Membership timeline
edit
Current members Former members Dual members (list additional conferences)
Conference champions
edit11 different teams have won MVFC championships. The most recent champion is South Dakota State. The school with the most championships is Northern Iowa, with 16 (10 of them outright).
NCAA Football Championship Subdivision national championships
edit| Team | Titles | Title Years | Finals | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Dakota State | 9 | 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 | 10 | 2022 |
| Youngstown State | 4 | 1991, 1993, 1994, 1997 | 7 | 1992, 1999, 2016 |
| South Dakota State | 2 | 2022, 2023 | 3 | 2020 |
| Southern Illinois | 1 | 1983 | 1 | |
| Western Kentucky♯ | 1 | 2002 | 1 | |
| Northern Iowa | 0 | 1 | 2005 | |
| Illinois State | 0 | 1 | 2014 |
♯ Now a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).
Records
editOverall winning streaks
edit| # | Team | Streak | Spoiler | Season(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | North Dakota State | 39 † | Southern Illinois[15] | 2017–2020 |
| 2. | North Dakota State | 33 | Northern Iowa | 2012–2014 |
| 3. | South Dakota State | 29 | Oklahoma State[16] | 2022–2024 |
| 4. | North Dakota State | 14 | South Dakota State | 2015–2016 |
| 5. | Northern Iowa | 13 | Delaware | 2006–2007 |
| Western Kentucky | 13 | Auburn | 2002–2003 |
Consecutive conference wins
edit- North Dakota State, 19 (2017–2020)
- South Dakota State, 19 (2022–2024)
- North Dakota State, 18 (2012–2014)
Facilities
edit| School | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Illinois State | Hancock Stadium | 13,391 |
| Indiana State | Memorial Stadium | 12,764 |
| Missouri State | Robert W. Plaster Stadium | 17,500 |
| Murray State | Roy Stewart Stadium | 16,800 |
| North Dakota | Alerus Center | 12,283 |
| North Dakota State | Fargodome | 18,700 |
| Northern Iowa | UNI-Dome | 16,324 |
| South Dakota | DakotaDome | 9,100 |
| South Dakota State | Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium | 19,340 |
| Southern Illinois | Saluki Stadium | 15,000 |
| Youngstown State | Stambaugh Stadium | 20,630 |
References
edit- ^ a b c "This is the Missouri Valley Conference". Missouri Valley Conference. Archived from the original on September 15, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
- ^ "Gateway Conference Adding Six Teams in Men's Football". Los Angeles Times. St. Louis, Missouri. August 25, 1985. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
- ^ "Universities plan new football conference". St. Joseph Gazette. St. Joseph, Missouri. Associated Press. July 9, 1985. p. 2G. Retrieved March 23, 2024 – via Google News.
- ^ "Indiana State Historical Data". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on October 13, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- ^ "WKU Regents Approve Move To Division 1-A (sic) Football". Western Kentucky University. November 2, 2006. Archived from the original on January 15, 2008. Retrieved November 3, 2006.
- ^ "Gateway Eyes Dakotas For Expansion". ESPN. October 26, 2006. Retrieved November 19, 2006.
- ^ "Gateway Expands to Nine Members". Gateway Football Conference. March 7, 2007. Retrieved March 9, 2007.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Gateway Football Conference Changes Its Name". Gateway Football Conference. June 6, 2008. Archived from the original on November 21, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2008.
- ^ "North Dakota to Join Summit League, Missouri Valley Football Conference". Espn991.com. January 24, 2017. Archived from the original on March 20, 2017. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
- ^ "Sources: North Dakota set to leave Big Sky Conference | Big Sky Conference". billingsgazette.com. January 24, 2017. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
- ^ "Report: UND to join Summit League in 2018, MVFC in 2020". Argusleader.com. January 24, 2017. Retrieved April 23, 2017.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Murray State Football To Join Missouri Valley Football Conference July of 2023" (Press release). Missouri Valley Football Conference. April 4, 2022. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
- ^ "Leatherneck Athletics Moving to Ohio Valley Conference for All Sports". goleathernecks.com. Western Illinois Leathernecks. May 12, 2023. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
- ^ "Missouri State Accepts Invitation to join Conference USA". missouristatebears.com. Missouri State Bears Athletics. May 10, 2024. Retrieved May 10, 2024.
- ^ "NDSU's 39-game winning streak ends with lopsided loss at Southern Illinois". February 27, 2021.
- ^ "Oklahoma State snaps South Dakota State's 29-game winning streak". siouxfallslive.com. Forum Communications. August 31, 2024. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
- ^ "North Dakota State University Athletics - Bison at Missouri State Saturday in Valley Football Game of the Week". Archived from the original on November 11, 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
External links
edit
Media related to Missouri Valley Football Conference at Wikimedia Commons